LOGINScarlett's POV Christian moved on instinct.He moved faster than human eyes could follow in a blur of shadow and fury. He slammed into Killian, the impact sounding like a car crash. The two men hit the wall, stone cracking and crumbling under the sheer force of the collision. I shrieked, tears rolling down my face.“Christian stop!”Killian snarled, his hands, now tipped with long, dark claws raking across Christian's chest, tearing through his shirt and leaving deep, bloody gashes. I choked on my cries and I almost stepped forward but then I remembered Christian's warning. “Christian just let him go.” Christian didn't listen.Despite my fears, he didn't even flinch. His gray eyes blazed like twin suns in the dark hallway. He grabbed Killian by the throat with one hand, lifting the larger man completely off the ground, and slammed him back into the wall again."Don't you ever speak her name again," Christian snarled, his face twisting into something monstrous as his canines elongat
Chapter 51Scarlett’s POVAlarm lights began to pulse quietly in red hues down the corridors. I heard the muffled, terrified shrieks of the staff downstairs. Christian didn't hesitate. He grabbed my wrist, his grip like a steel shackle, and pulled me behind him as he flew down the stone steps toward the west wing. Enzo was right at our heels, pulling a heavy handgun from his holster. Seconds a later, a tall, good looking man appeared too, who Christian identified as Nino. He barely acknowledged me as he came closer."Nino, get Clementina and secure the main entrances," Christian ordered, his voice echoing off the cold damp walls as we got to the lower basement corridor. "Nobody leaves this house and nobody gets in.""What about you?" Nino asked, pausing at the iron double doors leading to the cells."I'm going to put Killian back in his fucking place," Christian growled."Christian, wait," I said, trying to pull back against his grip to get him to look at me. "If he broke out of rein
Chapter 50Scarlett’s POVThe sudden intrusion ruined everything. I almost groaned in disapproval.One second Christian was soft, breathless, and completely buried inside me and the next, he was as rigid as marble. The tenderness in his grey eyes vanished, replaced by the harsh gaze of an Alpha.He didn't move away from me right away. Instead, he shifted his massive frame, using his broad back and shoulders to hide my naked body from the direction of the door."What?" Christian barked. His voice was a low and dangerous growl that almost made me flinch. The person on the other side of the door had better have a good reason. "Forgive the intrusion, Alpha," The voice sounded tight and I knew something had gone wrong. "The perimeter sensors along the eastern tree line just went dark. And Clementina says the prisoner in the west wing is... acting up. Seems he’s reacting to something outside."“Killian.” Christian whispered under his breath in disbelief.A cold shiver slid down my spine, w
Chapter 49Scarlett’s POV The moment our mouths crashed together again, everything I needed narrowed heat and hunger. And not the usual hunger that brought me downstairs. This was a hunger for something passionate, something forbidden, something only my ruthless stepbrother could provide for me.Christian’s tongue swept deep, tasting every inch of me like he meant to brand the memory into both of us. My back hit the wall, the impact rattling through my bones, but I barely noticed. All I felt was the hard line of his cock pressing against my belly through his pants and the low growl that vibrated from his chest into mine.I clawed at his shirt, buttons popping, fabric tearing. He didn’t stop me. His hands were everywhere—gripping my waist, sliding down to cup my ass, hauling me higher so my legs wrapped around him. The scent of turpentine and oil paint mixed with the raw, masculine smell of him, thick and dizzying.Perfect for my hunger.I bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood.
Chapter 48Scarlett’s POVHe froze and I did too. His jaw tightened, the muscles flexing as a shift passed over his features.I almost wished I hadn't asked."I’ve never wanted anything or anyone in my life the way I want you, Scarlett," he rasped, his voice dropping an octave. "I’d ruin myself if it meant having you."But you have already ruined me. I sniffled.‘Have.’ He wanted to have me.My eyes shimmered with unshed tears. I shook my head, taking a half-step back, needing to create that distance between us. "That's not an answer, Christian. You're my brother... this is wrong. Everything about us is wrong.""Step-brother," he corrected instantly, the word snapping out of him as he closed the distance between us. "Salvatore didn't even accept me as his Scarlett. You know that.""It doesn't change what we were raised as!" My voice cracked, a desperate sound echoing off the tall glass skylight above us. "It’s still wrong. The world—""The world burns every single day," he interrupte
Chapter 47 Christian's POV I didn't paint it. The words sat between us, heavier than anything else in that room full of her face staring back at me from every angle I'd loved. She was waiting for the rest of it, and I knew I owed her more than three words, even if I still didn't fully have the answer. I owed her more than I could ever give her. "I don't know who did," I admitted. "I found it here, tucked among the others, years ago." She studied me, waiting, and I crossed to the canvas beside her instead of answering the question I could see forming behind her eyes. "This one," I said, nodding toward a smaller painting near the window, "I painted the night you fell asleep on the library sofa. You were seventeen.” My lips pulled into a small smile. “You were reading an erotica despite Salvatore's strict warning and you fell asleep with the book on your chest." I could still see it clearly, the exact fall of lamplight across her face that night, the way I'd stood in the







