LOGINIt was aggressive. She parted his lips, her tongue sliding against his, tasting the faint salt of the food they had just eaten. Damian reacted instantly. His hands clamped down on her hips with bruising force. He pulled her flush against his groin, letting her feel exactly how hard he already was for her.He broke the kiss just enough to catch his breath. "Aria."She kissed his jaw, biting lightly at the skin just below his ear. She felt his entire body lock up underneath her.Damian did not hesitate another second. He stood up from the stool, lifting her with him in one smooth, powerful motion. Aria wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, crossing her ankles behind his back. Her arms locked around his neck. He carried her out of the kitchen, his long strides eating up the distance down the hallway.He kicked the bedroom door open with his foot and carried her straight to the bed. He let her fall backward onto the mattress, following her down i
The penthouse was entirely dark. Only the ambient amber glow of the city spilled across the floor to ceiling windows. Aria lay curled on her side on the massive sectional sofa in the living room. She had pulled a heavy wool throw over her shoulders, intending to close her eyes for just five minutes while the oven preheated.She did not know when she actually fell asleep.A firm, warm pressure pressed against the center of her forehead. The scent of cold night air, sharp cedar cologne, and pure exhaustion washed over her.Aria opened her eyes slowly, blinking against the dim light.Damian was kneeling on the rug right beside the sofa. He had not taken his suit jacket off yet. His tie was gone. The top buttons of his shirt were undone, and the harsh lines of fatigue were carved deep around his mouth. But his dark eyes were wide awake, locked onto her face, staring at her with an intensity that felt like a physical weight.Aria sucked in a q
She walked into the massive closet, pulled on a pair of dark jeans, and dragged a heavy grey sweater over her head. She bypassed her purse entirely. She walked back into the kitchen, opened the small utility drawer in the island, and took out a folded hundred dollar bill Damian kept there for delivery tips. She shoved the cash into her pocket, slipped her bare feet into a pair of black boots without bothering with socks, and walked out the front door.She rode the elevator down in absolute silence, staring blankly at the brass doors. When she stepped out into the lobby, she kept her head down, avoiding the doormans gaze, and pushed through the heavy glass doors into the cold city air.The wind hit her face, sharp and biting. She walked three blocks south, completely blending into the morning foot traffic, until she saw the glowing sign of a generic pharmacy.She walked inside. The fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, harsh and bright. Aria moved straight to
A full week had passed since the afternoon in the cheap hotel room.The penthouse was completely quiet. Aria stood at the kitchen island, staring out the massive glass windows at the morning traffic far below. She held a green apple in one hand, taking a slow bite. The sharp, tart juice hit her tongue, and for the first time in seven days, her stomach did not immediately turn inside out.The violent sickness that had pinned her to the bathroom floor was finally gone. She had slept through the worst of it that first night, and the lingering nausea had slowly faded into a dull, manageable exhaustion. She had convinced herself it was a bad reaction to takeout, worsened by the suffocating stress of dealing with Cassandra. The forty five minutes she had lost in that hotel room still sat in the back of her mind, a blurry gap in her memory, but she chalked it up to her body simply shutting down from severe fatigue.Her phone vibrated against the marble counter, l
Aria nodded slowly. The movement made the room sway, but she knew Cassandra was right. The stubborn denial she had been clinging to over the past two days was gone. She couldn't pretend she was fine anymore. "I know. I need a checkup." "Do you want me to call someone for you?" Cassandra asked, hovering over her with wide, worried eyes. "I can call a private car." "No," Aria said immediately. She forced herself to sit up, pushing through the heavy, dragging sensation in her limbs. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed. The floor rushed up to meet her boots. She gripped the edge of the mattress to steady herself. "No, I'm just going to go home. I need to sleep in my own bed." "Are you sure you can walk?" Cassandra asked, her hands hovering near Aria's shoulders, ready to catch her if she fell. "I can walk," Aria said. She took a deep breath, letting the air fill her lungs, and pushed herself up to a standing position.
Aria opened her eyes. The ceiling above her was white, textured with cheap plaster. She blinked, her vision swimming for a few seconds before finally settling into focus. She wasn't sitting up anymore. She was lying completely flat on her back. The surface beneath her was soft, sinking slightly under her weight. It wasn't the stiff beige loveseat she had been sitting on earlier. It was a mattress.She turned her head to the side. The movement sent a sharp, stinging spike of pain right behind her eyes. She let out a dry, cracked groan, her throat feeling like sandpaper."Aria?"The voice came from her right. A shadow shifted at the edge of the bed. Cassandra leaned over her, her face blocking out the weak light from the desk lamp. Cassandra's eyes were bloodshot, swollen, and wet. Mascara was smeared in dark, messy streaks down her cheeks."Oh my god," Cassandra choked out, covering her mouth with her hand. She let out a loud, jagged sob. "You're a
The Next DayCross Tower was a monolith of steel and ambition. Aria arrived at 7:45 AM, her heart hammering against her ribs. She tapped her badge at the security turnstile. It beeped green, flashing INTERN - RESTRICTED ACCESS.She took the elevator down. Down past the bustling lobby, down past the
The biting chill of mid-December in the basement was indistinguishable from the rest of the year. Three floors below the frozen pavement of Manhattan, there was no sun, no seasons, and no time. There was only the hum of the industrial ventilation system and the dry, stale smell of oxidizing paper.A
Damian caught her.His grip was firm, his fingers digging into the thin beige sweater she wore. For a second, he held her upright, his body shielding her from Cassandra’s view. He was warm—solid and terrifyingly warm."Careful," he murmured, low enough that only she could hear.He released her immed
The day Damian Cross married Cassandra Hale, the city felt less like a celebration and more like a surrender.The sky was a sheet of blinding, oppressive white.There was no sun, only a flat glare that stripped the color from the trees and turned the stone of St. Patrick’s Cathedral into a fortress







