LOGINHarold’s POVI coughed hard, a spray of warm blood flecking my cracked lips. I shook my head against the cold floor. “You’re... you’re bluffing. You wouldn't risk your own name like that.”“Am I?” She let out a soft, musical laugh that made my skin crawl. “Darling, I built an insurance policy so flawless it would make Machiavelli blush. If I die... if I am killed, or even if I just disappear under suspicious circumstances, everything is released to the high council automatically.”“But not under my name. Under yours. Every illegal account. Every operation designed to frame our rivals. Every financial trail leads straight to the pack funds you supposedly managed. Every piece of evidence proves you orchestrated Deja’s death.”She stepped closer, her shadow completely swallowing me.“The thugs who attacked her? They were paid directly from your private accounts but it looks like I own it,” she whispered, her voice dripping with sadistic joy. “The warehouse cleanup? Done entirely on your
Harold’s POV“Oh, poor Harold... You want honesty, don't you? So let’s be honest.”I stared blankly at the woman I thought I had completely figured out by now. The air in the room felt entirely too heavy, pressing down on my lungs. My mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air before I could finally sum up the courage to force the words out. “Stop joking, Agatha. This isn’t funny.”“I’m not joking,” she said. Her tone was flat, completely matter of fact, lacking even a shred of hesitation.The dry, nervous laughter that escaped my throat died instantly, choking me. “What do you mean you’re not joking? Agatha, look at me and tell me she's lying. Tell me you had no hand in what happened to me and Deja.”Agatha shrugged elegantly, swirling the liquid in her cup as if we were discussing the evening weather. “I did. I planned the entire thing, Harold. I manipulated you. I lied to you from the very start. Valentina has always been telling the truth... and I am the mastermind behin
VALENTINA My throat felt dry, desperate for even a single drop of water. My wrists hurt from the ropes biting deep into my skin, and my head still pounded relentlessly from whatever they had used to knock me out cold. Every muscle in my body ached from being tied to this same damn chair for what felt like an eternity. I hated every inch of it. Every inch of this damned damp room. I hated the ropes digging into my flesh. I hated Agatha with every fiber of my being. I hated Harold and his smug face Most of all, though, I hated that I couldn’t stop thinking about Horace. Did he know I was missing? Did he even care anymore? Or did he still believe I was the one who murdered Deja? The thought stabbed deeper than the ropes ever could, twisting like a knife in my chest. Lita growled inside me, her voice fierce and unyielding. “He’ll come.” I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the hard chair. “I don’t know.” “He’ll come,” she repeated, stronger this time. I wished I had her
HORACEThe whiskey tasted like absolutely nothing anymore. That was a real problem because in the beginning. Those first few days it had burned hot. Hot enough to throw some of the noise screaming inside my head but now it just slid down my throat like plain water while my entire life kept collapsing around me in slow horrible pieces that I couldn’t stop no matter how hard I tried. I sat alone in the study room of the rebuilt penthouse with a half-empty bottle on the table right in front of me and another one lying somewhere on the floor where I must have dropped it earlier without even noticing. The place looked exactly like it had before the fire with the same furniture and the same walls and the same expensive bullshit that used to feel like home but now everything felt empty.Like somebody had stolen something important from it or maybe... someone.My jaw clenched so tight it ached as I stared at nothing in particular because every single corner of this space still carried trac
ZURIAShe leaned in, her eyes wide with a manic, hateful energy, and she continued, “Maybe she finally realized nobody wants a cold-blooded murderer around,” she sneered.That was it. I completely saw red.A blinding fury exploded in my chest, and I lunged forward, my hands reaching straight for her throat. But before my fingers could even graze her skin, several heavy hands clamped down on my arms. Three guards threw their weight onto me, physically dragging me backward.“Miss, stop!”“Let go of her!”“Please, just calm down!”They were shouting over each other, but I didn't care about their warnings. I thrashed violently against their grip, my boots kicking out against the floor. “Let go of me! Get your fucking hands off me!” I screamed, my voice echoing.Elisha let out another sharp, mocking laugh, taking a step back out of my reach. “Oh, wow. Look at you. Completely unhinged.”“You’re pathetic, you know that?” I snapped back, my chest heaving as I strained against the guards, pus
ZURIABy the time I finally reached the villa, my knuckles were white against the steering wheel. The long drive had completely shot my nerves, leaving a bitter taste of irritation in the back of my throat.But the moment I pushed through the heavy front door and stepped into the suffocating quiet of the house, that irritation instantly morphed into cold, sharp dread.“Val?” I called out, my voice echoing off the high ceilings.Nothing. No footsteps, no voice answering back.I didn't wait. I moved fast, tearing through every single room like a woman possessed. I checked the kitchen, the counters were clean, the air completely still. I sprinted to the living room, checked the patio, and threw open the bedroom doors one by one. Still, absolutely nothing. There was no luggage scattered across the floor indicating she had fled, and there was no crying blondie curled into a blanket on the couch.A suffocating panic clawed its way up my chest. I stood dead in the center of the massive, emp
HORACE Once we were inside, I started the engine and drove like a total maniac, peeling out of the estate gates as the tires screeched against the pavement and the speed climbed way too fast on the dark winding roads. My hands gripped the wheel tight enough to turn my knuckles white because eve
HORACE Valentina stiffened beside me, her scent spiking with unease but she kept her face calm, squeezing my hand harder like she was trying to hold me in place while the whole table went quiet. I felt my jaw lock the rage building hot and fast because she lied to me. Valentina lied about Zuria a
HORACEI forced my horny thoughts away. The entire drive to the dinner, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Terribly wrong, because I know Valentina.I knew her well enough now to see the difference between flirting with me and distracting me. But fuck, she was winning at it.The
VALENTINABy the time I got back to the penthouse, my brain felt like someone had dumped a thousand puzzle pieces into a blender and pressed start.The entire evening kept replaying in ugly little flashes. Agatha's stupid face, Harold's over the top warning, the hospital room, the things I had hear







