Poor Dahlia😭 Read, vote, drop reviews, comment, and if you find this book really interesting, gift me✨ Happy Reading, Sweethearts
Chapter 183IVANATime didn’t move in that place.The dark was endless. The air didn’t change, just the heavy pulse of silence, broken only by the sound of Dahlia’s breathing and the dull rhythm of my own heart.I’d always thought I was strong. Strong enough to face men like Kennedy. Strong enough to keep Dahlia safe. Strong enough to pretend I wasn’t afraid, even when I was.But strength felt like a lie here.Every second chipped away at me. Every breath was a reminder that we were still trapped, still at his mercy.Dahlia had fallen into a fitful sleep, her head resting against my lap. I ran my fingers through her hair, slow and gentle, the way our mother used to do for us when storms shook the house.I remembered being little, hiding under blankets, waiting for thunder to stop. Back then, storms passed.This storm wouldn’t.I pressed my hand over my mouth, muffling the sob that clawed up my throat.I wanted to scream. To pound my fists against the walls until my bones shattered. To
Chapter 182IVANAThe walls were too close.Too cold.I pressed my back against the damp stone, arms wrapped tight around my chest like I could hold myself together by sheer force of will. The silence was worse than the dark. It filled my ears, heavy and suffocating, broken only by the shallow rhythm of Dahlia’s breathing beside me.She was curled on the floor, her face buried against her knees. Her body trembled every so often, the way a child trembles in sleep after a nightmare.Except this wasn’t sleep.And it wasn’t a nightmare.It was real.My throat burned, but I didn’t let the tears fall. Not where she could see. Dahlia needed me to be the strong one. The shield. The wall between her and the monster waiting outside the door.But God, I was tired of being strong.I clenched my fists until my nails cut into my palms. Pain anchored me. Reminded me I was still here. Still standing.I hated how much Kennedy got under my skin. The way his voice crawled through the iron, calm and taun
Chapter 184RONANThe night air bit at my lungs as I stood in the open, the city spread beneath me like a graveyard of steel and light. My men were scattered along the south perimeter, each one reporting in, each one whispering the same words I already hated.“He’s ahead of us.”“He’s moving the pieces faster than we can catch them.”“We’re circling shadows.”Kennedy.I could feel him. Not see him, not touch him, but feel him. Like a phantom pressing against the back of my skull, smug and untouchable.He wanted me to feel this. The chase. The panic. The constant step behind.And worse, he wanted me to know that Dahlia was the prize at the end of his sick little game.I tightened my grip on the map spread across the hood of the car. Lines, routes, dead ends. Every time I thought I’d cornered him, he slipped through, leading me deeper into his maze.But he’d made one mistake.He thought I was still the man I used to be.The man who calculated, who hesitated, who measured twice before cu
Chapter 183IVANAThe cold is in my bones.Not just the kind that seeps from damp concrete into your skin, but the kind that grows from inside you when you know you’re trapped. When you’re powerless.I hate it.I hate feeling this way.Dahlia is curled against me, her fingers clutching the sleeve of my shirt like if she lets go, she’ll fall into some bottomless pit. Her breathing is shallow, uneven. She’s trying not to cry, but every time her chest shakes, I feel it.And I can’t comfort her.Not the way I should.Because my own chest feels like it’s splitting apart.I keep telling myself to be strong. That’s who I am the strong one, the sharp one, the one who doesn’t bend. All my life I’ve worn that armor, sharper than knives, louder than the fear inside me.But Kennedy…Kennedy strips you without laying a hand on you. He knows how to peel away every layer until all that’s left is your raw skin, burning, exposed.He hasn’t touched us, not yet. But it feels like he has. Like every sile
Chapter 182KENNEDYThe clang of the lock echoed down the corridor as the heavy door shut behind me.Stone. Iron. Damp. The kind of place people called a dungeon.But to me?It was a stage. And my actors had no choice but to perform.I leaned against the wall across from the cell, arms folded, the smoke of my last cigarette still clinging to my jacket. Behind that iron door, two hearts beat quick, uneven. Fear makes its own music if you know how to listen.Dahlia’s rhythm, sharp, panicked, irregular.Ivana’s, steadier, harder, but forced. Like someone gritting teeth through pain.I smiled faintly. One fragile, one fierce. Both predictable.“Sir?” A voice broke into my thoughts. One of my men approached, stiff-backed, eyes darting briefly toward the cell door before snapping away. They feared even looking at my prizes. Smart.I tilted my head. “News?”“They’re still secure. Silent. Haven’t tried anything.” He hesitated, then added, “Ronan’s people are circling. South perimeter. Two car
Chapter 178DAHLIAThe silence was the worst part.It pressed down on me heavier than the iron door, heavier than the damp air that stuck to my throat with every breath. I had thought, for a moment, that silence might mean safety—that if we stayed still, stayed small, he would forget us.But Kennedy didn’t forget. He was in the silence. He filled it, stretched it, twisted it until every second felt like a blade against my skin.I curled tighter against Ivana, my forehead pressed to her shoulder. She was rigid beneath me, jaw clenched, eyes fixed on the door as if she could stare it into submission.“You’re shaking,” she whispered.“I’m not,” I whispered back, though my voice trembled with the lie.Ivana shifted, pulling me closer with one arm. She was always doing that shielding me, even when she was breaking inside.“You can’t let him hear it,” she murmured. “That’s what he wants. To know we’re scared.”I bit down hard on my lip until the metallic tang of blood filled my mouth. But i