LOGINRavenRoman’s private jet waits on the tarmac, its engines already humming as we approach.Roman carries Nadir in his arms while our luggage is rolled behind us by his security team.A few hours later, the pilot begins our descent into Vermont, and I press my face to the window.We fly over rolling hills, endless forests, and scattered farms. My goodness, I’m already sold.When we step off the plane, the crisp air only seals it. It’s peaceful here. From the convoy of SUVs waiting for us, with Roman’s security already in position, to the quiet stretching in every direction, I know this is where I want us to build our life.The photos the realtor sent don’t do the place justice.We turn off the main road onto a long dirt driveway lined with maple trees just beginning to change, gold and red bleeding into green. At the end of it sits a farmhouse with a wraparound porch, its white paint slightly weathered, green shutters framing the windows, and smoke curling lazily from the chimne
RomanJames pulls up the long gravel drive, and the ranch stretches out ahead of us, quiet and worn, a few outbuildings already stripped bare, equipment gone from where it must have sat rusting for years before all this.I spot Rebecca near the fence line before she spots me, bent over one of the horses, carefully working something loose from its hoof. She looks up when she hears the car, and something crosses her face, surprise, maybe, before she manages to smooth it over.I get out and walk toward her.“I didn’t think you were going to come,” she says, straightening, wiping her hands on her jeans.“I said I would.”“You didn’t have to. If you didn’t want to.”“If I didn’t want to be here,” I say, “I wouldn’t be.”She studies me for a moment, like she’s trying to decide whether to believe that, and something in her posture softens slightly when she does.“I don’t know how to be a father to you,” I admit, because there’s no version of this conversation where pretending otherw
RavenThe water’s warm around me, bubbles clinging soft to my skin, and Roman kneels beside the tub, sponge moving slow and gentle over my shoulders, careful in that particular way he’s been since everything happened tonight.“I don’t want to be here anymore,” I say quietly.His hand pauses. “Here, meaning the house? Or something bigger.”“Bigger.” I stare down at the water. “As long as we’re living this life, we’ll never actually be safe. Any of us. I can’t raise our daughter inside something that keeps sending people through our door trying to take her.”He’s quiet for a moment, dipping the sponge again, dragging it slow along my collarbone.“Okay,” he says simply.“Okay?”“We’ll go wherever you want to go.”I glance up at him, searching his face for hesitation and finding none. “The company needs you, Roman. You can’t just walk away from something you built your entire life around.”“The company will survive without me. Marcus can run it, or the board can find someone els
RavenThe house is quiet once the last of the guests are gone, Nadir finally settled in her crib upstairs with Anaya watching over her, and the second we’re alone in the study, I turn on him.“Why did you do that to Vivienne?”Roman doesn’t look up from where he’s pouring himself a drink. “The choice was between her and you. There was no other choice to make.”“I hated her.” My voice shakes. “I hated her more than I’ve hated anyone in my life. But not enough to want her dead. Not like that.”“You know,” he says, setting the glass down without drinking from it, “I think you should try being appreciative every once in a while, instead of constantly trying to make me the villain in every version of this story.”“You killed someone for me.” I stare at him. “How exactly do you think that’s supposed to make me feel? And you didn’t think it was wise to tell me yourself, before I heard it from a girl who kidnapped my daughter?”“I expected a thank you.” His voice hardens. “Instead I ge
RavenI can hear myself screaming and I can’t stop it, the sound tearing out of me over and over, my whole body shaking so hard Anaya has both arms wrapped around me just to keep me upright.“I want my baby.” My voice breaks apart on every word. “I want my baby, please, someone find my baby—”“They’re searching every inch of this property.” Dave kneels in front of me, holding both my hands in his, his own voice unsteady despite trying to sound calm. “She’s still here, Raven. She hasn’t left the grounds. They’re going to find her.”“She was just in the crib,” I sob. “She was just there, I just fed her, I just—”“Breathe.” Catherine sits beside me, one hand rubbing slow circles against my back. “Just breathe, sweetheart. Panicking won’t bring her back any faster.”Aunt Martha stands near the far wall, hands clasped tightly in front of her, keeping her distance, saying nothing, watching with an expression I don’t have the capacity to read right now.The front door bursts open.Roman.Nad
Raven“I can’t believe she’s actually home.” I can’t stop staring at her, tucked against my chest, eyes drifting closed after her feed, small and warm and impossibly, finally, ours. “She’s so beautiful.”Anaya leans over the crib rail, studying her with a critical squint. “Why does she look so much like Roman? His genes really said no contest. Yours didn’t even put up a fight.”“She has my eyes.” I brush a finger gently over her cheek. “That counts for something.”“Barely.” Anaya grins. “But fine, I’ll allow it.”I finish settling Nadir and hand her carefully into Anaya’s waiting arms. “Watch her for me? I need to go check on our guests.”“Go be a hostess. We’ll be right here.”The garden looks exactly the way I pictured it, soft white and blush pink balloons drifting gently in the afternoon breeze, flowers arranged in careful clusters along every table, a little celebration of everything we never got to have properly the first time around. No baby shower, no gender reveal, none of it
RavenHis hand closed over my wrist and guided it gently away. Then his fingers were there instead, and the difference was immediate — the difference between trying to tickle yourself and someone else doing it. He found my clit with easy, unhurried pressure and I gasped so hard I almost choked on i
Raven I was having a wet dream. Again. This time I was grinding my soaked pussy on something very solid. It felt good. So good. Better than anything I managed on my own. Not until I woke up. The realization hit me slow, the way sleep peels away in layers; first the warmth, then the frict
RomanI find Marcus in my study, standing by the window with his back to the door, trying very hard to look like a man who has been patiently waiting and not at all like a man who walked in on something he wishes he could unsee.“Marcus, I—”“I didn’t see anything.” He says it quickly, still facing
RavenI can’t hide my joy about the postponement.Even though I should, even though Jack is barely cold and his family is planning his funeral, I should be drowning in grief.But all I feel is satisfaction.The wedding is postponed, Vivienne is furious, and for the first time, Roman chose to protec







