LOGINKain
The crosshairs of my rifle were fixed precisely between Boris Solakov’s eyes. He was sitting in the VIP lounge of his private club, completely unaware that he had less than an hour to live. I breathed out, slow and steady, matching the rhythm of the city traffic below my perch on the rooftop. This was surveillance. Routine. The hunt was always the easiest part because it required nothing but patience and cold blood. Then, the burner phone inThe first thing I became aware of was the sound of rain against glass.Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter.The rhythmic, heavy downpour beat against the window, a dull and endless hum that vibrated through the car like a second, unsteady heartbeat.The second thing I became aware of was Kain.His presence filled the tight space, impossible to ignore but my mind was still caught on the fact that I shot at Kain after thanking God he showed up to save me.I was so glad that he wasn't hurt. I didn't want blood on my hands, even if he deserved it.Julian was supposed to be my Romeo. The clean escape from the cage my parents had built for me. A future untouched by Kain’s shadow. Yet when everything shattered, it wasn’t Julian’s name for.Why does the man I fear make me feel safest when the world falls apart?"Stop fidgeting," Kain’s voice sliced through the dark, low and rough around the edges. "You’re only making it worse."I blinked, surfacing from the spiral. The soft green glow of the dashboa
-KAIN- Tires ground against the road. Car doors flew open immediately.Julian was the first person out of the vehicle.It wasn't Dmitri. It wasn't the heavy security team. It was just Julian, sprinting full speed toward us without a single second of hesitation.He ran as if he had known exactly where to look for us on this isolated highway.To me, the sudden panic on his face looked completely rehearsed. Maybe it was real, but I honestly didn't care. He took one look at Tatiana resting in my arms and rushed forward. His hands were extended out, completely intent on ripping her away from me."Tatiana!" Julian breathed. His voice cracked with heavy emotion as he reached toward her.I immediately shifted her higher up against my chest. I turned my shoulder sharply to block his path, shielding her from his touch.My eyes locked onto his. I sent him a freezing, sub-zero glare that carried a silent, deadly warning:Touch her, and you die right where you stand.Julian froze instantly. His
-KAIN- My gun slid across the wet asphalt. The sharp, metallic sound echoed loudly under the heavy concrete roof of the underpass. I just stood there, staring. First, I looked at the weapon soaking in the puddles. Then, I looked at her. Tears were cutting clean, jagged tracks through the thick grime on her face. Her shoulders shook violently with every breath. She was gasping so hard it felt like she was sucking all the air right out of the empty space between us. To be honest, the bullets hadn't scared me at all. Gunfire was a language I knew by heart. It was familiar. But these tears? I had absolutely no idea how to read them. "Pathetic," I muttered. The word wasn't meant for her. It was meant for me. I absolutely loathed it the fact that this fragile, broken creature had managed to turn my entire world upside down in a matter of days. Frustrated with my own weakness, I turned my back on her. I began to walk away into the dark. Maybe this is for the best. Bringing her wit
My hands cramped around the steel grip.I sometimes hated how Julian used to look at me—like some broken thing he could glue back together.And my parents, for building the walls so high I forgot the color of the sky. I didn't want their protection or his pity anymore. I wanted people to look at me and feel afraid.I pulled the trigger.The flash blinded me for a split second, and the recoil kicked hard enough to jar my shoulders. Behind Kain, chunks of concrete blasted off the pillar in a cloud of gray dust. He turned his head, looked at the fresh crater in the stone, and then looked back at me."You missed.""Shut up, I know that." My arms were vibrating from the shockwave. The air tasted like sulfur, and hot tears were blurring my vision."Why don't you put the gun down before you hurt yourself?" His voice didn't have an edge to it. Like always."I said shut up!" It ripped out of my throat, raw and screeching.My panic instantly turned into a sickening need to smash that calm expr
TATIANA I struggled against his hold. "Let go of me, let go—""Stop," he said, his voice breaking completely. "Just, stop. Please."I went entirely still. I had never heard him use the word please before, and the vulnerability of it shocked me.He tilted my face upward, his rough thumb gently brushing against my temple. A sharp pain shot through my head, causing me to wince. A dark bruise was already forming where my captors had slammed me against the car frame."Don't play the savior," I choked out, trying to pull back from his touch. "I don't need you to comfort me.""I am not comforting you," Kain rasped, his thumb freezing against my skin.The moment his skin brushed against the swollen injury, Kain’s entire demeanor shifted.Any trace of dark amusement disappeared instantly. A freezing, lethal calm settled into his eyes."Which one of them touched you."My breath caught in my throat. Completely operating on instinct, my gaze drifted over his shoulder toward the dead kidnapper on
Tatiana POV There was blood everywhere.The thick, dark fluid pooled across the pavement, gleaming under the yellow glare of the street lamps.The lifeless body of my captor lay stretched out on the road.I could not look away from the stains on the asphalt.The sheer volume of blood made my stomach turn.My eyes slowly drifted from the corpse to the heavy, silenced weapon resting in Kain's hand.A wave of intense nausea hit me.In an instant, the freezing air of the highway underpass faded away. I was no longer trapped beneath the concrete structure.I was back in my parents home.I was standing inside a silent, suffocating mansion. I was staring down at the floor, watching Kain step over my father’s dead body with the exact same detached, empty expression he wore right now.He was a murderer. I was staring at a monster, and the most terrifying part was his absolute composure. He had not hesitated for a single moment."Did you," my voice cracked, and I had to swallow hard before t







