All Chapters of The Beast And The Innocent Bride: Chapter 21 - Chapter 25

Morning light filtered through the penthouse windows. Sharp. Unforgiving. Cana woke slowly, body aching in the best way—marked, claimed, sore. Carlo’s arm was heavy across her waist. Possessive even in sleep. She shifted slightly. His eyes opened instantly. Alert. Watching. “Morning,” she whispered. He didn’t smile. But his grip tightened. Just enough. Breakfast was quiet. Not tense. Just… them. Cana sipped coffee, stealing glances. He noticed. Always did. “Stop thinking,” he said. She blinked. “About what?” “Whatever’s making you tense.” Her cheeks warmed. Memories of last night flooded back—his hands, his mouth, the way he’d broken her apart. “I’m not tense.” “Liar.” She huffed. “You’re impossible.” His gaze darkened. “And you’re addictive.” Heat pooled low in her belly. Again. The day unfolded differently. No cages. No guards in sight. Carlo’s phone buzzed constantly. Work. Always work. But he stayed close.

Learning to Survive The Beginning of Change Dawn clawed its way through the heavy curtains of the penthouse, casting long, jagged shadows across the king-sized bed where Cana lay tangled in silk sheets still scented with last night's fire. Sleep had been a cruel tease—fitful, haunted by relentless flashes: the dank warehouse reeking of rust and terror, rough hands binding her wrists, the deafening crack of Carlo's gun echoing like judgment day, the metallic tang of blood in the air, and the seismic shift when his world swallowed hers whole. Every time her eyelids fluttered shut, the nightmares replayed in vivid, heart-pounding detail, jolting her awake with sweat-slick skin and racing pulse. But this morning, something fractured inside her. No more waking in tremors of victimhood. She sat up slowly, sheets pooling at her waist, gripping the fabric like a lifeline. Her reflection in the bedside mirror stared back—eyes shadowed but hardening, lips pressed into a determined line.