Chapter 8 – Our Boundaries

(Sebastian s POV)

Control was my only constant.

It was how I built my empire. How I kept my enemies at bay. How I stayed alive.

But Ocean… she was undoing it one thread at a time.

I stood in my office, watching her move across the living room on the security feed. She didn’t know the cameras were there — she thought the penthouse was just expensive marble and glass, not a fortress with eyes in every corner.

She was pacing. Stopping to glance out the windows, then pacing again.

That restlessness was dangerous. Restless people made reckless choices. And in my world, one reckless choice could be fatal.

I buzzed Jacob, my head of security.

“Find out why Ethan Vale is back in the city,” I said.

There was a pause on the line. “Vale? Old money. Clean record on paper, but we’ve heard rumors. Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s tied to Carter.”

My grip on the phone tightened. “Confirm it. And if he is—”

“Understood,” Jacob said, and the line went dead.

When I emerged from the office, Ocean was waitin