LOGINCHAPTER 108
LUCA “She’s here,” Matteo said grimly, leaning against my office doorway.“Who?” I didn’t look up from the glass of whiskey in my hand. I already had a headache.“Alexis.”My fingers stilled mid-air. Slowly, I lifted my gaze. “What did you just say?”“She showed up at the gate. Says she wants to talk to you.” Matteo’s face was unreadable. “She looks… bad, Luca. Like she hasn’t slept in weeks.”I downed the rest of the whiskey in one slow burn. “Bring her in.”She entered like a ghost. Pale. Shaking. Her once-perfect hair hung in limp strands around her face. Her dress was wrinkled, smeared with dirt on the hem. She clutched her bag against her chest like it could shield her.For a moment, she just stood there, frozen by the door. Then her eyes met mine.“Luca.” Her voice cracked.“Alexis.” I leaned back in my chair, cold, detached. “You’ve got some nerve coming here.”CHAPTER 108LUCA “She’s here,” Matteo said grimly, leaning against my office doorway.“Who?” I didn’t look up from the glass of whiskey in my hand. I already had a headache.“Alexis.”My fingers stilled mid-air. Slowly, I lifted my gaze. “What did you just say?”“She showed up at the gate. Says she wants to talk to you.” Matteo’s face was unreadable. “She looks… bad, Luca. Like she hasn’t slept in weeks.”I downed the rest of the whiskey in one slow burn. “Bring her in.”She entered like a ghost. Pale. Shaking. Her once-perfect hair hung in limp strands around her face. Her dress was wrinkled, smeared with dirt on the hem. She clutched her bag against her chest like it could shield her.For a moment, she just stood there, frozen by the door. Then her eyes met mine.“Luca.” Her voice cracked.“Alexis.” I leaned back in my chair, cold, detached. “You’ve got some nerve coming here.”
CHAPTER 107ADRIEN “Throw it away.”My voice was flat, sharp enough to slice through the soft chatter of the lobby.My secretary froze, bouquet in hand. White lilies again. Tied with a plain black ribbon. No name. No note. Just… lilies.“I—uh—Sir, it was already delivered to your office. Do you want me to—”“I’ll take it,” I interrupted, stepping forward and grabbing the flowers before she could stammer another useless word.The stems were wet, cold against my palm. The scent hit me, heavy and nostalgic. For a second—just one stupid second—I almost remembered my mother humming in the kitchen.Then I shoved the thought down and kept walking.The lilies had been arriving every morning for weeks. Always the same bouquet. Always unmarked. At first, I told myself it was some business admirer. Maybe a partnership ploy. Then I told myself it didn’t matter.Now, I just didn’t want to admit the truth.Because deep down, I knew.“Sir,” Clara—my secretary—jogged beside me, tablet in hand. “You
CHAPTER 106LUCA“He blocked me. Again.”My voice cracked against the silence of my office. The bouquet of white lilies in my hand suddenly felt stupid. Pathetic. Like me.Matteo didn’t even look up from the whiskey he was pouring. “Then maybe, Luca, you should take the goddamn hint.”“I’m not giving up on him,” I snapped, slamming the flowers on the desk. The vase cracked. Water spilled across my papers.He laughed—bitter, tired. “You already did. The moment you lied. The moment you broke him.”My jaw clenched. “It wasn’t—”“It was,” he cut me off, finally looking at me. “Stop rewriting the story to make yourself feel better.”I exhaled sharply, running a hand through my hair. Adrien wasn’t picking calls. Every number I tried—blocked. Every attempt to see him—his security shut me down. I even drove past his company like a stalker. All I saw was his cold face in those tinted car windows. He didn’t even glance my way.I pulled out the new plan from the drawer. “I’ll send flowers. Anony
CHAPTER 105TYLER My chest wouldn’t calm down.Even hours after leaving the club, after walking away from him, my heart was still beating like I’d run through fire.Luca.His face was exactly the same. His voice too. But the way he’d looked at me, like he still owned me, like I was supposed to just fall back into his arms and forget everything—that was the part that almost broke me.Almost.But I was past crying. Tears didn’t come anymore. They’d dried up months ago, burned out of me in locked rooms and sleepless nights.So instead of collapsing, I went straight to the training floor.The gun felt heavy in my hands, the metal pressing into my skin. I slammed magazine after magazine into the rifle, firing into the targets until my shoulders ached, until the air smelled of smoke and metal, until my arms shook from recoil.“Again,” I muttered under my breath, sliding another round in. My voice was hoarse, rough, like I’d swallowed glass.The target’s head exploded into paper scraps. Goo
CHAPTER 104ADRIENI stood there like a fool, staring at the space Adrien had just vanished into.My chest felt like someone had carved it open with his knife instead of the man I’d been hunting.Cold. That was the word. He’d looked at me like I was a stranger. Not the boy I’d bled for. Not the boy I’d held at night, swearing I’d never let anyone break him.He looked at me like I was just another enemy to cut down.And maybe I was.“Fuck.” The word tore out of me, low, bitter. I leaned back against the wall, dragging a hand down my face.I knew I’d fucked up. I’d known it the moment I let him walk out of my house nearly a year ago, his eyes wet and his lips trembling, begging me not to believe the lies.And I hadn’t listened.I chose ghosts over him. I chose my sister’s death over the living breathing man who had stood in front of me.Now he was ice. A blade. And I was the one bleeding for it.I replayed his voice in my head. I don’t give a fuck about your sister.He meant it.The boy
CHAPTER 103ADRIEN The job was clean. In and out. One bullet, one knife, silence. Another name off Lucien’s list.I wiped the blade on the man’s jacket before sliding it back into my coat. My pulse was steady, my mind clear. No hesitation, no guilt. Just work.I opened the door, stepping back into the dim hallway.And froze.Someone blocked my path.Tall. Broad shoulders. Sharp suit.I looked up.My heart stopped. Then it slammed back into motion so hard I thought it might tear through my ribs.Luca.He didn’t look surprised. He looked like a man who’d been waiting for this moment.His eyes burned into me, unreadable, sharp enough to cut. And then, in that low voice I used to know too well—“So it is you.”I swallowed. My fingers curled tight around the hilt of my knife.But my face didn’t flinch. My voice came out flat, cold. “Do I know you?”His jaw clenched. “Don’t do that.”“I said move.”He didn’t.“Adrien—”“Don’t say my name.” My knife slid out, gleaming under the hallway ligh







