LOGINNadia's POVI watched the maids tremble where they knelt along the wall as I snatched the next jug sitting beside me and swung it hard across the room, the sound of it shattering against the floor and cracking into a thousand jagged pieces feeling like the only thing capable of matching the fury boiling beneath my skin right now.I hated this. I hated all of it. I hated how small I had felt standing in the presence of Cassius tonight, how it had felt like I was somehow entitled to nothing except begging for his forgiveness, groveling like some common servant instead of the woman who had built this family with her own two hands, sacrifice by sacrifice, year after year.I picked up the last glass cup left standing on the dinner table and swung it across the room as well, and it struck one of the maids kneeling off to the side, trembling like the rest of them. She winced slightly at the impact, and I turned toward her immediately, my whole body already moving before my mind had finished
Cassius's POV"Bring him." I said, and two of my men moved forward immediately, seizing Tyler by both arms before he could think to resist."Cassius, wait—" Tyler started, his voice cracking as he was dragged forward, his feet stumbling slightly against the uneven pavement, his eyes darting frantically between me and the bodies scattered across the street behind him, as though some part of him still hadn't fully processed how thoroughly this night had gone wrong for him."Sit him down." I said, ignoring him entirely, and my men forced him down onto an overturned crate near the wrecked cars, his hands pulled behind his back and bound tightly with a length of cord one of them produced from somewhere. Tyler winced as the cord bit into his wrists, but he didn't fight it, some part of him clearly recognizing that fighting would accomplish nothing except making this worse.I lowered my gun, though I didn't holster it, letting it hang loosely at my side as I walked toward him slowly. "You h
Cassius's POVThe street fell into a heavy, electric silence for one brief second, both sides frozen in place, guns raised, fingers hovering over triggers, waiting for whoever would be foolish enough to fire first."Last chance to walk away, Tyler." I said, my voice low and even, though every part of me was already bracing for what I knew was coming. "Call them off.""You know I can't do that." Tyler said, taking a slow step backward toward his own men, putting distance between us like a coward looking for cover. "Mom would never forgive me if I backed down now. Not after everything.""Then I guess we do this the hard way." I said, and before he could respond, one of his men broke formation, raising his weapon a fraction too fast, and Raven didn't hesitate.The first shot cracked through the night, and everything after that dissolved into chaos.I dropped low immediately, using the wrecked frame of my car as cover as gunfire erupted from every direction, the deafening rattle of it bou
Cassius's POVI wrenched the wheel hard to the right, every muscle in my body screaming with the force of it, and the truck roared past us close enough that I felt the gust of displaced air slam against the side of the car, close enough that for one suspended, breathless second, I genuinely believed we hadn't made it.The car spun, tires shrieking against the asphalt, and we skidded sideways before finally jolting to a stop against a wall, the impact throwing both of us hard against our seatbelts, the crunch of metal folding in on itself echoing through the sudden, ringing silence that followed."Zylara!" I said, my voice sharp with panic as I turned to her, my hands already reaching to check she was still breathing, still whole, still there beside me."I'm okay." She said, her voice shaking violently, her hands trembling as she pressed them against her chest like she was trying to hold her own heart in place. "I'm okay, I'm okay." She repeated it like a chant, like saying it enough t
Tyler's POV**************"What the hell did you mean you lost him?!" I yelled into the phone, springing up from my seat so fast the chair toppled backward and clattered against the marble floor, my chest heaving with a fury I could barely contain as the lead gang member I'd sent out relayed, in that maddeningly calm voice, that they had lost Cassius. Lost him? As if he were a set of car keys and not a man they'd been ordered to hunt down. My jaw clenched so hard I thought my teeth might crack. Why were they so incompetent? How does an entire team of armed men lose one unarmed target? Cassius wasn't even carrying a weapon and they still let him slip through their fingers like sand. Useless. All of them, absolutely useless."Sorry, boss." The lead gang member's voice came through small and shaky, like he already knew an apology wouldn't be enough to save him from my wrath."Make it fucking right and stop fucking apologizing." I snapped, the words tearing out of me before I could soft
Cassius's POV "Where do you plan on going first when you get to the city? Home, or how do you plan on finding your sister?" I asked, as we drove away from Leonardo's house, the headlights of the city slowly beginning to swallow the darkness of the coastal road behind us. I had failed in convincing him to come along, as he had insisted that he'd prefer staying there, where he'd be easily located by his children whenever they returned from abroad. "I don't know yet, but I think I'll go home first to see if my sister would be there. If I don't find her there, I'll probably look for another way out." She said, her fingers twisting nervously in her lap, and I simply nodded, unsure of what comfort I could offer her when I wasn't even certain of the answers myself. I really can't say much. I don't even want to ask her about Crystal, or mention that she might be related to her, because I don't want to get her hopes high over something that could still, despite everything, turn out to b
Zylara's POVI creaked my eyes open and was immediately met with darkness. Where am I? Why the hell is everywhere dark? It took me a second before I realised I was blindfolded. I raised my hand to remove the blindfold, but I realised my hands were tied behind my back.What the fuck happened to me?
Zara's POV There are no words to absolutely describe what I'm feeling right now as my gaze locked with Cassius standing at the door. It was as if the air had been knocked clean out of my lungs. My heartbeat wasn’t just loud—it was frantic, thundering against my ribs like it was trying to escape
Zara's POV Pain... That was what I started feeling the moment my back hit the first step, a jolt of pain ripping through my spine. Then another—sharp, biting, merciless. I clenched my teeth to keep from screaming as the chair bounced and crashed down the staircase, dragging me with it like a rag
Zara's POV "Let me go, you bastard!" I yelled, thrashing against the ropes that held me to the chair. My wrists were already raw, the skin burning from the constant friction. Fuck. I need to get out of here. I really need to. This room is fucking soundproof and I can't hear even a drop from outsi







