로그인MilaAaron stayed where he was standing for a long moment. He didn't move a muscle as if he was letting his brain process the word slowly.Then suddenly, he gave a single nod and walked away, vanishing into the hallway. I stood there, wrapped in the softest wool imaginable.That night, I didn't sleep. Most of the time, I was sitting by the glass window of my bedroom, watching the sky bleed from a bruised purple into a pale grey.The sun began to peek over the ten-foot concrete walls of the estate, casting long shadows across the lawn.I watched the armed patrols moving. Every fifteen minutes.I thought about the library. I thought about the soup. I thought about the way he knew I skipped Chapter Three of The Count of Monte Cristo.He knew my habits. He knew my tastes. He knew my weaknesses.But Aaron Wylder had made one fatal mistake in his years of observation. He had watched me as a subject, as a "thing" to be protected and possessed. He had seen the girl who survived the fosters
MilaLunch was served on a small, circular table by the window. Aaron sat at a right angle, close enough that I could feel his presence.On the table sat a bowl of Lemon Chicken Orzo soup.My stomach did a slow, nauseating flip. It was exactly what I used to crave on rainy days back in the fosters, before the club, before everything. I used to make it with cheap bouillon and wilted greens.This version was artisanal. The lemons were fresh, the chicken tender, the herbs vibrant."You aren't eating." Aaron said. He wasn't looking at me. He was cutting a piece of dry toast."I am not hungry.” I snapped as I pushed the bowl away.Without a word, he slid a small crystal ramekin toward me. Inside was a single, crushed peppermint leaf floating in ice water.I froze.I used to chew on peppermint to settle the morning sickness I had been hiding from everyone for weeks when I stayed in the Wylder Estate. I hadn't told anyone. Not even the doctor. I had bought the mint from a street vendor thre
ReaperI took the concrete stairs two at a time. I was going to rip the entire fucking sweater apart.Gunner matched my stride as we pushed through the door and entered the main hall of the clubhouse. The bar was filled with armed men. Prospects were stacking Kevlar vests on the pool tables. Enforcers were running inventory on crates of ammunition we usually saved for cartel wars."Prez.” Gunner said as he stepped into my path, forcing me to stop before we reached the armory. He looked around to make sure the younger brothers were out of earshot. "A word before we roll out."I clenched my jaw, my hands balling into fists at my sides. "Make it fast. Every second we stand here is a second she is with him.""We are going in blind against a high-end private military firm." Gunner said. "These aren't street thugs. Aegis Tactical uses ex-Special Forces. They are going to be reinforced. If we breach this broker's location and a firefight breaks out... we have to establish the priority of th
MilaI didn't stop until I reached the double glass doors of the two-story library we had passed earlier. I shoved the doors open and stepped inside.I walked over to the nearest bookshelf and traced my fingers over the spines.First editions. Classics. Historical fiction. Biographies of obscure 19th-century monarchs. Every single genre I had ever spent hours wandering through the city's second-hand bookstores to find.I walked toward the center of the room, where a reading table sat beneath a modern chandelier. Resting in the center of the table was a leather-bound book, an expensive silk bookmark resting between its pages.I didn't even need to look at the title. I already knew.I reached out and flipped it open to where the silk ribbon lay. It was the beginning of chapter four. The Count of Monte Cristo.I stumbled backward, bumping hard into the leather armchair. The chair was upholstered in a velvet. The exact texture I loved to run my hands over."Oh my god." I breathed. It f
MilaI flinched at his touch and immediately jerked my arm back, snapping my hands into tight fists at my sides."Don't touch me." I hissed.But he didn't stop. His hand wrapped around my left wrist.I tried to yank it away, using my entire body weight to resist him. It was completely useless. His grip was like a steel. But he wasn't hurting me too. He was simply proving that he could overpower me without exerting any real effort."Open your hand, Mila." He instructed."Go to hell.” I breathed, squeezing my eyes shut and clenching my fingers so tightly my nails bit into my own palms.Aaron didn't argue. He shifted his grip, pressing his thumb against a nerve point on the inside of my wrist. A sharp shock of numbness shot up my forearm. My muscles seized, and my fingers uncurled against my will.Before I could snatch my hand back, he placed something small and cold into the center of my palm. Then, he released his hold on me.I stumbled back a half-step, clutching the object against
Reaper The rain was a freezing sheet against my face, but I didn't feel the cold. I didn't feel the ache in my joints or the exhaustion threatening to pull me under.I pushed the bike to its limit, tearing through the traffic. Gunner and the enforcers roared right behind me in a tight, aggressive V-formation.We hit the gates of the clubhouse in record time. The steel barriers were still warped and bent inward from where the extraction team's armored truck had rammed through them. My prospects were armed, standing guard in the torrential downpour with rifles strapped to their chests.I didn't wait for the bike to fully stop before I kicked the stand down and got off from it.I stormed through the double doors of the main bar. The clubhouse had no music, no laughter, no clinking glasses. It felt like a war room. The remaining brothers gave me a wide berth as I bypassed the main hall and headed straight for the steel door at the back that led down to the basement infirmary."Doc!" I b
MilaI woke up with a nasty taste in my mouth, like I had swallowed something rotten. Before I even opened my eyes, the nausea hit me, twisting my insides into knots.I practically leaped out of the guest bed and bolted toward the bathroom. I barely made it before I was on my knees in front of th
ReaperThe screen flashed with a text.Mila: Fuck you.Me: You wish.I leaned back, resting the phone on my chest. I should stop. I should maintain professional distance. But the memory of her taste was still on my tongue, and the anger at her leaving was still a fresh wound.Me: Tell me what you’
ReaperThe basement stairs were steep, skinny, and had a musty, rotten smell. With every step down, the thumping bass of the music upstairs faded, replaced by the hum of the generator and the dripping of a leaky pipe. Justin was panting behind me, his fury burning hot. He was craving some blood. H
ReaperI emerged from the basement into the main hallway, the heavy steel door clanging shut behind me, sealing the screams and the smell of fear below. The air up here felt different It was stale with cigarette smoke and spilled beer, vibrating with the bass of a song I didn't recognize. The party







