Bloodlines and Boundaries

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• Breaking the Billionaire Code   Silent Moves

  Killian shut his car door hard and ran up the steps to Mia's place. He barely knocked before Ethan opened up, his face sad. "She's not there," Killian said sharply, moving past him. “The beach house was empty. No sign of her.”Mia stood up, her face full of worry. “Killian—”"When did she go?" he asked, his eyes moving all over the room like Aria might still be there. "What did she say to you? Did she mention going anywhere?”Mia took a deep breath, her voice shook. "The last time I laid eyes on her, she was putting her stuff together. She was… steady. Nervous, yes, but ready. Hopeful even.”Killian’s jaw tensed.“But then the headlines dropped,” she continued. “I called her. She answered, but she didn’t say anything. Just… silence on the other end. I kept calling her name. She didn’t respond.”Killian's hands turned into tight balls. "If I had gotten there fast, maybe—maybe she wouldn't have felt so alone." Ethan stepped in quickly. “Killian, don’t do that to yourself. You couldn

• Breaking the Billionaire Code   Smoke and Mirrors

  The VIP room had soft jazz and low lights. Chloe settled in style, her designer shoe swinging just a bit as she sipped her drink. Andrew sat across from her, laid back but sharp, with a neat scotch in his hand. He raised his glass. “To a job well done,” he said smoothly. "You performed nicely, Chloe."She grinned as she tilted her head. “Please, you gave me the gasoline. I just lit the match.”Andrew offered a faint grin. He didn’t mention the satisfaction curling in his chest—seeing Killian dragged as well into the spotlight, seeing the whispers swell around his name and company. That part wasn’t for Chloe. She didn’t need to know how far he wanted to push this. Or why."And all I needed to do was let go of the file, just as we talked about," she went on, twirling her drink, her red lips forming a pleased smile, “the rest was pure journalism—or what they call it these days.”Andrew sat back, his lips slowly curving into a cool smile. “People love secrets,” he said evenly. “Especiall

• Breaking the Billionaire Code   Everything She Feared

  Aria was seated at the rear of the plush, white sofa. Open windows of the beach house let in the salty scent as well as the quiet sound of waves washing against the beach. It was soothing, too soothing for the tense night she expectedBut somehow, since she and Killian agreed to meet here, she’d felt more at peace than anxious. She was ready to speak.Ready to tell him everything.Ready to stop letting her past dictate her silence.She retrieved her phone and started to look through Instagram while waiting. She grinned at some hilarious memes and videos. Then—A headline cut through her feed like a knife.“Aria Blake Exposed: The Woman Behind the Lens Once Danced for Dollars.”Her finger hovered. She didn’t click at first. She just stared.No breath. No thought. Just the burn of disbelief rising in her chest.She opened the article.And there it was.A photo of her.Her face. Her body.But not in anything she had worn that night. The picture was manipulated, made into something ugly

• Breaking the Billionaire Code   Where it Begins Again

  By the time Killian and Ethan were done at the bar, the sun had dipped below the horizon, casting the city in deep amber and softening shadows. It was late evening now, and Killian had been checking his phone obsessively - even while driving - waiting, hoping for a reply from Aria.Nothing.He shut off the car, parked in the driveway, and settled into his car. But he stayed in. He slid the windows down and let the cold night air touch his skin. His phone had been in his hand for an hour now. He’d replayed his voice note at least three times in his head, wondering if it had come across the way he wanted - honest, raw, vulnerable. Not desperate. Just real.Yet, no word from over there hurt a lot. Looking out the window, his pulse shot, and he was overcome with worry. Just as he started to open the car door, his phone came on.Her name glowing on the screen made his breath catch. Relief, hope, fear - it all hit him at once, too tangled to separate. He answered before he could even blin

• Breaking the Billionaire Code   No More Games

  Andrew sank back in the soft leather chair of his hotel room, the Los Angeles city view spread out past the big windows. A low hum of satisfaction came from him as he hung up with Dante. Business in Miami was booming again.Dante had confirmed what Andrew already knew from the sudden boost in his bank balance. His latest batch of girls - fresh, desperate, and easily manipulated - were pleasing the right clients. The money was rolling in faster than before. No complaints. No slip-ups. Just how he wanted it. He took a slow drink from his glass of old bourbon, a tiny, pleased smile on his lips. Even L.A. was starting to look up.Howard Batalon had been proving himself useful, keeping him up to date on Aria’s movements. Or, more accurately, her lack of movement. She hadn’t been to her apartment. Not her studio either. No sightings with her best friend Mia. And none with that smug, “well-to-do” boyfriend of hers, Killian.Andrew scoffed at the thought of him, smirking. Golden boy with a

• Breaking the Billionaire Code   A Different Way

  Killian sat behind the wheel of his parked car, staring down at the small slip of paper in his hand - Mia’s address, scribbled quickly by Lucy, now slightly creased from how tightly he’d been holding it. He’d been sitting outside the studio’s building for nearly twenty minutes, engine running, mind spiraling.He knew showing up unannounced wasn’t exactly the smartest move. He wasn’t even sure Aria was there. But something in him - it wasn’t logic, it wasn’t reason, it was her - was telling him to go.His hands held the wheel tightly, and he moved the gears. As he moved onto the road, his phone lit up the dashboard. Ethan.Killian tapped his earpiece. “Yeah?”“Where are you?” Ethan’s voice came through steady but serious.“I was just about to head to Mia’s,” Killian said, voice low. “Why?”A pause.“Change of plans. Meet me first,” Ethan said. "I need to talk to you. It won’t take long.”Killian didn’t argue. Whatever it was, Ethan rarely spoke like this unless it was important.Fift