Lysandra:The fire crackled low in the corner of the room, casting flickering shadows across the stone walls. I sat in the armchair furthest from it, arms folded over my chest, trying to contain the storm that had been brewing inside me for weeks now.A storm that refused to be tamed, no matter how
Damon:She didn’t see me at first.Her steps were steady, her head dipped slightly forward as if the weight of the world was still pressing down on her shoulders, even in heels and that ridiculous buttoned-up blouse. Her hair was in a loose bun, strands slipping around her face as she exited the bui
Sienna:The soft clinking of silverware and hushed murmurs of conversation filled the restaurant. It was quiet, elegant, the kind of place you’d never imagine walking into without a reservation or three weeks of planning.And yet, here I was.Sitting across from Damon Lockwood.At a candlelit table.
“I know.”“I just… don’t want to fall into something that’s going to break me again.”His expression shifted, eyes softening in a way that made my chest tighten.“I’m not asking you to fall,” he said, voice low. “Just… walk with me. Because I believe that it is going to be a little joyous of a ride.
Damon:“You’re staying in my room tonight.” I said, making sure to keep my voice leveled as not to wake Isla up.Sienna blinked at me from where she was standing in the nursery, gently rocking our daughter in her arms. She studied my expression for a moment too long as if wanting to make sure that s
Sienna:Warmth.It was the first thing I felt as I slowly opened my eyes, the soft light of morning slipping through the curtains. The bed beneath me was warm and unfamiliar, firm, larger than mine, and it smelled faintly of Damon. I smelled like him…It took me a second to remember where I was.His
Damon:I sat behind my desk, finally back in my office at the edge of the territory, far enough from the estate to give me space. The blinds were pulled halfway open, letting in narrow strips of morning light that cut across the room like sharp blades.It had been weeks since I last stepped into thi
Sienna:I was halfway through the reports I’d been meaning to finalize when my phone vibrated across the desk. I frowned in confusion before taking a glance at it. No one ever bothered calling me, and for a moment, I feared that something might have happened to Isla.However, the name flashing on th
Delilah:The sound of the gunshot rang louder than it should have.It made my heart drop to my stomach and for a few moments I felt like everything around me just seemed to explode.One second I was stepping outside the building, I was walking out believing that maybe we had hope, maybe this was jus
Damon:I didn't expect to see her walk through the door.Even when I called her sounds, considering the fact that Sienna did not come and report to me, I expected it to be a mistake. I expected that something else was going on, that maybe she was just roaming around.But when I saw her walking throu
Giovanni:The silence in my office was never just silence.It was a weapon. A weight. A promise.The last thing that I would have expected was to send men following her, the one woman that I expected to never betray me. But if her mother had done so, why was I surprised when she did?I took a whiff
“Whatever you have to say, spill it out.”“I need your help.”That froze her.For just a second, the steel in her spine wavered. “What did you say?”“I said I need your help.”She stared at me, unsure if this was another game, another manipulation. Her jaw clenched.“You have a funny way of asking f
Delilah:The walls of the office were too white.Too clean. Too polished.And no matter how hard I wanted to deny it, no matter how much I was despising being here, I knew that I needed to be.I needed help, and I knew that they were the only people who would be willing to help with something like t
Sienna:I told myself I was just taking a walk.I told myself that I just needed a break, that I was going to be all right, that this was just a moment of weakness where I needed to find myself.I took a deep breath as I walked down the western corridor, where the windows were tall and the sunlight
I laughed, stepping closer. “You’re getting attached. That’s dangerous.”“She’s my sister,” Delilah hissed. “And I'm going to start acting like it. Or is it because you deprived the two of us from being together, from growing up by one another side that you are furious that I'm actually taking the c
Giovanni:The door creaked open, the scent of ash and leather wafting into the grand marble foyer like a warning. I stepped inside, boots echoing with cold authority across the polished floor. Silence wrapped around the place like a shroud.Everything seemed calm, far too delicate in a way that I di
Damon:She didn’t say anything at first.Not since we left the office. Not since the two of us were inside the car.We sat in the car with the silence between us stretched thin, tight like a wire pulled to its breaking point. I didn’t push her. I didn’t reach for her. I let her sit in it, breathe th