FAZER LOGINHello, itâs the author here.
I know I havenât been consistent with the updates, and I have no excuse. I just want to sincerely apologise and say thank you for staying with me despite my inconsistency. We donât have much left of this book, and Iâll do my best to finish it this week. Expect more than ten chapters tomorrow. While weâre at it, please vote and leave reviews for the book. You can also share your thoughts on the characters, the plot, and how you think the story will end. đđŤśREINAThe walk back to the car felt like it stretched on forever, each step heavier than the last. Calestino stayed glued right beside me, his big frame solid and silent like a bodyguard who did not trust the world one bit. Every couple of seconds I glanced down at the watch on my wrist, my thumb twitching near the button, ready to press it if anything felt off. My head was still spinning hard from everything that had happened in class. Philip's creepy sweet smile kept flashing in my mind, the way he had looked almost thrilled when Calestino grabbed him by the collar like he wanted to tear his throat out. And the way Philip had called him grumpy daddy, like it was some twisted inside joke between them. Something was seriously wrong with that guy. Deeply, dangerously wrong. I was so deep in my racing thoughts that I did not even notice Andrew until he was right there, stepping out suddenly from between two parked cars and blocking our path completely. He looked tall and familiar in
Hello, itâs the author here.I know I havenât been consistent with the updates, and I have no excuse. I just want to sincerely apologise and say thank you for staying with me despite my inconsistency.We donât have much left of this book, and Iâll do my best to finish it this week. Expect more than ten chapters tomorrow.While weâre at it, please vote and leave reviews for the book. You can also share your thoughts on the characters, the plot, and how you think the story will end. đđŤś
REINAWas this actually a coincidence?I told myself yes. I forced myself to believe it as I followed Philip White into the lecture hall with the rest of the class, but something about it sat wrong in my chest. Not sharp enough to panic over. Not clear enough to name. Just there. Lingering.Unsettling.I slid into my seat at the middle row and placed my bag down slowly, my fingers brushing against the watch on my wrist. The one Celestino had given me.Tracker. Panic button.I had wanted to laugh it off in the car. I was not laughing now because nothing about my situation was funny.Laughable? yes. But it was absolutely not funny.âAlright, everyone,â Philipâs voice carried easily across the room as he dropped his notes on the desk. âI know I am not your usual professor, so letâs try not to make this painful for either of us.âA few students laughed. I didnât. I kept my eyes on my notebook, pretending to flip through pages I was not reading.âBusiness Statistics,â he continued. âSounds
REINAMorning crept into the apartment in thin, pale stripes, slipping through the half-closed blinds and stretching across the living room floor.Calestino had fallen asleep on the couch sometime before dawn, but he was already awake when I came downstairs.He looked exactly the way he had the night beforeâblack T-shirt, jeans, boots still on, like he had never really intended to sleep. A gun rested on the coffee table beside him, placed there with the casual ease of someone who had carried weapons his entire life.His gaze lifted from his phone the second he heard me.It was the same look he always gave me. Quick. Professional. Assessing.Checking to see if I was okay. Like I was his priority.âYou sleep?â he asked.I shook my head, yawning. âBarely.â My voice sounded rough, like I had been swallowing sand all night. The truth was I hadnât slept longer than an hour at a time. Every creak in the building had dragged me awake. Every car passing on the street had sent my heart racing.
REINAThe door slammed shut behind me with a violence I didnât know I had in me. The sound echoed through the empty hallway like a gunshot, sharp and final, and I pressed my back to the wood as if I could physically hold the night outside. My chest heaved. My palms were slick with sweat. My nails had dug half moons into the meat of my hands so deep I could feel the sting now, belated and distant, like pain happening to someone else.I held my breath.Listened.The low growl of his engine started, idled for a heartbeat, then faded down the street. Gone. Just like that. The silence that followed was worse than the sound of him leaving. It pressed in from every side, thick and suffocating, settling into the corners of the apartment like smoke.I slid down the door until my ass hit the floor. Knees to my chest. Robe gaping open at the front. I didnât bother closing it. What was the point? He had already seen everything. Touched everything. Ruined everything.My lip was bleeding. I had bit
DOMENICOThe lobby was too bright.The lights overhead were harsh, unforgiving white and sterile, like a hospital corridor. Every polished surface reflected too much: marble floors, glass walls, chrome edges. There was nowhere for shadows to hide, nowhere for me to tuck the things I had just said, the things I had admitted without trying to soften them.The concierge looked up when we stepped inside.Then he looked away just as quickly.He had seen that look before. On men who walked in whole and left fractured. On women who were not crying yet but would be the moment they were alone. On couples who did not touch each other even when standing inches apart.Reinaâs hand was still in mine.Cold.Not pulling away but not holding on either. Her fingers rested limp against my palm, as if she had forgotten they were there. I guided her through the revolving door, my grip gentle, instinctive, the same way I had handled her all night. Careful not to hurt. Careful not to lose.The glass panels
REINAThe moment the car pulled away from the restaurant curb, the silver balls shifted againâdeep, rolling, relentlessâand I couldnât hold back the sound that escaped me.It started as a soft gasp, then turned into a broken whimper when Domenico hit a small dip in the road. The inner weights tumb
REINAThe doorbell rang at exactly eight, and my heart jumped like it knew what was coming before I did.Iâd spent the last hour getting ready slowly, deliberately, like every touch was for him. The burgundy dress clung to me like a second skinâsilk so thin it pressed tightly against my nipples eve
REINAIt had been over two hours since we left the laundry room. The washer and dryer had finished their cycles, clothes were folded and put away, and somehow weâd ended up on the couch like thisâme tucked tight against Domenicoâs side, my head on his chest, one of his arms draped heavy over my sh
REINA The car door slammed shut, and the world narrowed to just us. Tinted windows up, engine still ticking as it cooled, the faint smell of leather and his cologne filling the small space. Domenicoâs hand was already on my jaw, fingers digging in, tilting my face up so I had to look straight into







