ログインAria’s stomach gave a familiar, uneasy clench. She knew exactly where this was going. "Cassandra...""Please, Aria," her sister pleaded, the desperation suddenly sharp. "Just one more time. I need to see you. I need to apologize properly for everything, and then I swear to God, I will walk away. I won't bother you anymore. I just need closure with my sister before I lock myself away."Aria gripped the edge of the kitchen island. A wave of dizziness washed over her, forcing her eyes shut until the swaying stopped. "I can't today. I really can't. I'm sick, Cassandra. I've had terrible food poisoning. I can barely stand up for more than ten minutes without the room spinning.""You're sick?" Cassandra’s tone shifted into exaggerated concern. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. Are you alone? Is Damian there?""He's in California for work," Aria said, the words slipping out before she could stop them."So you're all by yourself," Cassandra murmured, almost thoughtfully, before pitching back into a p
Aria woke up the next morning with the same leaden feeling dragging down her bones.The violent sickness from the day before had receded, leaving behind a dull, persistent ache in the pit of her stomach and a sour taste in the back of her throat. She lay still on her side of the bed, staring at the empty space where Damian should have been. The penthouse was dead quiet, save for the distant hum of city traffic dozens of floors below.She reached out with a trembling hand and picked up her phone from the nightstand. The screen brightness stung her eyes. There was a single message from Damian, sent around five in the morning California time.Slept two hours. Heading back into the boardroom. Have my phone on me. If you aren't feeling better today, tell me and I am sending Evans up. No arguments. Aria stared at the direct text. She could easily picture him typing it, stalking down a glass hallway with a coffee in one hand, exhausted but still aggressively managing her well-being. The gui
His jaw clenched. A muscle ticked visibly along his cheekbone. "Food poisoning? Since when? Have you been throwing up?""A little," she admitted softly, knowing there was no point in denying it when he was looking at her like he wanted to reach through the screen and shake the truth out of her. "It started this morning. I've just been resting on the couch.""Bullshit," he growled. He tossed the pen onto his desk with a sharp clatter and reached for his other phone, resting just out of frame. "I’m calling Dr. Evans. He’s going to come to the penthouse right now and look at you.""Damian, no!" Aria sat up straighter, panic flaring in her chest. The last thing she wanted was a doctor poking and prodding at her, asking questions she didn't have the energy to answer. "Please, don't do that. I don't need a doctor for a bad stomach bug. It’s embarrassing.""I don't give a damn if it's embarrassing," he fired back, his tone leaving absolutely no room for debate. "You are alone in that penthou
When he finally walked through the door, he had been a dark, tense storm of stress and barely leashed anger. He didn't want to talk. The second she tried to speak, to sit him down and explain, he had backed her into the bedroom, his mouth crashing down on hers, effectively silencing her. He had taken her to bed with a rough, consuming desperation. He had fucked her so thoroughly, with such intense, relentless heat, that her brain had completely short-circuited. Pinned beneath him, overwhelmed by the sheer physical weight and demand of his body, her mind had gone straight to the clouds. She had forgotten everything. She had forgotten the hospital, the guilt, the lie. She had even forgotten Cassandra's name. In that bed, there was nothing but him and the searing pleasure he dragged out of her.It wasn't until afterward, when his phone rang in the dark and he had to pack a bag for California, that the reality of her secret came crashing back down. By then, he was already walking out the
The first wave hit her before she even opened her eyes.It was a slow, heavy roll in the pit of her stomach, the kind that made the muscles of her throat tighten in automatic warning. Aria lay completely still in the center of the massive bed, the crisp white sheets tangled around her bare legs. It had been exactly one week since Damian walked out of the penthouse. For seven days, she had woken up to the cold, unoccupied side of the mattress, but the emptiness had never made her feel physically ill until this exact moment.She tried to take a deep, steadying breath through her nose, hoping the nausea was just a fleeting symptom of waking up too quickly. Instead, the faint trace of Damian’s cologne still clinging to the pillowcase beside hers—a clean, sharp scent of rain and cedar—sent a sudden, violent lurch through her digestive tract.Aria threw the covers back. She barely managed to untangle her legs before she was sprinting across the bedroom. Her bare feet slapped against the pal
He dropped her onto the mattress. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough that she bounced once and pushed up on her elbows, hair falling messy around her face. She looked at him, lips parted, watching. He yanked his shirt open the rest of the way, buttons popping, and let it fall to the floor. Then he was over her. His mouth found hers again, slower now, deliberate. He took his time, tongue tracing her lower lip before slipping inside, tasting her like he had all night. One hand slid under the hem of her shirt, his palm flat against her stomach, feeling the way her muscles jumped at the contact. He dragged the fabric up inch by inch, knuckles brushing her ribs, until he pulled it over her head and tossed it aside. His eyes moved over her bare skin, dark and hungry, before he lowered his head and kissed down her throat, slow open-mouthed presses that left faint marks. He sucked at the spot just below her ear until she arched, a soft whimper escaping her. “Damian i need you to—” “Not rig
"I haven't talked to him! He called Cassandra, not me.""He called her because he knows you're unreachable. He’s trying to find a crack in the wall." Damian leaned down, his face inches from hers. "He thinks you're a damsel he can rescue from a basement. He thinks your silence is an invitation to tr
“You’re bleeding,” he said.Aria looked down at her thumb. The blood had smeared against the white envelope. “It’s just a paper cut.”“You’re distracted.” Damian walked toward her, his presence invading the room until the air felt thin. He stopped inches from her, his heat radiating through her clot
“I’m just… tired of being a secret,” she whispered.“Being a secret is what keeps you safe from them,” he countered, his eyes burning. “If they knew what you were to me, they would try to use you. They would try to bargain with you. And I would have to destroy them to keep you.”“Would you?”“Withou
Aria felt a jolt of recognition so sharp it made her dizzy. "Alex?""My god, it is you," Alex said, stepping toward her. He didn't wait for permission; he reached out and took her hands, his palms warm and human against her cold skin. "You look... different. More grown up, obviously. But those eyes







