🔥 What will Fernando do next? Will Michael manage to escape with Henry, or has he already sealed his fate by striking the Don? 👉 Check out the next chapter to uncover the storm that’s about to break.
Fernando’s POV I stood at the top of the grand staircase my face fixed in one direction. At the very center of it, below me, surrounded by the sharp black suits of my men, stood Michael.Even now—surrounded and conflicted—he was breathtaking. His chest rose and fell with ragged defiance, his fists clenched, eyes darting toward the garden where Henry sat only yards away. His entire body screamed with the kind of desperation that only came from someone who wanted to protect, to escape, to defy me.And I could still feel him.My nose throbbed where his fist had landed minutes ago in my meeting room. The sting of it burned sharp and hot, blood trickling faintly against my upper lip. The great Don Fernando Ramirez, struck in his own house by the very man who haunted my nights and defied my control.The humiliation might have broken another man but it only set me ablaze.I lifted my hand, pressing two fingers gently against the bridge of my nose, testing the tender ache. Blood smeared
Michael’s POV The door slammed against my back with a sharp thud, the vibration rattling through my ribs as if the entire mansion itself had turned against me. My palms pressed instinctively to the wood, my fingers splayed wide, but it was useless—Fernando’s body caged me in place like a predator who had finally cornered his prey. His hand was firm, steady, and unrelenting on my throat—not choking, not quite painful, but just enough to remind me who held the power here.And God, did he hold it.His eyes bore into mine with the kind of intensity that stripped me naked. Those sharp eyes left nowhere for me to hide. The air between us crackled, thick with tension and the ghost of something that should have been love but had been twisted into this—obsession, heat, and hunger neither of us could name without shame.I swallowed, or tried to, but his hand made it difficult. My voice still came out low, steady, though my heart pounded against my ribs like it was desperate to escape.“You
Fernando’s POVThe wood beneath me was cold, but the heat radiating from Michael’s skin was enough to burn through it, straight into me. My hand remained under his jaw, fingers angled upward, forcing his face to tilt toward mine. He didn’t flinch away from my touch, not completely—oh no, Michael was far too stubborn for that—but I felt the twitch of muscle under his skin, the faintest tremor that betrayed the storm he tried to hide.“Archer Graves,” I murmured, my voice a low growl, tasting the name like poison.Michael’s eyes flickered, just for a second, and I caught it—the hesitation, the recognition.So he knew.The realization stirred the predator in me. I leaned in closer, my breath brushing against his lips. “You’ve been asking me about him, circling the subject like a vulture. Don’t insult me by pretending it’s concern.”His voice was tight when he answered. “I’m not circling anything. I want to know if you remember. That’s all.”“That’s all?” I laughed, humorless, the sou
Micheal's POV Henry’s little feet slapped the polished floor before I could even take a breath.“Michael!” he shouted, his small voice echoing through the large meeting room.Before I knew it, his arms were wrapped tight around my waist, squeezing me with all the strength his tiny frame could muster. My body went rigid for half a second—caught between shock and relief—before instinct took over and I sank to my knees, crushing him against me, breathing in the scent of his soft hair.“Henry,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “God, I missed you.”“I missed you too,” he mumbled into my shirt, holding on as if letting go would mean losing me again.The ache in my chest sharpened. It had only been two days since Fernando had ripped him from me on the beach, but it felt like a lifetime. Seeing Henry’s small body pressed into my arms again was both salvation and torture.From the corner of my eye, I caught Fernando. He stood near the massive mahogany desk, Marlo beside him. Fernando’s pos
Fernando’s POVThe steady, deliberate tick of the clock in my office was the only sound competing with the muffled laughter of children drifting from the far corner of the room. The tick wasn’t loud, but in moments like this, it felt as if it punctuated every breath, every beat in the unspoken power game unfolding across my desk. The air was thick with the warm scent of polished mahogany and the faint bite of cigar smoke curling toward the high ceiling.Henry should have been in school, but he wasn’t.He was here, sitting cross-legged on the thick Persian rug, his dark hair falling over his forehead as he stared at the pile of miniature soldiers scattered between him and Javier Martinez’s son, Diego. Javier had insisted on bringing the boy along, saying it would “be good for them to play.” I had had my doubts. In my world, men brought children into meetings for one of two reasons: to distract, or to make a point.Across the table, Javier’s smile was just a little too wide, the kin
Michael’s POV The heat of the air rose in waves, mixing with the bitter scent of exhaust fumes and old coffee spilling from somewhere near the dumpsters. I could hear the muted hum of the city just beyond the wall of Kafé Verse’s parking lot. But right here, right now, the world felt fixed into one narrow stretch of ground between me and Archer.He stood with two of his bodyguards flanking him — one on each side like they were there to keep him from stepping out of line, but I knew better. They were here to make sure I didn’t. The taller one wore mirrored sunglasses even though the sun had dipped behind thick clouds; the other kept his hands folded loosely in front of him, a show of casualness that I knew was a lie.Archer had that half-smirk he always wore when he thought he had the upper hand, his expensive coat collar pulled up against a wind that wasn’t even there. His eyes didn’t blink much but they stayed on me, sharp, waiting.And I hated that his words from earlier still e