Novels by D. BLESSED

Chapter 6 Ashley POV Sienna crosses the room and shoves the phone into Liam's hands before he can ask what she means. I lean in without thinking, my curiosity outweighing the ache still radiating through my body from the last hour.The screen shows grainy security footage, timestamped less than twenty minutes ago. A figure moves along the outer wall of the estate, slipping between camera blind spots with the kind of precision that only comes from knowing exactly where those blind spots are. When the figure finally turns toward the light, I catch a flash of ink along the side of his neck, a jagged mark shaped like broken antlers.Liam goes very still."That's a Vane pack brand," he says quietly."I know what it is," Sienna snaps, some of her usual bite returning now that the shock has worn off. "What I don't know is why a Vane enforcer was inside your perimeter tonight, unless someone invited him.""No one invited him," Liam says, jaw tight. "The Vane pack and mine haven't spoken in

Ashley's POV I'm on my feet before I've fully decided to move, yanking the door open and running toward the stairs barefoot, heart slamming against my ribs. Smoke curls up from the ground floor, sharp and acrid, and somewhere below Liam is shouting orders in a voice I've never heard him use, raw with something that sounds almost like fear."Ashley, stay back!" He ordered me. A guard caught me at the top of the stairs, arm barring my way before I could reach the first step, his other hand already reaching for the radio clipped to his shoulder."What's happening? Someone screamed, "I heard it from my room.""Perimeter breach. Someone got past the east gate." His eyes are wide, scanning the smoke below us like he's expecting something to come charging up the stairs any second. "Mr. Ashworth is handling it, you need to get to the safe room, now."I don't move fast enough. Down the hall, another guard is dragging a limp figure away from the smoke, and somewhere out of sight I can hear Mar

Ashley's POV "What arrangement?" I ask, looking between them, taking in the dark hair pulled back tight, the storm-gray eyes that haven't left my face since she arrived. "Liam, what is she talking about?"He didn’t answer right away, and that hesitation tells me more than words would. Sienna's smile sharpens, clearly pleased with the crack she's put in his composure."Ask him about the council clause," she says sweetly. "Ask him what happens if they decide a human isn't fit to carry an Ashworth heir at all.""Sienna, that's enough." Liam's voice has regained some of its edge, but not all of it. He turns to me, jaw tight. "I will explain everything. Not here.""You didn't think to mention you'd relocated your little surrogate into the family wing before all of that, either?" Sienna asks, circling us slowly, her tone light and vicious all at once, clearly not finished yet."She's carrying my child," Liam says. "This is where she belongs, and I don't answer to you for the arrangements I

Ashley's POV I couldn’t sleep.I spend the night pacing my apartment, phone in hand, trying to find a version of this that doesn't end with me losing everything I've spent years building. Nia calls at midnight, crying, telling me she's already been suspended pending investigation, that if I don't cooperate with Ashworth she could lose her license entirely and everything she worked for besides.I think about calling my mother, but decide against it. She's still recovering, still fragile, and the last thing she needs is to hear that her daughter has been swept up into pack politics she never wanted any part of. I think about calling a lawyer instead, scrolling through numbers I can't afford to dial, before finally setting the phone down on the counter and staring at it like it might offer up an answer on its own.By morning I have my answer, even though every part of me is screaming against it.His car is waiting outside my building before I've even finished packing, a driver in a blac

Ashley's POV He's bigger than the billboards let on.That's the first thought that lands, stupidly, before the fear even catches up. Liam Ashworth fills the doorway shoulder to shoulder, dark hair, a jaw like it was carved rather than grown, eyes so pale they're almost silver. He's wearing a suit that probably costs more than my mother's entire hospital bill, and every line of his body says he is used to rooms rearranging themselves around him the second he walks in.Right now that room is this one, and I'm the only person in it.Behind him, two men in dark suits linger at the threshold, clearly bodyguards, clearly waiting for a signal that never comes. He doesn't spare them a glance. His attention is entirely, unnervingly, on me."You," he says, and his gaze locks onto me like a searchlight finding its target. "You're the surrogate.""I, um." My voice comes out smaller than I want it to, and I hate myself for it. "I don't actually know what happened yet. Nia was just explaining that

Ashley's POV "Just breathe, Ashley. This will only take a few minutes." Dr. Voss snaps on a fresh pair of gloves without looking at me, already reaching for the tray of instruments beside the exam table.I nod, staring at the fluorescent lights and trying not to think about the three months of overdue rent I couldn’t have covered without this contract. Nia squeezes my hand from her spot beside the table, her nurse's badge catching the light every time she shifts her weight."You're doing something incredible," she whispers. "That baby is going to grow up wanted more than almost any child in this city. Some couple out there has been waiting years for this call."I need to believe her, because in about ninety seconds a stranger's future child is going to be implanted inside me, and there's no version of my life right now where I can afford to feel anything but grateful for the check that comes after. I've read every page of the contract twice. I know the clauses about confidentiality,