LOGINRomanThe Diamond Club sits behind an unmarked door on a street that doesnāt appear on any map worth finding.Iāve known about it for years. Getting inside has taken considerably longer.Two of Geraldās men are positioned at the entrance when I arrive. They see me coming and the shift in their posture is immediate, hands moving before Iāve reached the bottom step.āPrivate event tonight,ā the larger one says.āMove,ā I say.āMr. BellerieāāMy men come up on either side of me. Geraldās men reach for their weapons. My men reach faster.The street goes very still.Six men with weapons drawn on a quiet Thursday evening, nobody moving, everybody calculating.āThere will be a bloodbath on this pavement,ā I say quietly. āAnd I promise you, I wonāt be the one going down.ā I hold the larger manās gaze. āSo think carefully about the next five seconds.āA voice from inside.āLet him through.āGeraldās voice. Controlled. Reluctant in a way that costs him something.The men step asid
RavenThe babies section of Harrods smells like something between a nursery and a dream.I stand in the middle of it holding the tiniest pair of socks I have ever seen in my life and feel something happen to my chest that I wasnāt prepared for.āRaven.ā Anaya appears at my elbow, arms already full. āLook at this.ā She holds up a cashmere onesie the color of warm cream with little bear ears on the hood.I take it from her and hold it up and stare at it.āI canāt,ā I say.āYou can and you will.ā Sheās already moving down the rack. āWeāre getting three.āI put the onesie in the basket and keep walking.Iād decided early this morning that Iām not going to find out the gender. I donāt know how to explain it properly to Anaya except to say that it doesnāt matter. Boy or girl, this baby is already the most loved person in the world and has been since the moment I found out they existed. I donāt need a color to prepare myself. I just need to show up.āSo weāre going unisex,ā Anaya co
Roman (Past)āHe wonāt give up unless we give him something,ā Marcus said. āHe wants every potential threat eliminated. He wonāt stop hunting until he believes the heiress is dead.āāThen give him something. A body.āāIāll make arrangements and see if we can find a dead girl who shares the heiressās features. That should convince him to call off the hunt.āāGood.āErica reappeared a moment later, this time carrying her luggage.āI need this sorted once and for all before the weekend,ā I said, ending the call with Marcus. I finally turned to face her fully.āWhereās Raven?āāI put her to sleep,ā she answered, her hand tightening around the handle of her suitcase.āAnd where are you going with that?ā I asked, my gaze lifting from the luggage to her face.āI canāt stay here anymore. I donāt want any part of this. I swear Iāll disappear. Youāll never see me again. Iāll never tell anyone. Just⦠please let me go.āāYou signed a contract,ā I reminded her.āIāll pay you back. I promise.ā She
RavenRoman pushes inside me inch by inch and the stretch of him pulls a long broken moan out of me that I donāt try to stop.Iām tender from everything the red room did to me early hours of today. But Iām so wet, so embarrassingly, obscenely wet, that my body takes him anyway, my slick running freely, easing him in despite the ache, and my fingers find his shoulders and hold on.āBabygirl.ā His voice comes out rough against my temple, strained in a way I feel in my stomach. āI canāt stop fucking this pussy.ā A low grunt. āFeel how good you take me. Every single time.āāDonāt stop.ā The words fall out of me without permission. āI mean it. Donāt ever stop. Use me however you want. Iām yours. All of me.āThe sound that leaves him is heavy and deep and I feel it vibrate from his chest straight into mine and heat floods through me so suddenly I clench hard around him and feel myself leak down his length and onto his thighs.He grips my hips and starts to move.Just lifting me and
RomanThe water runs hot and I let it.I stand under it with my hands braced against the tile and let the steam fill the room and think about Van Davis sitting across from me three days ago in a restaurant he chose because he thought neutral ground meant something.Heād come to me.That was the part I still turned over. Van Davis, who had more pride than sense and a public profile he protected like a second income, had called my office and asked for a meeting. I almost didnāt take it.Iām glad I did.He sat down across from me and didnāt waste time. Told me the child was his. That he and Vivienne had seen each other a couple of times, that sheād come back to him a year into my engagement and heād been stupid enough to let her.āThat woman means nothing to me,ā heād said flatly. āShe thought she could crawl back after everything and Iād want her. I didnāt. But she was there and I was stupid.ā He leaned back in his chair. āIām not letting another man raise my child. Thatās the on
RavenāWhat are you up to, Roman Bellerie?ā I think to myself as I drain the last of the wine in my glass.Everyone looks shocked at Romanās accusations, waiting for Vivienne to defend herself.She doesnāt break the way people would expect someone in her shoes to.Thatās the thing about Vivienne. Even cornered, even with the room turned against her, she finds something to hold onto.āDisgracing me at our wedding wasnāt enough for you?ā Her voice comes out steadier than it has any right to. She pulls herself up off the floor, straightening the dress, lifting her chin. āNot showing up, leaving me standing there in front of everyone wasnāt enough? Now you want to stand here and deny your own child? In front of my father?ā Her eyes fill, and even now theyāre performing. āHow cruel can one person be, Roman? What did I ever do to deserve this from you?āāYouāre still choosing to do this the hard way,ā Roman says.āIām not doing anything. Iām telling the truth.āāLast chance, Vivienn
Raven I shouldnāt. I open the box anyway. The diamond catches the light immediately, almost aggressively, as if it were designed specifically to make a person feel small. Itās enormous. Flawless. I lift it out. Turn it once in my fingers. And then, almost without deciding to, I slide i
Raven I need air. Away from Roman. I thought I could handle being here with them, but I was wrong. I slip out a side door that leads to a private terrace. I can breathe here. I walk to the edge of the terrace. Lean against the stone railing. Close my eyes and just exist for a moment with
Roman We walk into the building. Vivienne loops her arm through mine instantly, pressing herself close, playing the part of the perfect bride-to-be to perfection. āIsnāt this place divine? Everything is so exclusive.ā I grunt something noncommittal. My mind is already elsewhere. My phone buz
RavenI find leftover pasta in the fridge and heat it up and sit at the kitchen counter with my phone and a cup of coffee and try to feel normal. It is not working but I am trying.I am scrolling through nothing in particular when I hear the elevator open.I already know who it is.I keep my eyes o







