LOGINAuthor's POV Mara did not rush.That was the thing about her that most people never understood. She was not impulsive. She did not act out of anger or emotion or desperation, even when all three of those things were sitting inside her chest at the same time.She acted out of calculation.And she had been calculating this for a very long time.***The folder on her desk was thin.It did not look like much. A few printed pages. Some handwritten notes in the margins. Dates, times, names written in her neat, careful handwriting.But every single detail in it had cost her something to collect.Dante's travel schedule for the next three weeks — pulled from careful observation and a source inside the logistics team she had cultivated quietly over months.His security rotation patterns — she had watched long enough to know which hours had the thinnest coverage, which guards rotated at what time, which gaps existed in the pattern that Dante himself probably never thought to question.The timi
Author's POV The car arrived early.Earlier than Jem expected.He was still in the sitting room when he heard the gates open, and something in him shifted before he even stood up. Like his body knew before his mind caught up.He walked to the entrance.The door opened.Dante stepped through it.He looked composed. Suit in place. Expression controlled. Everything about him said nothing happened, nothing is wrong, everything is exactly as it should be.Except the color of his face.It was slightly off. Not dramatic. Just enough that someone who had been paying attention would notice.Jem had been paying attention.They looked at each other across the entrance hall.Neither of them spoke.Neither of them needed to.The silence between them said everything that words would have taken too long to explain. Dante knew that Jem knew. Jem knew that Dante knew he knew. And for a long moment they simply stood there, two people on either side of something that had shifted between them permanentl
Author's POV Night came heavy over the estate, the kind of night that did not feel like rest but like waiting. Everything inside the mansion had gone quiet hours ago, the corridors dimmed, the staff withdrawn, the world outside reduced to distant sounds that never quite reached the upper rooms. Jem had fallen asleep without realizing how tired he was, his body sinking into the bed as though it had finally accepted silence as normal again. But somewhere deep in the stillness, something changed.It started as pain.Sharp. Sudden. Right in his chest.Jem jerked awake immediately, breath catching in his throat as his hand flew to his chest. His eyes snapped open in the dark room, the ceiling above him barely visible, but the pain was so real it didn’t feel like his own. It was foreign, like something being pulled through him from far away. His breathing became uneven as he sat up quickly, his back pressing against the headboard. For a few seconds, he couldn’t even think properly, ju
Author's POVThe estate was quieter without Dante in it.Not in a bad way. Just in a way that made every small sound more noticeable. The soft creak of a hallway floor. The distant movement of staff somewhere downstairs. The wind pushing gently against the windows.Jem felt it from the moment he woke up.He lay in bed for a few extra minutes, staring at the ceiling, before he finally got up and started his day.***By mid-morning, he had checked on Madam Frost.One of the staff mentioned quietly that she was having a slower day. That she had chosen to remain in her room rather than come downstairs. Jem did not hesitate. He made his way to her room, knocked softly, and pushed the door open when she answered.She was sitting up in bed, propped against several pillows, a light blanket across her lap. She looked tired. Not unwell in a frightening way, just the kind of tired that came from a body that had been carrying things for too long.Her face brightened slightly when she saw him."Yo
Author's POV She was already seated at the table, a cup of tea resting near her hand while she looked over something on the tablet in front of her. But the second her eyes lifted and landed on them, everything else immediately became irrelevant.Her gaze moved from Dante to Jem.Then back again.She did not say anything at first.She simply looked.Because there was something different.Something she had spent months hoping to see.The way Dante stood slightly closer to Jem without realizing it.The way Jem no longer looked like he was preparing himself to run.The way they moved around each other naturally.Something in Madam Frost’s expression softened.Her eyes filled quietly.But she did not make a comment.She did not tease them.She did not say anything that would embarrass either of them.She simply reached across the table the moment Jem sat beside her and placed her hand over his.Jem looked down at their joined hands.Then he looked at her.Madam Frost only smiled faintly.
Author's POVFor the first time in what felt like a very long time, the morning inside the estate did not feel like a place where everyone was waiting for something terrible to happen.The silence was still there, as it always was inside the Williams mansion, but it was different now. It was softer. Less suffocating. Less like the walls themselves were holding their breath.Jem woke up slowly, his eyes adjusting to the pale morning light slipping through the curtains before his attention shifted toward the person beside him.Dante was still asleep.For a few moments, Jem simply remained there, staring.Not because he was suspicious.Not because he was trying to figure out what Dante was hiding.But because, for the first time since he had entered this estate, he was actually allowing himself to look at him without searching for a reason to protect himself.Without wondering when everything would fall apart.The sight of Dante sleeping was still strange to him in a way he could not exp
Jem's POV I shouldn’t want him… but I do. That was the only thought that kept repeating in my head, over and over, as I lay there beneath him, my legs spread apart against Dante's skin as my body betrayed every hesitation I had tried so hard to hold on to. And my pants? They were long gone bef
Jem's POV I couldn’t watch Dante leave just like that. So I acted immediately. Just before he grabbed the doorknob and was about to step out of the room, I quickly blurted out, “I’m sorry.” The words slipped out before I could even decide if it was the right thing to say or not. Dante stopped
Jem's POV The entire ballroom was staring at me. Every conversation dead. Every eye locked onto where I was standing holding an empty tray while Mara performed her outrage for the room like she had rehearsed it. I stayed calm. Not because I wasn't scared, but because panic was a luxury I co
Jem's POV The event day finally arrived. I woke up knowing today mattered more than any other shift I’d ever worked. The pay alone was shocking. I couldn’t imagine how many months of night shifts it would take to earn this much. I promised myself I wouldn’t mess this up. The gala was a







