LOGINTristanFor one second, nothing happens. The guard’s words hang in the air. “She’s not waking up.”My mind rejects it immediately. Nope. She only wants attention. There is nothing wrong with her. She’s perfectly fine. She has to be. It’s just another game. Another manipulation scheme that I won't succumb to. She wants me to walk through that door and race to her. Texas is already moving before I am. “What do you mean she’s not waking up?”The guard swallows hard, “We knocked several times, she didn't answer. We unlocked the door….” his voice falters, “She was on the floor.”Something cold settles beneath my ribs. I stand so abruptly the chair crashes backward onto the marble floor. The sound echoes through the office.Nobody speaks. Nobody moves. I don't even remember crossing the room. One second, I'm beside the desk, the next, the office door slams against the wall as I stride into the corridor.Texas trails behind me without saying a word. Although I can guess she’s practically
Tristan The first report arrives before sunrise. Belladonna again. Another warehouse. Another empty building. Another trail that goes cold. I stare at the photograph spread across my desk, burned documents, discarded weapons. Fresh tire tracks. Nothing useful. Nothing. My fingers drum against the desk, “Find them.”The men standing in front of me nod immediately, “We are trying boss.”“Trying is not enough.”Silence falls. Good. “You can leave.”They obey, and the office door snaps shut behind them. Leaving only me still sitting behind the huge desk.I should be working. Instead, I realize I’ve read the same report four times. Without remembering a single line. Fucking annoying. I throw the file aside and grab another. Accounts. Weapon shipments. Money transfers. The numbers blur altogether as I stare. My eyes drift toward the window. It’s raining. Again. My jaw tightens. Mexico had been raining too. “Enough.” I force myself back to work. Anything that will remove my mind from
Roxana The door closes behind him. Not loudly. Just quietly. The soft click somehow hurts more than every shout that came before it. I don't move. I can't. My body remains exactly where it fell, my knees pressed against the cold wooden floor, my palm trembling beneath my weight. For a long time, I don't hear anything. No footsteps, no voices. No sound of breeze rustling the flowers. Nothing. It’s as though the entire world has stopped breathing. Then my own breath catches in my throat. A sob tears free. Another follows. Then another. Until I can't tell where one ends and the next begins. I curl into myself. Small. As small as I can become. Maybe if I disappear, none of this will ever happen. Maybe if I close my eyes long enough, I will wake up the morning Tristan left for Italy. Back before I opened that file. Back before I believed the worst of him. Back before I ran. My chest tightens so painfully I clutch at my shirt. No. Not my shirt. The oversized white shirt Tris
TristanThe metal door to the torture room groans open and I step inside. The room smells of damp concrete and old blood. The kind of smell I'm used to. Daniel looks up immediately. He’s sitting on a wooden chair, wrists restrained in front of him, not beaten. Not yet.The moment our eyes meet, fear drains every ounce of color from his face. Good. He should be scared, because there is a certainty that he may not walk out of this room alive. I walk further into the room. Slowly, deliberately. The door clicks shut behind me. And silence settles between us. Heavy. Oppressive. The only sound in the room is the pounding of his breath. Daniel swallows, “ I.… I didn't know she was married.”I don't answer. I keep walking. Until I'm standing directly in front of him. The man my wife left me for. I stand close to him, so close he has to tilt his head back to look at me. My voice rings through the silence in the room, “You have been saying that.”His breathing becomes uneven. “It’s the tr
Tristan The tiny bedroom door slams shut behind me, the sound echoes through the hallway. I don't stop walking. One step. Two. I continue down the corridor without looking back. My jaw aches, I realize too late because I've been grinding my teeth together so hard I might crack them. The guards lower their heads as I pass. No one speaks. No one dares. Good. Because if anyone says a single word, I might kill them. The corridor stretches endlessly before me, every step should make me feel better. It doesn't. My hands still smell like her. My clothes. My body. Every single thing. My knuckles clench beside me. Making sharp pain jolt through my body. I stop and look down, blood. Mine. The cuts across my knuckles have opened again. I don't remember the last time I hit the wall that hard. I don't remember the last time I got so angry that I could have killed her right on that spot. The pain in my hand is nothing. In fact, not enough. Not enough to numb the one spreading through m
Roxana My entire body trembles violently. What the hell is going on? Another knock rumbles through the room. My legs dash to the door, before I reach it, the door opens from outside and I come face to face with Tristan. Looking disheveled. Exactly like a devil set to ruin and destroy. I take a step back instinctively, “W…. what’s the problem?”He doesn’t answer, instead, he steps into the room and slams the door shut, locking both of us inside the tiny room. Silence falls until it becomes uncomfortable, the only sound in the room is the thumping of my heart. I try again, “Is there a problem?”He says nothing, only walks further into the room, straight towards me. I take a step back again, then two, I keep taking until my back hits the wall.“You think you can keep running away from me right? You fucking slut.”Something painful crashes into me, my gaze drops to my feet as I try to force back the tears threatening to fall. “I’m sorry.”Tristan stands in front of me, so close our b
Tristan My phone buzzes, waking me. I ignore it, opening my eyes for a moment and staring into the blank space. It buzzes again. This time, I stretch my hand to the bedside drawer and pick it up. There are several texts from my brothers, my mother, and all the family members. *We are in your li
RoxanaI keep turning on my bed, Aaron’s words replaying in my head. I have to leave this house tonight. That’s the only way I can escape this arranged marriage and be with the man who truly loves me.Checking the time for the hundredth time today, I get out of bed.It’s 6pm.Almost dinnertime.Onc
RoxanaI step out of the room, the paper feeling like a ticking time bomb in my hand. How on earth has my life become this? Hot tears streak my cheeks as I think of Aaron. He loves me, and getting married to Tristan would crush him. What am I going to do now? A lump forms in my throat, and I swa
RoxanaIs something wrong with my eyes? Or is what I'm seeing real?I stare down at the paper in front of me, blinking a few times.This can't be real. There's no way I'm getting married to Tristan Kozlov—the ruthless and dangerous first son of the Kozlov Russian mafia. I know my stepfather is try







