Novels by Kesi King

Serena’s POVKillian’s car rolled to a stop along the curb outside our destination. And for several seconds after the engine went quiet, neither of us reached for the door.Killian remained behind the wheel, one hand resting loosely against it while the other tapped once, then twice, against his thigh before falling still again. He drew in a breath, as though rehearsing something in his mind.“Elena.”His voice was more restrained than before, almost swallowed by the sound of the rain.I turned toward him.He didn’t meet my eyes immediately. Instead, he looked through the rain-streaked windshield toward the entrance of the lounge before finally glancing in my direction.“You don’t have to come inside,” he said. “You can stay here. I’ll only be a few minutes.”There was nothing unusual about the words themselves.It was everything around them.The hesitation before he spoke. The careful way he chose each sentence. The fact that he sounded as though he was trying to solve a problem th

Serena's POVThe small brown prescription bottle was tucked under a stack of folded linen at the back of my nightstand drawer, exactly where I had left it the night before.I sat on the edge of the bed with the curtains only half open, letting rays of morning light fall across the room. The bottle felt almost weightless in my palm. Elena’s name was printed neatly across the label, along with instructions I had already read so many times I no longer needed to look at them.I turned it over once between my fingers.Then the bedroom door flew open.“Mommy!”My hand moved before I even thought about it. I pushed the bottle under the duvet and shifted my thigh over it just as Annika came racing across the rug.Her school uniform tie was slightly crooked, one sock sat lower than the other, and the ribbon in her hair had already begun to loosen. She launched herself at me with enough force to make me rock backward on the mattress.“Mommy, hi!”Her arms squeezed around my waist.She smelled

Serena’s POVI’d imagined that it would take a while for the silence in the car to break. But we’d only gone a few miles when Vivian turned slightly in her seat, resting her arm over the headrest to look back at me. Her dark eyes were bright, tracking my face with an intensity that belied her slurred words.Vivian shifted in her seat and turned slightly, one arm resting over the headrest as she looked at me. Whatever haze she’d been wrapped around when we first saw her seemed to have faded, her eyes bright with curiosity. “So,” she said, her voice warm enough to sound casual, “what did the doctor actually tell you today, Elena?”“Nothing conclusive.” I folded my hands over the pharmacy bag resting on my lap. “They’re still trying to work out what’s causing everything. Until then, they’ve told me to stay off the road.”“Oh.” She frowned sympathetically. “Does that mean you won’t be coming back to Rhodes Inc. for a while?”“I hadn’t planned on disappearing for long,” I replied. “I’ll

Chapter 93Killian's POVThe silence in my office was deafening.David was staring at the speakerphone like he'd just seen a execution order. The color had drained from his face entirely, his hands hovering over my desk as if he didn't know whether to grab his folder or run out the door."Federal compliance?" David breathed, his voice cracking. "Killian, what the hell did she do?"I didn't answer him. My mind was racing, replaying every single interaction I had with Elena over the past month. The way she handled our files, the effortless precision with which she dissected our four-year-old financial structures, the exact timing of her questions—it hadn't been brilliance. It had been an execution plan."Get out," I said, my voice dangerously quiet."Killian—""I said get out, David!" I slammed my palm down on the desk, the glass rattling under the force. "Go down the back stairwell, get hold of our legal team, and do not open your mouth to anyone on the floor!"David didn't argue a

Killian's POVMy office felt claustrophobic by eight-thirty.I stood behind my desk, my coat tossed over the back of the leather chair, staring down at the tablet in my hand. On the screen was a flagged internal transfer order of five-million-dollar wire allocation routed through our secondary holding branch in Zurich, set to execute before the opening bell.It carried my digitized signature. Except I hadn't signed it.The doors of my office swung open without a knock. David walked in, his tailored jacket unbuttoned, carrying a dark leather folder tucked under his arm. He looked entirely too calm for a man who had just convened an unannounced meeting with our internal auditors forty-five minutes ago."You're early," David said, shutting the door behind him with a sharp click. "I thought you were taking the morning off to handle things at home.""Cancel the Zurich transfer, David," I said, my voice dangerously low. I didn't look up from the tablet screen. "Right now."David paused mid-

Serena's POVThe argument didn't start with shouting. It started with the sound of Dominic stirring his coffee, the spoon clinking against the ceramic over and over again while I checked my bag at the dining table.It was barely seven-thirty in the morning."You're not actually putting those heels on," Dominic said from the kitchen island. He wasn't even looking at me; he was staring down at his phone, a fresh shirt on, his silk tie hanging loose around his unbuttoned collar."I have a meeting at nine," I said, sliding my tablet into the leather bag and zipping it shut. "The quarterly review with the regional heads.""Call in," he said simply, finally lifting his head. "Or have your assistant send you the notes. You're staying home today."I picked up my watch from the table and buckled the strap around my wrist. "I don't need to call in. I'm fully prepared."Dominic set his spoon down with a loud thunk against the counter. He walked around the island, his leather shoes silent on the