LOGINCillian
The city blurs around me. I have been driving around New York as if I can just magically make her appear in front of me, but nothing registers. Not the traffic. Not the noise. Not the people. Just the route in front of me and the location Declan sent. Every second that passes feels wrong. Too slow. Too late. I grip the wheel tighter, my knuckles whitening as the image of her keeps replaying in my head. The photo. Her smiling. Unaware.
And then… Gone. Taken. Because of me
ElenaIt’s been three days since the gala. Three days since the bathroom. Since the gunshot. Since I watched Cillian walk away from me and into something darker than I’ve ever fully seen, and somehow, everything feels… normal again. Or at least, it pretends to.I step out of the elevator and into the top floor of his building, my heels clicking softly against the polished floor. People glance up as I pass, some curious, some already recognizing me. That’s new. I don’t slow. I don’t hesitate because I’ve been here before. Because I know where I’m going. Because I belong here… Don’t I?The thought lingers longer than it should. I shake it off as I approach his office, barely sparing a glance at his assistant’s desk, empty. Strange. I knock once, but I don’t wait.I open the door. And stop. Everything inside me stills. She’s leaning over his desk. Close. Too close. Blonde. Beauti
CillianShe said she’s not leaving. The words haven’t left my head. Not once. Not when she said them. Not when I kissed her after. Not when I walked out of the kitchen to take a call I barely listened to. Not even now, hours later, standing in my office with a glass of whiskey I haven’t touched.I’m not going anywhere. Most people say things like that out of fear. Out of pressure. Out of not knowing what they’re getting into. Elena knows.That’s what makes it dangerous. That’s what makes it real. And my fucking Christ… That’s what makes something inside me settle in a way it hasn’t in years. I don’t like how much that matters. I like even less that I’m already thinking about how to make sure it stays that way.Permanent. Unbreakable. Mine. A knock sounds at the door. I don’t answer. It opens anyway. She steps inside. Like she belongs here. Like she’s done it a hundred tim
ElenaI wake up before him. That’s new. For a moment, I don’t move. I just lie there, staring at the ceiling, my body still wrapped in the warmth of sleep, my mind slower than usual, until everything comes rushing back.The gala. The bathroom. The gunshot. My chest tightens. And then, Him.I turn my head slightly. Cillian is still asleep beside me. Or as close to asleep as I think he ever gets.He’s on his back, one arm resting across his stomach, the other close enough that if I shifted just a little, I could tuck myself into him again. His face is calmer like this. The sharp edges softened. The tension is not completely gone, but quieter.He looks… human. It shouldn’t surprise me. It still does. Because I saw him last night. Not here. Not like this. I saw the man who walked back into this penthouse with blood on him that didn’t belong to him.The man who said, “I took care of it.” And I didn
CillianThe warehouse is exactly where she said it would be. Pier twelve. Rusting metal. Broken lights. Water slamming against the docks in uneven waves, the sound echoing through the night like something restless. I step out of the car, and the cold hits immediately.Good. It sharpens everything. Liam moves to my left. Declan to my right. Ronan steps out of the second car slower than the rest, but he’s here, and that’s all that matters.Men spread out behind us. Weapons ready.Silence falls the second the engines cut. No shouting. No warning. Just presence.“They’re inside,” Declan says quietly, glancing at his phone. “Movement confirmed. Multiple.”“Good.”Because I didn’t come here for empty space. I came here to end something. I lift my hand once. That’s all it takes. We move. Fast. The side entrance goes down first. Two men at the door, gone before they even unders
ElenaThe silence is too loud. That’s the first thing I notice when I step back into the penthouse. Not the size of it. Not the luxury. Not the floor-to-ceiling windows showing the city glowing beneath the night. The silence. It presses in from every corner, crawling under my skin, settling in my chest like something waiting to break open. I wrap my arms around myself as I walk further inside.Safe. That’s what they keep saying. But my body doesn’t believe it yet. Not after tonight. Not after the bathroom. Not after the factory. Not after the way his arm felt around me again. My breath catches. No. Don’t go there.I move quickly, almost without thinking, checking the front door first. Locked. Of course it is. Security panel lit. Active. Cameras running. Still, I check it again.Then the windows. Every single one. Curtains slightly parted, glass cold under my fingertips as I press against it, scanning the streets below like I might
CillianBy the time I get back to her, the room has already shifted. Not visibly. Not to anyone who doesn’t know what to look for. The music still plays. Champagne still moves through the crowd. Conversations still hum under the chandeliers like nothing happened. Like a man wasn’t just put down in a bathroom because he made the mistake of putting his hands on what belongs to me.But I know better. Declan knows better. Liam definitely knows better.And Elena feels it too. She’s standing near the back corridor now, Liam half a step behind her, his expression blank in that way that means he’s one wrong breath away from snapping someone’s neck. Elena’s arms are wrapped around herself too tightly, her face pale, her breathing uneven, even though she’s trying like hell to hide it.The second she sees me, something in her eases. Not fully. But enough. I cross the distance between us without slowing and put one hand on her waist, the other cupping the side of her
ElenaI stare at the dress for a long time before I touch it.It’s laid out on the bed like it belongs there. Like I belong there. Black, sleek, expensive in a way I can’t even begin to understand, the fabric catches the light in soft waves that make it look almost liquid. There’s a pair of heels b
CillianShe doesn’t do what I tell her. I know that before I even open the door.She’s by the window, still in the silk pajamas I had sent up to her. Dark hair loose around her shoulders, bare feet against the polished floor, morning light tracing the outline of her body in pale gold. I lean again
CillianBy the time Declan walks into my office, I’m already in a foul mood.That kiss should never have happened. Not because I regret crossing the line. I don’t waste time on regret. But because it told me something I didn’t want confirmed. She got under my skin faster than anyone has in a long f
CillianI know the second I step into the room that Ronan got to her first.Not because he says anything. He doesn’t have to. I can read it in the way she’s standing in the middle of the kitchen like she’s braced for impact, all rigid shoulders and lifted chin, as if sheer stubbornness can hold the







