ANDERITHE APARTMENT WAS silent except for the faint sound of my boots on the floor. No music, no chatter, just that heavy quiet that made the air thick and hard to breathe.I didn’t bother looking around. The bedroom door was cracked open, pale light spilling out like a lure. There, sprawled across the bed in my shirt again, was Jace.One sleeve rolled up, the shirt hanging off his shoulder just right—careless but damn sexy as hell. His eyes caught mine and that cocky smirk twisted his mouth.“Took your sweet time,” he said, voice low and sharp. “Thought you were not coming home.”Fuck that smirk. I shut the door and closed the distance, not wasting a second.His lips slammed against mine, rough and quick like he needed to prove something. I grabbed the collar of his shirt, yanking him closer, biting his lip hard enough to taste blood. His hands slid under my shirt, fingers dragging across my skin, fire igniting everywhere.I peeled his shirt off slow, memorizing every inch of freckl
ANDREITHE FIRST THING I noticed was the weight.Warm. Light. But there.An arm slung across my chest, a thigh thrown over mine, skin against skin like it was natural. His breath brushed the side of my throat in soft little puffs. He snored, barely—a soft whistling sound that would've made me want to kill someone else, but with him...I didn’t move.Not right away.His brown hair stuck to his forehead in damp strands, curled at the edges, and there were freckles under his eyes I hadn’t noticed before—faint, like a ghost of something sweet that didn’t belong here. Not in my bed. Not in this city. Not with me.I stared at the ceiling.I told myself I should push him off. Told myself this meant nothing. Just a transaction. A body I hadn’t disposed of yet. That’s all it was.But my arm stayed where it was, wrapped around his waist. Like I didn’t want to let go.Fucking pathetic.I shifted just enough to look at the bedside clock. Almost noon. Sunlight spilled between the blinds in dusty s
JACEI WOKE UP with a sore ass, dried cum between my thighs, and no cuffs in sight. No cold floor. No blood crusted on my lip. Just the ache in my hips and the sticky mess between my legs to remind me of what I let him do to me last night.Let him.I snorted, rolling onto my back.The sheets smelled faintly of sweat and something like the scent of oil. The room wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t some rundown dump either. Plain walls, smooth and freshly painted. Minimalist furniture—sleek, modern, no unnecessary clutter. The closet door stood slightly ajar, revealing carefully arranged shoes and shirts hanging in perfect order.Control freak.The guy was gone. Silence filled the apartment except for the soft hum of the air conditioning and the distant noise of the city.I could run. Hell, I probably should’ve.But my legs didn’t move.Maybe it was the comfort. Or the silence. Or the fact that for the first time in weeks, no one was kicking in a door or shoving a gun down my throat for late pa
ANDREITHE DRIVE WAS quiet.Not peaceful. Not calm. Just quiet in that heavy, suffocating way that made my jaw clench tighter with every mile. The kind of quiet where you hear yourself think too much. Hear your own fucking heartbeat pounding against your ribs like it’s trying to escape.The tires hummed over wet asphalt, streetlights flashing by in cold orange streaks. I didn’t touch the radio. Didn’t speak. Didn’t even glance in the mirror. But I could feel him back there. Like heat. Like a sickness crawling up my spine.Jace.Slouched against the door, wrists raw and red. Hair still tangled. Skin blotched with bruises and dried blood. His mouth—fuck, that mouth—was swollen from earlier. I shouldn’t have noticed. Shouldn’t have remembered how it looked stretched open, lips wet, eyes burning.I gripped the wheel harder.He caught my eye once, briefly, just a flicker in the rearview. And the bastard smiled. That crooked, reckless smile like this was a game. Like he knew something I did
ANDREITHE MANSION WAS silent. Not the kind of quiet that lets you breathe easy, but the kind that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Pakhan was on edge—everyone could feel it, but no one dared say a word. The tension wasn’t about shipments or the usual Brotherhood bullshit. It was about the kid. The one who’d wormed his way into Pakhan’s head and into his bed. The thought churned in my gut, made something twist tight, but I kept it to myself.I moved through the halls like a ghost. Every step was quick, every muscle coiled and ready. The boy was in the basement, bound and loud as always. He’d pissed Nikolai off. That much was clear.The door creaked open, and there he was, loud, like this was a game to him. Didn’t even flinch when I pulled him up by the collar.“Move,” I said, voice low. His eyes burned with something. Fear? Stupid bravado? Maybe both.“Where the fuck are you taking me?” he spat. “I didn’t do shit.”I didn’t answer. The only thing that mattered was getti
Bonus Chapters – Andrei & Jace This takes place following the events on the ship. Note: Jace is the man who sold Claude to the traffickers on the ship. JACE I WOKE UP with a splitting headache, a bitter taste on my tongue, and something cold biting into my wrists. Metal. Chains. Of course. “Fucking perfect,” I muttered, blinking up at a flickering ceiling light that looked like it belonged in a horror movie. Concrete walls. No windows. The air smelled like bleach and something faintly metallic. Blood, maybe. Or rust. Didn’t matter. Not good either way. I shifted and winced. My shirt was gone. Pants still on, barely. Ankles tied too. Not my first time waking up tied up, but definitely the first where no one even had the decency to take me to dinner first. “Hello?” I called out, letting the echo bounce. “If this is some kind of bondage thing, I like a safe word and maybe a glass of water before the torture.” Nothing. I let my head fall back against the wall. “Cool. Creepy silen