LOGINI waited until the meeting was already underway. The conference room had that one-way glass wall on the east side. From the hallway you could see straight in, but they couldn’t see out. Perfect. I stood just far enough back that I blended with the shadows, arms crossed, heart beating steady but fast. Nico sat at the head of the long table, Carlo across from him, two other guys I didn’t recognize taking notes. Papers spread out, coffee cups half empty, normal business shit on the surface. I’d been practicing the bond for days now,small pushes. Little teases. But today I wanted to see how far I could really go,how much control I actually had. Nico looked calm from the outside. Crisp shirt, sleeves rolled once, that focused expression he wore when money or power was on the line. But I felt him through the bond... cool, sharp, completely in control. Exactly where I needed him. I closed my eyes for half a second, steadying myself. Then I sent it. Not a brush, not a flicker but a fu
The fight started over nothing and everything at the same time. It was late. The penthouse lights were dimmed low, the kind of quiet that usually felt comfortable now. I was in the kitchen pouring a glass of water I didn’t really want when Nico walked in from his office. His shoulders were tight, the way they got when something from work was still chewing on him. He came up behind me, hands sliding around my waist like they belonged there. They did, most nights. But tonight his touch felt too heavy and too sure. “You’ve been off since Jake left,” he said, voice low against my ear. “Talk to me.” I tensed. Just a little. Enough that he felt it through the bond. “I’m fine, just tired.” He didn’t let go. If anything, his grip tightened. “You keep saying that. But I feel you pulling back, every day a little more.” I set the glass down harder than I meant to. Water sloshed over the rim. “Maybe I need space sometimes, Nico. Not everything has to be about you knowing exactly what’s in m
Jake arrived on Friday afternoon with a backpack slung over one shoulder and the same wary look in his eyes that Dad used to get when something didn’t add up. He was fourteen now, taller than I remembered, gangly in that way teenagers get right before they fill out. When he stepped out of the elevator into the penthouse, his eyes went wide for half a second before he shut it down. “Damn, Aurora,” he said, trying to sound casual. “This is... something.” I pulled him into a hug that lasted too long. “You made it. Come on, I’ll show you around.” I performed the hell out of it. This was my little brother, the one who used to fall asleep on my floor doing homework while I hacked quietly in the corner. The one who still called me when Mom worked doubles and the power flickered. I couldn’t let him see the cracks. Not the bond humming under my skin, not the secrets sitting heavy in my chest, not the way I sometimes woke up between two men who might be connected to everything I’d los
I waited until the penthouse went dark. Nico had been especially possessive all evening... pulling me into his lap during a movie, hand between my thighs under the blanket while Matteo pretended not to notice. The weekend at the lodge had changed the temperature between all three of us, and Nico was making damn sure I felt it every single day since we got back. When he finally fell asleep, arm heavy across my waist, I slipped out from under it like I’d been practicing. The laptop felt heavier than usual when I pulled it out from under the bed. My hands were steady as I set up in the bathroom, door locked, sitting on the cold tile floor with my back against the tub. Headphones in, VPN bouncing through too many countries to count. I logged into the dead-drop and found the new file waiting. Second piece. My contact had come through again. The file was bigger this time... less fragmented, more dangerous. Payment logs, internal memos. A scanned contract page with signatures that made
The city felt louder when we got back. The elevator doors opened into the penthouse and the weekend at the lodge suddenly seemed like something that had happened to other people. The stone fireplace, the cold lake water, Matteo’s quiet words by the shore, the way the three of us had come apart and fused back together in front of dying embers... all of it felt distant the second the familiar cedar-and-glass smell hit me. But it wasn’t gone, the shift had followed us home like a shadow that refused to stay behind in the hills. We unpacked in near silence. Matteo carried my bag to the bedroom without being asked. Nico disappeared into his office almost immediately, but not before his hand lingered on my lower back a second longer than necessary, fingers pressing in like he needed the reminder that I was still here, still his. Things were different. I felt it in the way the bond sat between us now... heavier, more present, less willing to be ignored. The careful distances we’d mainta
The second day at the lodge started slow. We woke up tangled together in the big bed upstairs, limbs heavy, bodies marked from the night before. Sunlight came through the big windows in soft gold streaks. For once, no city noise. Just birds and the distant sound of wind in the trees. Nico made coffee while Matteo and I stayed in bed a little longer, his hand tracing lazy patterns on my bare back. The bond felt quiet and warm, like it had finally exhaled after months of holding its breath. After breakfast Nico got a call he couldn’t ignore. Something about the port, his voice going sharp and businesslike as he stepped out onto the back porch. Matteo looked at me across the kitchen island, a small tilt of his head toward the door. “Lake?” he asked. I nodded. We walked down the dirt path together, towels slung over our shoulders, no rush. The air smelled clean, like pine and earth after rain. When we reached the small private lake, the water was still, reflecting the sky like a mirr







