LOGINRaven“Did you know,” Vivienne continues, her voice carrying across the suddenly silent courtyard, “that your precious little stepdaughter has a whole diary dedicated to you?”Roman’s expression doesn’t change. “Stop it.”“Stop what? I’m just sharing something I found.”“You’re making a scene. Stop it now.”“I’m making a scene?” She laughs, short and disbelieving. “Why do you always blame me for everything? Fine. You don’t believe me?” She turns slightly, and someone behind her places a worn notebook in her outstretched hand. She lifts it up.I recognize it from across the room before my brain fully processes what I’m seeing.My diary.My stomach drops.The one I’ve kept for years. The one that’s supposed to be locked away inside my safe box in the estate.“What is going on?” Anaya’s voice is low and tight beside me. “This isn’t what we planned. Where is David? Can someone play the video? Play the damn video now.”I’m already moving toward the stage.“Give me that.” My voi
RavenRoman called me ten minutes ago, just to say he was on his way. No explanation for where he’d been, no apology for the timing. Just his voice, low, telling me he was coming.I didn’t ask questions. I just held the phone and felt something in my chest unknot. I was almost worried about him. Vivienne has been holding court near the entrance for the last hour, her smile working progressively harder as the evening goes on. She’s good at it, I’ll give her that. To anyone not paying close attention, she looks radiant, relaxed, a bride in her element.But I’m paying close attention. I watch her laugh at something one of her friends says, then slide her phone from her clutch and check the screen in the same motion. The laugh doesn’t quite reach her eyes when she looks back up.Anaya appears at my elbow.“Girl where Is your Dad? He got a cold fit and ditched her,”“Roman doesn’t run from problems.” I take a sip of wine. “If he wasn’t coming he’d have said so without apology. He
RomanI’m in Kingston’s territory.Tomorrow, I’m about to make the biggest decision of my life, one that will change the course of everything.But before that happens, there’s something I need to do.An old score that needs settling.Kingston’s territory hasn’t changed.Same warehouse on the waterfront, same two guards at the door who step aside the moment they see my face because they’ve been told to, same smell of salt and something industrial underneath it. Kingston likes to meet on his own ground. He always has.He’s standing at the far end of the space when I walk in, a glass of something amber in his hand, looking out through the high windows at the water below. He doesn’t turn around immediately.“I heard you’re hosting some fancy party tonight before the wedding,” he says. “Funny place for the groom to be.”My grip tightens around the folder.“I have something more important to deal with first.”That gets his attention.He turns then, his gaze sweeping over the fol
RavenI take my time getting ready.That’s new for me. I’m usually the kind of person who decides what to wear in five minutes and spends the rest of the time looking for my other shoe. But tonight is different. Tonight I want to look like someone who cannot be broken, because someone tried very recently and failed, and I want Vivienne Marie Cole to see that the moment I walk through the door.I choose a deep emerald dress that hits the floor, simple in cut but the kind of fabric that moves like water when I walk. My hair is down, loose waves, the way Roman always reaches for it first. My makeup is minimal except for my eyes, dark and deliberate.I look at myself in the mirror for a long moment, my hand drifting to my belly. There’s no visible bump yet, but it feels tighter than before.Then I pick up the single glass of wine I’ve allowed myself tonight.I haven’t had a drop of alcohol since I found out about Mason. But tonight is special. Tonight I’m going to watch Vivienne Cole
RavenThe sonography room is dim and quiet, the kind of quiet that feels volitional, like the whole world has agreed to hold its breath for a few minutes.I lie back on the table while the sonographer, a soft-spoken woman with careful hands, prepares the equipment. Roman stands slightly back from the bed, one hand tucked into his pocket, watching the screen with the focused stillness he brings to everything that matters to him.The cold gel. The probe. The familiar process I’ve been through twice now, except this time my heart is in my throat differently because twenty-four hours ago I was on a cold floor and I don’t know what that did to what’s growing inside me.Then the image appears on the screen.And the sound.That heartbeat.Strong. Fast. Completely healthy.Something releases in my chest so suddenly my eyes fill before I even decide to cry.Our baby. My precious little miracle.,“Everything looks perfect,” the sonographer says, moving the probe slightly, measuring, c
Roman“You need to control yourself.”“Yeah.” She grins, rolling her hips against the bed the way she knew always makes me go crazy. “I know you want this as much as I do. You are hard. I can see the bulge from here.”She is damn right. I’m painfully and visibly hard. But only a depraved man would fuck a sick patient in the hospital ward.“Fuck, sweetheart. You’re not making this easy.” I palm my dick, trying to regain control of my body before I snap and fuck her like I’ve been wanting to since last night, when I had her against my car.God, how I wanted to strip her bare on the street and fuck her in front of all those moving cars.“Oh, really? I thought I was being pretty easy. Let me simplify. I want you to fuck me, Roman. I want to feel you deep inside of me, stretching me and marking me. I want you to remind me what it means to be yours.”My body is vibrating with need, my cock leaking pre-cum all over the fucking place. My hands ghost up her body in those damn hospital
RavenIt’s Vivienne and Roman’s engagement party today, and I’m here, standing in a corner with a champagne flute in hand, looking like I’m at a funeral.Well, I’m dressed in a black dress, so it fits how I feel about the part very well.“You seem bored,” Jack murmurs beside me, his voice low enoug
Roman She’s exactly where I told her to be. I close the bedroom door behind me and stop. Take her in. Raven is on the bed, knees spread, hips tilted up, her weight resting on her elbows so her chest hovers just above the mattress and her back curves into a perfect arch. Naked. Every inch of he
RavenThe hangover hits me before I even open my eyes.My head is a slow, steady throb. My mouth tastes as if something died in it. I lie there for a full minute just staring at the ceiling, letting the memories crawl back in pieces. The bar. Jack. The drive home. Roman guiding me to my bedroom. Me
RomanI’m walking through the lobby when I see her.Raven.Staggering through the entrance like she can’t remember how legs work. One hand on the wall for balance. The other clutching her phone.Drunk.She’s fucking drunk.Anger floods through me. Hot and immediate. I cross the space between







