LOGINVincent POV“Graymark Capital?” I asked, arching a brow. “Yes, sir,” Cyril nodded.I kept my face pleasant and blank, the way I had trained it to be, but my mind was already moving, because I had heard of Graymark Capital. Not through Hayes Acquisition. Through the other channels. Graymark was old, quiet money that did placement work for families who did not like their names in filings. It had come up months ago in one of Theo's briefings, flagged in passing, an institutional player circling the Green Valley development. Circling Bennett Holdings.Circling Evelyn."The second thing?" I asked, and my voice came out steady."The invoices from Halloway. The billing software leaves metadata in the PDF files. Author fields, template names, that kind of thing. Whoever generated them stripped most of it, but they missed the template registry on two of the early ones." He pointed. "The invoice template was originally created under a company profile. The profile name is 'WFO — do not use.'""
Vincent POVThe house was quiet after she left.I stood at the window and watched her taillights disappear down the drive, and then I kept standing there long after they were gone, holding a glass of water I had poured for her and never handed over. The condensation ran down over my knuckles, but I still didn't move.I set the glass down on the sill and exhaled slowly.It was better this way. That was what I told myself as I walked back through the living room, turning off lamps I didn't remember turning on. She had a company to save, and a launch to survive and two other men orbiting her life like weather systems, and the last thing she needed was a third one pretending his feelings were a form of support. I wasn't going to be that. I had decided, somewhere between her arriving and her leaving, that I was going to step back. Completely. Not out of pride, and not to punish her, but because the version of me that Evelyn knew- the harmless one, the safe one- was getting harder to mainta
Evelyn POVI woke up with a gasp, my hand clutching the blanket, my body hot and slick and pulsing with the residual aftershocks of a dream so vivid I could still feel phantom hands on my skin.My bedroom was bright with afternoon light. The clock on my nightstand read two-fifteen. I'd slept for nearly eight hours. My hair was plastered to my forehead with sweat, and my t-shirt was twisted around my torso, and the ache between my legs was very real, just like it had been in the dream. Did I have a wet dream? Involving the three men in my life?I lay there for a full minute, staring at the ceiling, breathing hard, waiting for the heat to subside.Then I got up and walked to the bathroom.The mirror showed me exactly what I expected. Flushed cheeks. Dilated pupils. Lips that looked bitten even though nobody had bitten them. The face of a woman who had just had the most intense experience of her life, and it had happened entirely inside her own head.I gripped the edge of the sink and s
Evelyn POV"Are you sure?" I sobbed. "Can you really fix this?""Watch me."She got me off the ground and got me inside. Guide me up the stairs and into my bedroom, where Biscuit greeted me with frantic yips and a tail that wouldn't stop wagging. She sat me on the edge of the bed and pulled off my shoes, one at a time, then guided me backwards until my head hit the pillow."Sleep," she said."I can't sleep. The investors. The launch. I need to call—""You need to sleep. You've been running on fumes for three days, and you look like death warmed over, and I say that with love." She pulled the blanket up to my chin with tenderness, and I knew she wouldn't mind pinning me to the ground to make sure I stay in bed. "I'm going to call my team. We'll analyse the article, trace the source, assess the market damage, and build a response strategy. By the time you wake up, I will have a plan. That's what I do, Evelyn. I make plans, and I execute them, and I don't lose."She put her hand on my fo
Evelyn POVI drove home with my jaw clenched so tight my teeth ached.The streets of Crescent Harbour were starting to wake up around me. Early commuters, delivery trucks, a jogger crossing at an intersection, a bakery with its lights already on and its doors still closed. The world going about its Tuesday morning as though nothing had changed, as though Bennett Holdings' stock hadn't just cratered by twenty-seven per cent and Grace's face wasn't splashed across every financial news site in the country.I gripped the steering wheel and tried to organise the chaos inside my head into something I could manage.For three days now, my life has been in disarray and in the history of how my life has been in shambles, this was by far the shittiest.Three days ago, I'd been on a rooftop terrace with Adrian, drinking my mother's wine and talking about paintings and butterflies and another universe where we were lovers. Then the wine had done something to my blood, and Adrian had done somethi
Vincent POVI looked down at her face.Her eyes were swollen, her cheeks were blotched with tears, and I felt my heart squeeze with pain. I’d caused her part of this pain, and somehow, I regretted it.I reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The gesture was so familiar, so wired into my muscle memory, that my hand did it before my brain had agreed to let it. She closed her eyes at the touch, and a small breath escaped her, shaking and thin."You haven't lost me," I said.She opened her eyes. They were bright and wet and full of hope.Before I could see through the action, she rose on her toes and kissed me.It was tentative at first, her lips barely brushing mine, a question rather than a statement. I held still, letting her ask it, letting the choice be entirely hers. Her mouth pressed against mine, soft and warm, tasting salty and sweet at the same time.For a moment, I wanted to push her back and extricate myself, but desire coursed through my body, and I kissed her
Evelyn POV"It's not nice meeting you again," I scoffed, folding my arms across my chest. My anger was finally breaking through the shock of seeing him. "You stole my money after I saved you. I literally risked my life for you, and you stole from me."“What are you doing here by the way? To steal m
Evelyn POVI took a deep breath and adjusted the straps of my emerald green gown. The dress hugged my curves perfectly, the colour bringing out the richness of my skin. I'd chosen it, hoping that leaning into my femininity would make the crowd go easy on me tonight.I stared at my relfection in the
EvelynMy hands came up to grip his sweater, pulling him closer. The kiss deepened and became more urgent.His hands circled the small of my neck, pulling me closer as his tongue darted in and out of my mouth. Our tongues danced together, exploring each other’s mouths in a slow rhythm that left us
Gabriel POV"Who sent you?" I asked, striking the man tied to the chair.The overhead lamp was the only light in the dark room, casting shadows across his bruised face. His left eye was swollen shut, and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.The man's face lolled to the right, and then he sta







