LOGINKasey’s POV I should've said no. The words were right there on the tip of my tongue but instead, I let him pull me into the bathroom.We were married to other people for barely a week and here we were, about to cross every line in the book. But right now, with Landon's hands on my skin, I didn't give a damn. Regrets could wait until morning. I just prayed Landon wouldn't notice the slight changes in my body. If he did, I'd blame it on the honeymoon or something. Anything.He turned on the shower and the water roared to life as steam filled the small space. His eyes never left mine as he stripped off the rest of his clothes. God, he looked so good; broad shoulders, inked arms, that V-line leading down to where he was already hard for me. I swallowed hard and peeled off my shirt, then my bra, feeling exposed under his gaze. He stepped closer and hooked his fingers into my jeans, popping the button open with ease."Let me," he whispered, sliding them down my legs along with my pantie
I held her there on my lap, and fuck if time didn’t slow down. Minutes stretched into what felt like hours, and the crazy thing was; she didn’t fight it. Didn’t slap me, didn’t cuss me out, didn’t even try to slide off. If anything, she settled in deeper. Her head rested against my shoulder and her body went soft against mine like it remembered exactly where it belonged. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for her to shove me away and remind me she had a husband now, but it never came. We stayed like that for a long minute, maybe two. The only sound was the ragged symphony of our breathing and the distant hum of the refrigerator. She was here. And she wasn’t running. I couldn’t help myself. "Did you miss me?" I asked in a low voice testing the waters. She rolled her eyes, but there was no real heat behind it. Just that familiar spark she always had when I pushed her buttons. I grinned despite the ache in my chest. "That’s a damn shame, Trouble. Because I missed you every
I froze the second the door opened. She was really here. Kasey. My Kasey. Or at least, she used to be.She was supposed to be on a beach somewhere. Drinking fucking daiquiris with her husband. Posting those goddamn cozy pictures that felt like little shards of glass in my gut every time I scrolled past them. Yet here she stood, in the ugly fluorescent light of Tyler’s apartment corridor, looking as real and as out-of-place as a dream.Her lips parted and a soft uncertain sound escaped. "Hi."That single word, so small, so nervous, snapped something inside me. My throat closed. I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move. I just stared, drinking in the sight of her like a man who’d been dying of thirst. The curve of her jaw, the faint freckles across the bridge of her nose I’d once traced with my lips, the way her shoulders were held tight with a tension I wanted to smooth away with my hands.She cleared her throat, glancing past me into the dim hallway. "Is… is Tyler here? He texted me."Tyler. R
Landon's POVI crouched behind the rusted dumpster in the alley, my eyes locked on the shadowy figure slipping through the back door of that rundown warehouse.Malcolm Reeves, the slippery fucker, had been playing this cat and mouse game with us for a week now. Tyler and I had tailed him from one shithole to another, dodging his goons and keeping our distance. It was the perfect excuse to stay the hell away from home—from Kendra. Ever since the wedding, I'd only dragged my ass back there once, just to grab a change of clothes and some gear. After that, it was Tyler's place or my old mansion on the outskirts. Anything to avoid facing her, the questions and the bullshit life I'd locked myself into.A week of tracking Malcolm Reeves was a fucking vacation in comparison.Tyler’s shoulder bumped mine as he shifted. "You think we’ll actually get him this time?” he whispered, his eyes never leaving the rusted door across the abandoned lot.I nodded. "Fuck yeah, we will. Last time, if he had
Kasey’s POVThe honeymoon in Bora Bora had been everything I imagined and more.Darren and I spent our days snorkeling among colorful fish that darted around us like confetti and paddleboarding across calm waters where I could see straight to the sandy bottom. We'd laugh over fresh coconut water at beachside cafes, trying local fruits I'd never heard of, and pose for silly selfies with the palm trees framing us perfectly.But nights were different. Darren would slip away after dinner and I'd head back to the bungalow alone. He always returned in the early morning and we'd meet for breakfast on the deck, chatting about the day's plans while I pretended not to notice the hickeys on his neck. I figured his boyfriend must have tagged along somehow and was hiding out in another part of the resort or a nearby island. Darren never said a word about it, but I'd catch him on hushed phone calls that would end abruptly if I walked too close. "Yeah, I miss you too," he'd whisper before hanging
"I wish I didn’t," I said in a rough voice. "Wish I didn’t love her that fucking much. Maybe then… maybe it would’ve been easy. Just accept it. Marry Kendra. Live that goddamn lie. Be a miserable son of a bitch with a wife I can’t stand. That’s the life I was supposed to have, right?" Tyler took another drag and blew the smoke towards the ceiling. He studied me with an unreadable expression. "So what are you gonna do now?" he finally asked. "About Kendra." I shouldn’t tell him. I knew I shouldn’t. Kendra’s threats weren’t empty. If she found out I’d told anyone, especially Tyler… that tape would be on William’s desk before I could take my next breath. But the secret was a poison, and it was eating me alive from the inside out. I was so damn tired of carrying it alone. He was my best friend. Or he had been. Maybe just saying it out loud, to another human being, would make the pressure in my skull ease, even for a second. "The baby," I started. I couldn’t look at him. I stared







