LOGINHey everyone! 🖤 I wanted to take a moment to say a huge thank you for sticking with Astrid and Xavier through this wild journey. The tension is reaching a breaking point, and the secrets buried in the "Real Office" are about to change everything you thought you knew about their world. I’m working hard to make sure every chapter keeps you on the edge of your seat with that perfect mix of emotional conflict, slow-burn heat, and shocking twists. Who is really the monster in this story? And can Astrid truly burn down an empire without losing herself to the man who built it? Stay tuned—the "Astrid File" is coming, and trust me, you aren't ready for what’s inside. Don't forget to like and leave a comment! I love hearing your theories on what’s going to happen next! 🥂🔥 Lots of love🫶🙏 LAVY💜📚
Astrid’s POVI tossed the burner phone onto the duvet and collapsed back against the pillows, my heart performing a frantic tap-dance against my ribs. I couldn't believe I’d actually done it. I had called the Reaper of London—the man who currently had me under house arrest—and called him a neanderthal in front of his precious board members."Take that, you bossy monster," I whispered to the empty room, though my hands were shaking.The silence that followed wasn't peaceful; it was charged. I knew Xavier. He was probably vibrating with a mix of lethal embarrassment and possessive fury right now. But the way his voice had softened at the end—that low, sugary growl that promised 'consequences'—made a heat bloom in my stomach that had nothing to do with hunger.I reached for the bar of vintage dark chocolate I’d liberated from his secret stash behind The History of the Byzantine Empire. It was rich, bitter, and tasted like victory.If I’m going to be a captive, I’m going to be a well-fed,
Xavier’s POV The atmosphere in the boardroom was stifling, thick with the scent of expensive cologne and the static of high-stakes anxiety. Twenty of the most powerful executives in the hemisphere sat around the mahogany table, their eyes fixed on the digital projections shimmering against the wall. These were men who moved markets with a whisper, yet they sat in my presence as if they were waiting for a death sentence. I adjusted my cufflinks, my expression a mask of bored lethality. "The shipping lanes in the Adriatic are non-negotiable," I stated, my voice cutting through the room like a piano wire. "If the syndicate wants a piece of the Mediterranean, they pay the tax. Or they find their vessels at the bottom of the trench." A nervous cough rippled through the left side of the table. I didn't care. My mind was partially elsewhere—specifically, thirty floors up in the penthouse. Before coming do
Xavier’s POV The stinging heat of her skin was still vibrating through the palm of my hand. As I walked away from her room, the sound of the deadbolt sliding home felt like a serrated blade across my own throat. I hated locking that door. I hated the way she looked at me—that mix of terror and a defiance so bright it nearly blinded me. But she had to learn. In my world, a lapse in judgment doesn't lead to a lecture; it leads to a body bag. If the Scorpions had reached her before I did, she wouldn't be pouting in a blue lace dress. She’d be a memory. My hand curled into a fist, my knuckles white. Her skin had been so soft—dangerously so. When I’d struck her, every primal instinct I possessed screamed at me to stop playing the captor and start being the man who claimed her. I wanted to squeeze, to pull her flush against me until there wasn't a breath of air between us, but I couldn't. Not yet. Taking her now would be too fast, a fracture in the slow-burn torture of our proximity
Astrid Pov You're eating my food. You're wearing my gold." He looked down at the necklace, then back at my lips. "And you were just lying on that bed thinking about me," he rasped, his eyes darkening with a terrifying certainty. "I saw your face on the monitor. You weren't thinking about escaping. You were thinking about what it would feel like if I didn't stop at the wall last night." My heart stopped. He could see it. He could read the heat in my skin, the way my pulse was jumping in my throat. "You're delusional," I breathed, even as I stepped closer to him, drawn in like a moth to a funeral pyre. "Am I?" He moved then, his hand sliding around the back of my neck, his thumb tilting my chin up. He didn't pin me this time. He just held me, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw with a tenderness that was far more frightening than his anger. "Eat your food, Astrid," he whispered, h
Astrid’s POV When I finally blinked my eyes open, the world was a blur of throbbing pain and stinging salt. My eyelids felt like they’d been glued shut with dried tears, and my head was pounding with a dull, rhythmic ache that suggested my brain was trying to relocate to my neck. I didn’t move at first. I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, feeling the uncomfortable bunching of the leggings and hoodie I’d worn for my "grand escape." I felt like a failure—a very tired, very rumpled failure. I rolled onto my side, my stomach letting out a low, predatory growl that echoed in the silence of the room. Hunger was a sharp, nagging needle in my gut. I sat up, rubbing my face and trying to piece together the wreckage of last night. The way Xavier had pinned me to the wall... the heat radiating off him, the absolute, cold fury in his eyes. He’s a monster, I reminded myself.
Xavier’s POV The air in her bedroom was too thick, heavy with the scent of rain and the salt of her tears. I had laid her on the bed, but the mercy in me had burned out the moment I saw her silhouette stepping toward that fire exit. My heart was still a jagged mess of adrenaline and cold, hard fury. I didn't move. I stood at the edge of the bed, looming over her. My 6’5” frame cast a shadow that swallowed her whole, making her 5’5” stature seem almost microscopic. She looked like a broken bird, but I knew better. Beneath that hoodie beat the heart of a rebel—a heart that had just tried to rip itself out of my chest. "Get up," I rasped. Astrid shivered, her gaze fixed firmly on the duvet. She wouldn't look at me. The defiance she’d worn in the alley was gone, replaced by a trembling stillness that made my jaw ache. "I said, get up, Astrid." She moved slowly, sliding
Xavier's pov The metallic tang of blood in my mouth was the only thing keeping me grounded. Every breath felt like a serrated blade in my chest broken ribs, definitely but the pain was secondary. It was a distraction. A static hum in the background of a much louder symphony:
Astrid pov I didn't give him the chance to see me coming. I didn't scream, and I didn't hesitate. As he turned his head to shout an order to the men in the hallway, I drove the jagged, broken end of the screwdriver into the meat of his thigh. He let out a sound that wasn't human a s
Astrid pov I didn't move. I couldn't. The screwdriver was a heavy, cold weight against my palm, hidden in the folds of my lavender sweater. I stared at the dark smudge on Xavier’s forehead—it was blood, I was sure of it now. It stood out against his pale skin like a brand."I said mov
Astrid povThe cold air of the ventilation shaft bit into my skin, but it was nothing compared to the ice in my blood. I had crawled until my knees were raw, the jagged edges of the metal ducts scraping against my shoulders. I had left the lavender sweater behind it was too bright,







