LOGINNYLACold was the first thing I felt before my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Then the particular discomfort of a hard surface underneath me that was not a bed or a chair or anything designed for a person's comfort.I sat up too fast and my head paid for it immediately, a sharp insistent pressure behind my eyes that made me press my hand against my temple and wait for it to pass. My mouth tasted wrong, chemical and dry that reminded me immediately of what had happened on that street.I looked around in the dark room that had concrete walls from what I could make out. One light source, a single fixture in the ceiling, dim enough that it took my eyes a moment to adjust fully. A door on the far wall with no handle on my side.I looked at my hand and felt cold move through me, the ring was gone."Hello." My voice came out rougher than I expected, scraped raw from whatever they had used to knock me out. I cleared my throat. "Is anyone out there."I got to my feet carefully with my tied h
NYLA"I need to go find him," I said.I thought about the last time I had left somewhere I was supposed to stay. The secure location outside the city. Courtney's voice telling me we needed to go, and the guards I had called off. The car ride and the house and everything that had happened after. Kael had found me that time.He had tracked the driver's phone and driven forty minutes and found me and the look on his face when he walked through that door was not something I was in any hurry to produce again.I answered quickly. “Jason, are you still there?”Fear started pressing against my ribs hard enough to hurt.“Maybe he’ll answer me on my line,” I said, though I suddenly wasn’t sure.“Nyla—”“I’ll call you back.”I hung up before he could say anything else and immediately dialed Kael.The call rang and rang before it slipped into voicemail.I stared at the screen.“No,” I whispered and I called again but it was the same result.I got up from the bed and started pacing. “Come on, Kae
NYLAThe first thing I noticed when I woke up was the silence. I stayed still beneath the sheets, staring at the pale gold sunlight coming through the curtains while my body slowly caught up with consciousness. My hand moved instinctively across the bed beside me. It was empty, Kael wasn't back.A tiny knot formed in my stomach before I could stop it. I pushed myself upright quickly, scanning the suite as if he might somehow appear from thin air. The bathroom light was off, I didn't hear running water or movement from the sitting area.“Kael?” My voice came out rough from sleep.There wasn't any answer, he wasn't in the bathroom.I exhaled slowly and rubbed at my face, trying not to let the uneasiness settle too deep. He’d told me there were still things he needed to handle. Even though he knew the authorities would handle Grimes, he still wanted to tie all loose ends, contact some people. Problems that wouldn’t disappear just because we wanted one quiet night together.Still,
MIA My phone rang at two in the morning and I knew before I looked at the screen that it wasn't going to be anyone ordinary. Nothing good called at two in the morning so I picked up. "Mia." The voice came through calm and unhurried. "I trust you're well." I sat up in bed. "Dad....." "In the flesh." A pause. "Relatively speaking." "How are you out?" I said. "Details for another time," he said. "What matters is that I'm out and the game is very much still running. I need you sharp and I need you ready and I need you to understand that everything that happened over the past several weeks was a setback, not an ending." I pressed my fingers against my forehead and thought about what that meant. About Evans and his daughter and Kael and Nyla and the engagement that had apparently happened based on the photo circulating on every platform since this morning. About everything I had been sitting with since the walls started closing in and I realized I was the only person in
NYLA "Regardless of this, it won't spoil our moment." Kael spoke up first after the photo. "Hey, we are still headed to the hotel," He informed his assistant and the driver nodded The hotel room door had barely clicked shut before Kael's hands found my waist and spun me around. "We have a few hours to ourselves" His voice was gravel, eyes dark in a way that had nothing to do with the bad news and everything to do with me. "Then stop wasting it." He kissed me hard, it wasn't the sweet, careful kind he'd given me when I said yes on that rooftop. This was different, it was hunger that had been sitting behind his head all morning, finally let loose. I grabbed the lapels of his jacket and shoved it off his shoulders and he laughed against my mouth, low and rough. "I can see you have been impatient," he murmured. "You proposed to me three hours ago and I've barely touched you since." I pulled back just enough to meet his eyes. "I've been very patient, Kael." Something
NYLA I looked at the assistant standing at the path and then at Kael and in the space of three seconds the morning changed completely. Kael didn't stand up dramatically or raise his voice or do anything that would tell a stranger watching that something had just changed. But I knew him well enough to see the warmth that had been sitting in his face since he got off one knee was still technically there but something had changed. "How did this happen?" Kael said. "The details are still coming through sir. What we know is that the transfer between facilities had a window and someone used it." The assistant kept his voice measured. "It happened approximately two hours ago. The information took time to verify before we brought it to you." "Two hours." Kael looked at the table briefly. "And I'm only finding out now." "We didn't want to bring you something unconfirmed—" "Next time bring it unconfirmed," Kael said, completely level. "Unconfirmed and early is always better than
EVANS I had just settled into the soft leather of the armchair, glass of scotch in hand, when my phone vibrated with another call. I ignored it, letting the liquid amber soothe some of the tension building up in my chest. I was already planning my next move, calculating every detail, thinking o
NYLA“Come in,” I said without looking up.The door opened slowly. I knew who it was before I lifted my head. Some instincts never dulled.Marisol stepped inside like she had every right to be there.The overhead lights caught the smooth curve of her stomach beneath a fitted cream dress. It was unm
NYLAThe Leclair headquarters had always stood tall in the district. Thirty floors of glass and steel. The gold lettering at the entrance had dulled slightly with time. I noticed that the moment the car stopped.Leclair Group.The lobby had been renovated three years ago. Marble floors spread wide
NYLAThe Leclair house had never tried to intimidate anyone.It wasn’t a palace perched on a hill, nor was it one of those grotesque displays of wealth that screamed for validation. It sat quietly behind wrought-iron gates and trimmed hedges. Two floors of cream stone, tall windows framed by dark s







