تسجيل الدخولChloe’s POV
The warehouse smelled like sawdust and machine oil and, faintly, the coffee Marcus had made at some point earlier in the evening. He had a corner of it set up as a living space — a real couch, a proper kitchen area, a bathroom that was cleaner than I expected. The rest was tactical equipment and storage and the general impression that this was a place where a person lived when they were serious about not being found.
I sat on the couch wrapped in a blanke
Chloe’s POVThe warehouse smelled like sawdust and machine oil and, faintly, the coffee Marcus had made at some point earlier in the evening. He had a corner of it set up as a living space — a real couch, a proper kitchen area, a bathroom that was cleaner than I expected. The rest was tactical equipment and storage and the general impression that this was a place where a person lived when they were serious about not being found.I sat on the couch wrapped in a blanket someone had pushed into my hands, and I stared at the wall, and I waited for the shaking to stop.It didn’t stop.All three of them were doing things. Marcus was on his phone, quiet and clipped, reporting in to someone. Lucian was cleaning the cut on my arm with careful, precise movements, his brow furrowed slightly. Dominic had made tea, chamomile, from Marcus’s cabinet and set it on the table in front of me like he’d done it a thousand times before.&ld
Marcus’s POVThe alert came at 2:47 AM.I was already awake — I was always already awake, sitting in my truck across from the hotel with cold coffee and my laptop open, running a passive scan on the building’s entry points. Not because I expected something. Just because not watching felt wrong.The motion sensor I’d clipped to the hotel’s side entrance pinged first. Then the lobby camera feed I’d tapped through a contact at the security company showed two men walking in. Unhurried. Heads down. Dressed like they belonged.They didn’t belong.I knew it the way you know things after years of reading people in places where being wrong gets people killed. The way they moved — measured, deliberate, checking angles without looking like they were checking angles. One of them had his right hand loose at his side, just slightly away from his body. Ready.I was already out of the truck.I hit the g
Chloe’s POVShe picked up on the second ring, which meant she’d been near her phone. She was always near her phone when she was worried, and she’d been worried about me for months.“Chloe? Baby, it’s late.”“I know. Sorry. I just—” I pulled a pillow into my lap. “I needed to hear your voice.”A small pause. The kind that meant she was setting something down, giving me her full attention. “What’s wrong?”“Nothing’s wrong. I’m okay. I’m safe.” That part was true, at least. “I just have something on my mind.”“Tell me.”I leaned back against the headboard and stared at the water stain on the ceiling tiles. Funny how hotel rooms always had one.“I’ve been seeing someone,” I started.Her whole energy changed in an instant. I could feel it through the phone — the warm
Chloe’s POVThe hotel room smelled like lemon cleaner and recycled air. The bed had too many pillows, the TV remote was bolted to the nightstand, and the heating system made a faint ticking sound every few minutes.I’d been lying on top of the covers for forty minutes trying to logic my way through the most illogical situation of my life.I had a notepad. Real, physical paper, because something about this problem felt too big for a phone screen. I’d drawn a line down the middle — Pros on one side, Cons on the other — and I’d been staring at it long enough that the words had started to blur.The cons were easy to write. Society. Judgment. Logistics. The fact that I’d once told Alina this exact situation was crazy, and now the universe had apparently filed that under things to prove wrong. The fear that it would implode and I’d lose all three of them. The fear that I’d lose myself trying to be enough for
Chloe’s POVWhen I opened Lucian’s door and found all three of them standing in the hallway, my first instinct was to close it again.I didn’t. But I thought about it.“Is someone dead?” I asked.“No one’s dead,” Lucian said. He was the calmest, which tracked. “Can we come in?”I stepped back and let them in. They filed into the living room and arranged themselves — Lucian on the armchair, Marcus near the window, Dominic leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Like they’d choreographed it. Which, knowing Lucian, they probably had.I sat on the couch, tucked my feet under me, and waited.“We talked,” Lucian began.“I can see that.”“Without fighting,” Marcus added.I looked at Dominic. He raised one shoulder. “Mostly.”“We think the way things are going isn’t working,&rd
Lucian’s POVThe coffee shop was Marcus’s idea — neutral ground, he’d said. Which I found ironic given that Marcus had never once been neutral about anything in his life since I've known him.Still, I showed up. Because someone had to be the adult, and it clearly wasn’t going to be either of them.I arrived first and ordered a black coffee and a table in the corner. Marcus came in two minutes later, already scanning the room like he expected an ambush. And Dominic rolled up five minutes after that, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else on the planet.They acknowledged each other the way two dogs acknowledge each other in a small yard — tense, measuring, not quite growling.This was going to be fantastic.I waited until they both had drinks in front of them before I started. “I’m going to say something, and I need both of you to hear it before anyone responds.”“Good
Alina’s POV Tommy’s office was located on the second floor, nestled between two important rooms—one for strategy discussions and the other for storing weapons. This placement allowed him to keep an eye on operations while still having quick access to any weapons if needed. According to Ronan, who
Alina’s POVChloe was reading in bed, curled up with a thriller novel that seemed eerily fitting given everything happening around us. When I knocked, she looked up and noticed my worried expression.“Hey,” she said, setting the book aside. “Everything
Alina’s POV Eventually, we moved to the gym mats, lying side by side and talking about everything and nothing. His childhood in the cartel, the violence he’d escaped, the family he’d lost. My mother’s death, the years of searching for truth, the moment I’d realized my father was
Ronan’s POV All three of us plus Blade sat around the table, reviewing the evidence. Financial records, communications, photographs of documents, audio recording of Tommy’s conversation. It was damning. Absolutely, unquestionably damning.“He’s been stealing from us for over a year and a half,” I







