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Chapter 9 — The Enemy Within

Author: Doona
last update Huling Na-update: 2025-11-02 06:45:37

(Nicholas’s POV )

I hadn’t meant to kiss him.

Hell, I hadn’t meant to touch him again after that night six months ago when he vanished into the chaos of gunfire and betrayal.

But now, every time I closed my eyes, I could still feel the ghost of his mouth against mine — the taste of whiskey, blood, and defiance tangled in a kiss that should never have happened.

It wasn’t forgiveness.

It was the start of something far worse.

The next morning, I woke before dawn. The rain had stopped, leaving behind that sharp smell of cold steel and asphalt that always reminded me of death.

I showered in silence, buttoned my shirt, and stared at my reflection in the mirror. My face looked calm. Composed. But the man staring back at me was lying.

I’d spent my life mastering control. My father used to say, “A Rhodes doesn’t bleed where anyone can see it.”

But ever since Rafe came back, I’d been bleeding everywhere — quietly, internally, invisibly.

By the time I reached my office, the house had begun to st
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