LOGINThe hospital hallway was deathly quiet. The only sound was the steady, rhythmic beep-beep coming from inside the Intensive Care Unit. Lorenzo was alive, but he was deep in a coma. The doctors said they had done everything they could, but now it was up to his own body to decide if he would ever wake up.Michael Valente sat in his wheelchair just a few feet from the glass door. His face was like a block of ice. He didn’t blink. He just stared at his son through the window, watching the machines breathe for him. Gerald stood behind him, his head bowed, his hands folded neatly in front of him. Gerald felt sick. He had been the one on guard, and he had failed.Michael finally turned his chair, his eyes dark and empty. "Gerald," he said, his voice quiet but sharp. "How did Evan know we were watching him? How did he know we were close enough to be a threat?"Gerald stepped forward, his shoulders slumped. "I’ve thought about it all night, sir. I’m almost certain that I was the real target. E
Raina waited for an answer, her breath caught in her throat. But instead of an explanation, the phone just gave a sharp, dead tone. Xander had hung up on her."Coward," Raina hissed, dropping the phone onto the console. She looked at Maxton. His jaw was clenched so hard she thought it might break. She felt like she was trapped in a room with a bomb, waiting for it to go off. "Why did he hang up? Is it true, Maxton? Is Evan the one who did this?"Maxton didn’t try to lie or push her away. He looked straight ahead, his eyes hard and cold. "Yes, Raina. It’s true. Evan is back in the country. He has been moving in the shadows, buying off smaller gangs and building his own army."Raina felt like someone had just poured ice water over her. "Evan? The playboy? The guy who spent all his time at parties and clubs? You’re telling me that man, who couldn't even manage his own bank account, is running a war against us?"Maxton turned to look at her. "That’s exactly what he wanted you to think. He
They walked out of the hospital in total silence. The night air felt freezing against Raina’s skin, but she didn’t even shiver, because she felt numb. All she could think about was the sight of the blood on the floor and the look on the doctors’ faces. Lorenzo had always been her protector, the one person who kept her grounded, and the thought of him lying on that table was tearing her apart.Maxton led her to the SUV. He drove for a few minutes, his hands gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white. Suddenly, he pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned off the engine.Raina frowned, her brow furrowing in confusion. She looked at him, her eyes tired and slightly red. "Why are we stopping, Maxton? We need to keep moving….We need to find out who did this."Maxton didn't say a word. He just turned in his seat and reached for her. Before she could push him away or ask another question, he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly against his chest.Raina
Raina grabbed her bag, her mind already moving at a hundred miles an hour. She didn't know who had done this, but she was going to find out. She checked her reflection one last time and pulled her hair into a tight, sharp ponytail.She ran out of the room, her footsteps echoing in the massive hallway. She needed to find Maxton immediately. She needed to get to that hospital and god help whoever had touched Lorenzo, because if it was the last thing she did, she was going to make them pay for every drop of blood he had shed.She reached the main staircase, her heart thumping in time with the speed of her descent. The mansion felt massive and empty and it seemed to make her panic even more. She sprinted toward the garage after not seeing anyone around.She was going to grab a car and speed to the hospital instantly.She burst through the heavy doors of the garage just as Maxton was sliding into the driver’s seat of his armored SUV. His face was already set in a cold expression and it was
The kiss was everything she hadn’t realized she was starving for. It wasn't just a touch, it was a reclamation. Maxton moved with a desperate, frantic intensity, his hands mapping the curve of her waist, then her back, pulling her flush against him until she could feel the hard, solid lines of his body. Raina’s mind went blank. Her hands, which had been fisted in his shirt, relaxed and wandered upward, her fingers tangling in the thick hair at the nape of his neck.He didn’t pull away until her lungs were literally burning for air. When he finally broke the kiss, they both stood there, chests heaving, eyes locked in a shared, frantic haze. The room felt smaller, the air thick with the scent of their shared adrenaline.Maxton didn't wait for even a minute. He quickly shifted, his arms sliding under her knees and back, and he lifted her as if she weighed nothing at all. Raina let out a sharp, surprised gasp, her arms instinctively wrapping around his neck to anchor herself. He carried
Raina felt her heart hammering against her ribs, the rhythm was so fast that it actually started to hurt. Her skin was still burning red from what she had seen in the garden. Seeing Carlos and Pascal, two handsome and fit men, kissing with that kind of hunger had left her brain in a complete scramble. She remained standing in that particular spot, towel in hand, staring at the floor, totally lost in her own head.Maxton frowned when he saw her expression and the way she had completely spaced out.She didn’t even hear his footsteps when he approached her. It was only when he tapped her on the arm, that she snapped out of her thoughts and nearly jumped out of her skin."Raina," Maxton called. His voice was calm, but his eyes were sharp, searching her face like he was trying to solve a puzzle. "You’ve been standing there staring at nothing for five minutes and your face is so red… What’s going on?"Raina didn't have the patience or the composure to filter her thoughts, as the shock of t
Maxton stared at the photo on the phone and Carlos stood perfectly still, watching his every expression.He expected Maxton to explode with anger, but that didn't happen, instead he simply stared at the photo of Selene and let out a soft chuckle that made the hair on the thugs' arms stand up."Sele
The heavy door to Raina’s bedroom clicked shut, and in that single second, the man who had been gentle with her disappeared. Maxton Retroferd stood in the hallway, but he didn't look like a husband anymore. He looked like a nightmare.His eyes darkened until they were like two pits of black ink. Th
The black car roared through the gates of the Retroferd estate. Maxton didn't wait for the guards to open his door, he quickly stepped out with Raina still cradled in his arms. She looked like a broken doll, but the way she held her head showed she was far from finished. Maxton’s face was dark and
The atmosphere inside the Valente mansion was thick with fear. For the past twenty-four hours, the house had felt like a bomb about to explode. The servants moved on their tiptoes, and the guards stood as still as statues, afraid that even a single breath would set off their boss’s temper.Michael







