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Author: pari
last update publish date: 2026-03-19 22:43:03

The nursery was finally done.

Soft gray walls with Nina's hand-painted woodland creatures. White crib with matching changing table. Rocking chair in the corner with a footstool. Shelves full of books they hadn't read yet. Drawers full of tiny clothes that seemed impossibly small.

Lia stood in the doorway, one hand on her five-month belly, taking it all in.

"What do you think?" Nina asked, stepping back to admire her mural work. A family of deer under a tree. Rabbits in the grass. An owl watchin
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  • His Open Marriage, My Forbidden Secret    90

    The hospital was quiet by the time the door opened.Lia heard it before she saw him. The slow, unsteady sound of footsteps. Then the soft scrape of the door against the floor. She had been lying in the dark for hours, staring at the ceiling, not sleeping, just thinking. Thinking about Julian's face when he left. About the words he said that she kept replaying whether she wanted to or not.Then Caspian walked in.He looked terrible.His shirt was untucked, half open at the collar. His eyes were red. Not just tired. Red the way eyes get when a person has been drinking and crying at the same time and trying to pretend they were doing neither. He smelled like whiskey and cold air, like he had been outside for a long time before coming in here.He stopped when he saw she was awake.For a second neither of them said anything.Then his legs just gave out. Not a dramatic fall. More like the energy holding him up finally ran out. He dropped to his knees beside her bed, right there on the cold

  • His Open Marriage, My Forbidden Secret    89

    Lia sat up in bed. Heart pounding. "What's happening? Why are there police?"Caspian had his hands up. Four officers. Guns drawn. One of them is reading rights."You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you...""Stop!" Lia tried to get out of bed. An officer moved to stop her. "Don't touch me! I'm pregnant!""Ma'am, stay in bed. This doesn't concern you.""The hell it doesn't! That's my boyfriend! The father of my baby! You can't just...""We have a warrant for his arrest. Murder. He needs to come with us.""Murder? Caspian didn't murder anyone!"Caspian finally looked at her. His expression broke her heart. Guilty. Resigned. Like he'd been expecting this."Lia. It's okay. Let them do their job.""No! It's not okay! You were defending yourself! Defending me! Kozlov tried to kill us!""Ma'am, we need you to calm down or we'll have to ask you to leave.""This is MY room! You leave!"One of the officers moved toward Caspian. Handcuffs out."Wait.

  • His Open Marriage, My Forbidden Secret    88

    Caspian parked in the hospital garage. Sat in the dark for a minute. Trying to breathe. Trying to think.Twenty-four hours. That's all he had. Before the detective came for him. Before everything fell apart.But first, Lia. He had to see her. I had to make sure she was okay.He got out of the car. His side was still bleeding through the bandage. Not bad. But enough to leave a trail. Enough to get him caught.He needed to clean up. Couldn't walk into Lia's room covered in blood and evidence.The emergency room bathroom was empty. He locked the door. Looked at himself in the mirror.Worse than he thought. Blood on his shirt. His hands. His face. Splattered across his neck where he'd missed it before.Kozlov's blood. Mixed with his own.He stripped off his shirt. Threw it in the trash. Washed his hands. His face. His neck. The water is running pink then red then pink again.The gunshot wound was still seeping. He pressed paper towels against it. Applied pressure. I waited for it to slow

  • His Open Marriage, My Forbidden Secret    87

    The abandoned factory smelled like rust and death.Caspian stood in the shadows. Watching. Waiting. Gun in one hand. Knife in the other. Blood still seeping through the bandage on his side from the gunshot wound.He should be in a hospital bed. Should be with Lia. Should be doing anything except this.But Kozlov was here. And Kozlov needed to die.Marcus had tracked him. Found the location through a captured Bratva soldier who talked after minimal persuasion. This factory. South side. Abandoned for years. Perfect place to hide.Perfect place to die.Caspian moved forward. Silent. Every step calculated. He'd done this before. Hundreds of times. Hunted men. Killed men. This was what he was good at.This was what he was.The main floor was empty. Just old machinery and broken windows. Moonlight cutting through the darkness."Mr. Nero." Kozlov's voice echoed from somewhere above. "I knew you'd come. Couldn't resist, could you?"Caspian didn't answer. Just kept moving. Toward the stairs. T

  • His Open Marriage, My Forbidden Secret    86

    The gunfire was getting closer. Louder. Like a war happening just outside. Julian pulled Lia away from the broken window. Pushed her behind the bed. "Stay down. Don't move." "What's happening?" "Someone's attacking the warehouse. Don't know who. Could be Caspian's people. Could be a rival to Bratva. Either way, we use the chaos to get out." "How? The door's locked. We're trapped." "Not anymore." Julian grabbed a piece of broken glass from the window. Big shard. Sharp. "When they come to check on us, I take them down. Get their keys. We run." "You're hurt. You can barely stand." "I'll manage. I've survived worse." Footsteps outside. Running. Yelling in Russian. Panicked. Scared. The door burst open. Two guards. Young. Distracted by whatever was happening outside. Julian moved. Fast. Slammed the glass into the first guard's throat. Blood everywhere. The man dropped. The second guard reached for his gun. Julian tackled him. They fought. Brutal. Ugly. Desperate. Lia watched. Fr

  • His Open Marriage, My Forbidden Secret    85

    "We need to leave. Now." Lia was already moving. Trying to get dressed. Find some small equipments. Do anything useful while her hands shook.Julian grabbed her shoulders. "Stop. Think about this. It could be a trap.""I don't care. That's Caspian. He's surrendering himself. Because of me. I have to stop him.""How? We don't even know if that video is real. Could be old footage. Could be photoshopped like the last one.""It looked real. The timestamp was from today. And the warehouse in the background, I recognize it. Caspian showed me once. Said it was one of his properties on the south side.""Okay. But even if it's real, what's your plan? Walk in there? Ask Kozlov nicely to let him go?"Lia didn't have a plan. Just knew she couldn't sit in this motel room while Caspian traded his life for hers."I'll figure it out when we get there. But I have to try."Julian looked at her. Really looked at her. Then nodded. "Okay. We go. But we're smart about it. We scout first. Don't just rush in

  • His Open Marriage, My Forbidden Secret    chapter 30

    Lia barely made it to the bathroom.She hit her knees in front of the toilet, retching violently, her whole body convulsing. Everything from last night's dinner came up in waves, and she gripped the porcelain like it was the only solid thing left in the world.Footsteps behind her. Then Caspian's h

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-24
  • His Open Marriage, My Forbidden Secret    Secret

    The penthouse felt different when Lia stepped inside. Same sleek marble floors, same floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city, same expensive artwork on the walls. But everything had shifted, tilted sideways, because she was different now. She carried a secret that changed the shape of the wor

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-24
  • His Open Marriage, My Forbidden Secret    THE FIRST CRACK

    The ride down in the elevator was suffocating.Caspian stood on the opposite side, arms crossed, jaw tight. The easy intimacy from thirty minutes ago had vanished. Replaced by cold distance that made Lia's chest ache.She'd seen him angry before. Seeing him was dangerous. But this was different. Th

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-21
  • His Open Marriage, My Forbidden Secret    THE THIRD PLAYER

    The SUV smelled like leather and cigarettes. Lia sat wedged between two men built like linebackers, her wrists zip-tied in front of her. Every time she tried to speak, the man on her left would shake his head. A silent warning.So she stayed quiet. Watched the city pass by through tinted windows. T

    last updateLast Updated : 2026-03-21
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