LOGIN"No!" Jared cried out, his voice raw and broken. It was a sound of total, unadulterated agony: the sound of a man watching his entire universe get extinguished in a single second.The gunshot echoed like a thunderclap against the brick walls of the warehouses, a sharp and final punctuation mark to the nightmare that had haunted them for years. For a heartbeat, time stopped.Myla felt a sudden, heavy weight slam into her, knocking the wind out of her lungs as she was thrown hard onto the cold asphalt. She flinched when she felt a splash of something hot and wet across her neck. Her ears were ringing so loudly that the world went silent, leaving only the sight of the dark, starless sky above her."Myla! Say something! Please, god, say something!" Jared screamed, his voice cracking with a terror so deep it was unrecognizable as he crawled toward her on his knees, his good hand clawing at the rough ground, his eyes wide and wild with the fear of what he would find.There was blood. Dark
"B, talk to me," Hayden hissed, his hand gripping the edge of a table so hard the wood creaked as he struggled to keep his tone low. "Tell me you have them.""Hay," Jared said, his focus on the road. "I need you to get off the comms and focus on the event.""Wha..." Hayden sputtered."Now is not the time to argue," Jared cut in. "You need to take control of the situation in the hall. My would be devastated if the purpose of her event were overshadowed by this."Hayden stayed silent. He knew Jared was right, but..."Leave this to us, baby," Jared said softly, overtaking a truck. "We'll get her back. I promise on my life."Hayden didn't say anything, but Jared heard the faint beep as his comms disconnected. "I have the plates!" Beck yelled, his voice a frantic staccato in his ears, his fingers flying across the keys as he bypassed the city's traffic encryption. "J, the black sedan, just turned north on 4th Street. They’re driving like they’ve got a police escort, blowing through every
"Please... just put the gun down," Jared pleaded, his voice jagged and desperate. “We can talk about this. We can work something out."He was so close, yet so far from Myla. His hands were trembling so violently that he could barely keep his balance. She was on the ground a few feet away, frozen, her breath coming in shallow, uneven gasps. Jared was a man who had survived the horrors of war. He had been a prisoner of war, enduring days of starvation and torture in a damp, dark cell. He had faced death a hundred times and never blinked. But at that moment, looking at the masked figure aiming a weapon at Myla’s head, Jared was more terrified than he had ever been in his life.The man in the bucket hat did not move. The face mask hid his expression, but his eyes were visible: cold, sharp, and filled with a terrifyingly focused hatred. What kept Jared still was how steady Kessler’s finger was on the trigger. The man was obviously highly trained.Edward’s confusion turned to a sudden, shar
“Let’s welcome the husband of the woman of the hour,” the MC announced. “He has something to tell us.”The applause was deafening as Hayden walked up the stage.His expression was calm and composed as cameras flashed in his face, every inch the controlled business executive the public expected to see. To anyone watching, the night was still perfect.Inside Hayden, however, everything felt like it was cracking apart.“I am sorry for the slight hook-up with tonight’s program. My wife has stepped away briefly,” he said smoothly into the microphone. “As anyone who has worn a corset to a charity event will understand, breathing eventually becomes a luxury. And I’m a man who loves to give my wife all the luxury life has to offer.” The crowd laughed.Hayden even allowed himself a small smile. “So while we wait for her return, we will be moving some of the programs planned forward. Join me as I welcome our young performers back to the stage.”The band began playing again, and conversations
"B, talk to me," Hayden hissed, his hand gripping the edge of a table so hard the wood creaked as he struggled to keep his tone low. "Tell me you have them.""Hay," Jared said, his focus on the road. "I need you to get off the comms and focus on the event.""Wha..." Hayden sputtered."Now is not the time to argue," Jared cut in. "You need to take control of the situation in the hall. My would be devastated if the purpose of her event were overshadowed by this."Hayden stayed silent. He knew Jared was right, but..."Leave this to us, baby," Jared said softly, overtaking a truck. "We'll get her back. I promise on my life."Hayden didn't say anything, but Jared heard the faint beep as his comms disconnected. "I have the plates!" Beck yelled, his voice a frantic staccato in his ears, his fingers flying across the keys as he bypassed the city's traffic encryption. "J, the black sedan, just turned north on 4th Street. They’re driving like they’ve got a police escort, blowing through every
“Hey, hey,” Jaredsaid,slowly liftingone hand away from his weapon, palm outward.“Calm down now.”Every instinct inside him was screaming at him to take the shot.The distance was close enough, and even though it was dark, he could see Edward’s face clearly through the smeared makeup and crooked gray wig.But Myla was in front of him.Too closeand too exposed.One wrong move and the bullet meant for Edward could go through her skull.Or worse, Edward would shoot her, then himself, in a murder-suicide fashion. And from the look in his eyes as he held Myla at that very moment, he would happily pick that option.“Easy,” Jared said quietly, his voice calmand controlledeven thoughthe fury burning behind his eyes was anything but.Edward shifted nervously, dragging Myla tighter against him as if Jared might suddenly teleport across the alle
The house settled into silence by nightfall. Only the faint hum of the new security monitors echoed from the guest wing. Myla sat on the edge of Hayden’s bed, brushing her hair back with restless fingers. She couldn’t focus on the book she’d pretended to read. All day, Beck’s touches...those fleeti
Myla’s chest rose and fell in shallow bursts, her mind caught in that foggy space between sleep and waking. She couldn't move. She lay on her side feeling something heavy moving toward her in the dark, pressing against the edge of her bed. Her body wouldn’t move. Panic fluttered in her throat as in
The scent of strong coffee lingered in the air as Myla padded barefoot into the kitchen. The morning sun reflected golden light across the stone counters, and for a brief second it almost felt like a normal morning... like four adults living peacefully under the same roof.Except it wasn’t normal
The guest wing was quiet, the hum of the AC the only sound as Beck dropped his duffel bag onto the bed. He yanked off his jacket, unbuttoning his shirt with sharp, jerky movements.Jared leaned against the door frame, watching him with that infuriating calm. “You’re going to rip the buttons off if







