MasukGraceI was laying on my side in the enormous bed with the silk sheets tangled around my legs like soft restraints. The room was dim and was lit only by the low golden glow of a single lamp on Adrian’s side. I stared at the dark wood of the headboard, the same one he had bound my wrists to earlier, and felt the weight of everything press down until it was hard to breathe.Guilt sat heavy in my chest which was thick and choking me. What was happening to me? I didn’t like the way he handled me- the jealousy that turned him into something terrifying.The way he ripped clothes and marked my skin as if I were property and the casual way he erased every choice I tried to make.I know I should have been screaming, fighting, planning escape. Instead, my body still hummed with the memory of how hard I had come for him, shamefully and helplessly, while tears slid down my face. I hated that I had liked it. I hated that I craved more and that contradiction was tearing me apart from the inside.
GraceMorning light filtered through the tall windows of the living room, pale and unforgiving, painting soft gold across the polished floors. I was curled on the massive leather couch with knees drawn tightly to my chest and arms wrapped around them as if I could hold myself together. My mind wouldn’t stop replaying last night- Adrian’s midnight eyes, the rough heat of his mouth and the way his voice had cracked with that terrifying vulnerability when he confessed he couldn’t live without me. His touches still burned under my skin. Every whispered claim, every possessive growl and every filthy promise had sunk deeper than I wanted to admit.I feared him. God, I knew exactly what he was- a monster who murdered without hesitation, who kept me locked in this gilded cage and called it marriage. Yet my body betrayed me at every turn. Somewhere in the dark corners of my chest, an ache had taken root, a restless hunger for his hands, his weight and his punishing intensity. The knowledge
GraceHis lips crashed against mine, devouring, claiming, and I whimpered into the kiss as it deepened. The world narrowed to the heat of his mouth, the possessive slide of his tongue pushing past my lips, sucking and tasting every inch of me like he was starving for my very soul. I gasped, the sound swallowed by him and my body arched against his bare chest despite every warning screaming in my head. My fingers curled into his collar, gripping the fabric so tightly my knuckles whitened. I wanted to shove him away- needed to…..but I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. Not really. Not when his kiss set every nerve on fire and made the ache between my thighs pulse with shameful need.His hand slid down my bare thigh, nails tracing lightly over sensitive skin, sending electric shivers racing through me. I trembled violently, a broken whimper escaping as my legs parted wider around his hips without my permission. The cold marble beneath me was a stark contrast to the scorching heat of his bod
GraceHis eyes were pure midnight. No light, no mercy- just a blackened, burning gaze that pinned me in place like a butterfly under glass. My heart slammed against my ribs so violently I could hear the frantic thud in my ears. Palms slick with sweat, throat parched and every survival instinct screamed at me to run even though there was nowhere left to go. I had pushed him too far. God, I should never have done that.The dead maid on the carpet was the proof. The shattered phone. The blood on his knuckles. The way he’d whispered “Let’s see how you escape me now” like a vow carved in stone.I gulped, moving one shaky step back. My eyes trembled, a lump rising thick in my throat, drowning in regret and guilt- until he moved.Adrian slid the blood-streaked shirt off his shoulders in one slow, deliberate motion. The fabric whispered to the floor, revealing the sculpted chest I’d once clawed in a nightclub haze and now wanted to hide from forever. Inked skin stretched tight over hard mus
GraceThe closet smelled of cedar and expensive leather, suffocating, like the house itself was trying to swallow me whole.I was curled into the tiniest cupboard at the very back of Adrian’s walk-in wardrobe, knees to chest and spine pressed against rows of polished shoes that probably cost more than my entire life. My breath came in shallow, terrified puffs. I had to stay silent. I had to disappear. In my shaking fingers was a maid’s phone, an old model I’d palmed from Maria’s apron pocket when she’d bent to pick up the shattered tray I’d thrown. The screen glowed faintly in the darkness, casting ghostly light over my tear-streaked face. Footsteps echoed outside. Voices, rapid Italian.“She can’t have gone far!”“Check the balconies again!”“Signore will kill us if we don’t find her!”I bit down on my lip until I tasted blood. They wouldn’t look here. No one would think to crawl into this cramped little space barely big enough for a child. I was safe. For now.My thumb flew over t
AdrianThe study smelled of leather, gun oil, and the rage I was barely keeping leashed.Nicholas and Dante stood across from my desk with their arms folded, their expressions carefully neutral in that infuriating way that always made them look like they knew something I didn’t. The Russians’ message lay open between us, the paper still flecked with dried blood.They wanted Grace.My wife.The woman I had bought, broken, and married in the span of days. The one whose fire made my blood burn hotter than any war ever could. I stared at the bloody letter they had sent. The words were clear: Trade the girl or the war escalates. We want Grace Valente.My fingers curled around the glass of whiskey so hard the crystal groaned in protest. Nicholas broke the silence first. “They swear no permanent harm. Just a bargaining chip to end the feud.”I didn’t answer. Just drained the whiskey in one burning swallow, the liquid doing nothing to cool the inferno raging inside me.Dante exhaled through
GraceThe library lights buzzed overhead. The harsh and yellow lights made my eyes sting. I rubbed them hard, then rubbed again, trying to focus on my half-finished project slides glowing on my laptop screen. Tomorrow was the deadline. The last submission before finals and I was nowhere near done.
Grace The Dark Elite Club felt like stepping into a different world. One where every shadow hid a secret and every glance meant something more. I gulped the lump formed in my throat and shifted uncomfortably on the high stool at the bar, my leather skirt riding up just a bit as I crossed my legs.
Grace My heart skipped a beat and my pulse throbbed under his touch but I frowned the second his fingers closed around my wrist. It was warm and strong. Too strong.Like he could snap bone if he wanted to, but right now he was just… holding.I blinked up at him. My brain fuzzy from tequila and emb
Grace “Oh my God, girls, it’s been forever since we did this!” Stella squealed and clinked her strawberry margarita against mine so hard pink liquid dropped over the rim. “No boyfriends, no drama, no curfews, just us, tequila, and terrible decisions.”Laila leaned back in the booth and twirled a s







