LOGINThe Empty AirfieldSebastian's POV"Say that again," I said, pushing myself upright despite the sharp pull of pain through my shoulder.Skylar stepped further into the room, tablet already turned toward me. "Isabelle's car. Security found it at a private airfield outside the city. Abandoned in a long-term lot.""When?""That's the problem." She glanced at Kylan, then back at me. "The flight logs show a charter left forty minutes before the raid at the processing plant even ended."My chest tightened. "She left before we knew she was gone.""She planned her exit before she ever sent you those coordinates," Kylan said grimly. "The whole exchange, the guard, the gunfire, all of it was cover. She was already in the air by the time Ariana walked into that warehouse."I swung my legs off the side of the bed, ignoring the IV line pulling at my arm."Sebastian, what are you doing?" Skylar's voice raised an alarm immediately."I need to see the flight plan.""You need to stay in that bed." Kyl
waking UpSebastian's POVLight came first. Too bright behind my eyelids.Then I felt the pain. It was a deep, burning ache in my shoulder that pulsed with every heartbeat.I opened my eyes slowly. The hospital room came into view in pieces. A machine beeping steadily beside me. The dull hum of an air vent. And Ariana, sitting in the chair beside my bed, her head resting against her hand, eyes closed.She looked exhausted. Dark circles under her eyes. Her hair falling loose from whatever knot she'd tied it in hours ago."Ariana." My voice came out as a dry rasp.Her eyes opened instantly. She sat up straight, relief flooding her face before she caught herself and pulled it back into something more careful."You're awake.""How long?""A few hours. The doctors said the surgery went well. You lost a lot of blood, but you're going to be fine." Her hands were folded tightly in her lap.I tried to shift my weight and winced."Don't move too much," she said quickly. "The nerve damage in yo
Midnight ExchangeAriana’s POVThe old processing plant looked like it had been left there to rot years ago. Rust was found everywhere. The windows were boarded up. A weak light flickered over the loading dock.I parked right where the coordinates asked me to, with the forged papers in a plain envelope on the seat next to me. My hands only stayed steady because I made them.I touched the tiny earpiece under my hair. To be sure if they could hear me. “Can you hear me?”Kylan’s voice came right back, low but audible. “We hear you. We’re in position.”“Sebastian?”“Here.” “East side. My team’s ready the second Marcus is clear.”“Nobody moves until I say he’s safe,” I told them. “Not even a second early.”I got out of my car and headed into the cold. I walked toward the dock alone. Every step felt wrong. The door wasn’t locked. It opened into a big space lit by one hanging bulb. Shadows everywhere.Isabelle stood in the middle of it, calm as ever, like the place didn’t bother her at all.
Sleight of HandAriana’s POVI couldn't take my eyes off the photo. Seeing how Jason, curled up in his bed, mouth soft in sleep, one arm flung out the way he always did. Someone had stood right there in his room and taken those pictures while he trusted the dark to keep him safe.My voice came out rough. “Where is he right now?”The man in the FrosTech jacket didn’t even blink. “Safe. For now. Mrs Frost wanted you to understand the stakes a little better.”Sebastian grabbed him even before I could move. Both hands in the guy’s collar, yanking him close. “If anyone touched my son—”“Sebastian.” Kylan’s voice echoed through the night. “That’s what she wants. Don’t give it to her.”Sebastian let go, breathing hard, eyes still locked on the man like he wanted to finish the job. “Call the house. Now.”I already had the phone to my ear. Skylar answered on the second ring.“Is Jason okay? Is he in his room?”Footsteps. A door. Then Skylar’s quiet voice. “He’s fine. Sound asleep. Nobody’s be
The RansomAriana's POVThe flashlight shook in my hand. It wasn't from the cold, even though the canyon air had turned sharp and mean after the sun went down. I stood at the edge of the ravine and stared at the place where the search team found Marcus's jacket. The torn fabric and the dark stains showed clearly even from up here."No body," the lead officer said again as he climbed back up. Mud covered his boots. "Whoever was down there left signs of a struggle. I saw drag marks heading toward a service road on the other side. This wasn't an accident. Either was it a failed mission "Someone moved him," Kylan said before we arrived. He put words to what I already knew."Alive or otherwise, we just can't say yet." The officer's radio crackled. "We'll need daylight for a full search."My phone buzzed in my palm—unknown number.My chest tightened before I even looked at the screen. I held it out so Kylan could see. His jaw went hard."Pick it up," he said quietly. "Put it on Speaker."
Blood On The Canyon RoadAriana's POVThe flares came into view before the wreckage did. Orange light bled across wet asphalt where Coldwater Canyon curved sharply against the hillside. My stomach clenched the moment I recognised the spot—the same embankment. The same missing guardrail I'd stared down six years ago while my own brakes failed under my foot.Kylan parked behind two patrol cars. I set out of the car before the engine fully stopped.An officer stepped forward, hand raised. "Ma'am, this is an active scene.""I need to know what you found." My voice came out steadier than I felt. "Marcus Webb. Is he here?"His face softened slightly. "You know him?"" Yes, I do. He works with us. And He's missing."He glanced back toward the ambulance idling near the embankment, lights spinning red against the dark trees. "We found his car about an hour ago. Abandoned. The Driver's door open. No sign of him yet.""The blood," Skylar told me there was blood."I said."Yes, ma'am. On the dri
Sebastian’s POVSomething was wrong with my company FrosTech. I had felt it long before the reports ever confirmed it. It had been going on for years, causing instability in the company, making me struggle to keep the company afloat. And if I was going to be honest with myself, it all started sho
Ariana’s POV (Six years later)After six years away, the city of Los Angeles still looked the same, smelled the same, and even felt the same to me.And although the place hardly forgot a scandal, especially one linking to one of the most powerful families in the city, it didn’t recognize me.There
New City, New ProblemsAriana’s POV This city didn’t know me, and that was exactly why I had chosen it. Here, there were no scandals, no headlines, and no judging eyes following my every move.I stood by the small window of my tiny motel room, watching the unfamiliar streets below.Everything went
The Cheating Scandal Ariana’s POV Morning came too quickly.I woke up to the incessant vibration of my phone against the bedside table, the notification sound cutting through the little sleep I’d managed to steal.My head throbbed faintly as I reached for the phone, my eyes still heavy with sleep







