The world narrowed to the three of us, locked in a silent, searing triangle on the sun-baked driveway. The scent of bougainvillea, usually so sweet, felt cloying and suffocating. My tears had dried into tight, salty tracks on my cheeks. The cuts on my feet were a distant, dull throb. All I could feel was the icy void where my heart had been moments before.Eve’s smile was a slash of crimson in her porcelain face. She pushed off the car, her heels clicking on the pavement like a countdown to an execution.“Oh, Lucia, darling,” she sighed, her voice dripping with a mock pity that was more venomous than outright scorn. “Look at you. All flushed and trembling. Did you really think you were special?”My gaze flickered to Adam. He stood frozen in the doorway, his face a ghastly shade of pale, his hands clenched into white knuckled fists at his sides. He looked like a man watching a train wreck in slow motion, utterly powerless to stop it. He didn’t deny it. He didn’t say a word.That silenc
The fragile peace of the last few days had been intoxicating. It was a delicate, beautiful lie we’d built, and I had wrapped myself in it like a priceless shawl. We were laughing, the sound echoing through the sun-drenched living room, remnants of a shared lunch on the coffee table between us. Adam was describing a disastrous sailing trip from his youth, his hands moving animatedly, his eyes alight with a humor I’d never seen before. I was curled on the opposite end of the sofa, my feet tucked under me, smiling so widely my cheeks ached.His phone buzzed on the table, shattering the moment.The screen lit up with a single name: EVE.my heart stopped beating for a moment.The light in Adam’s eyes died instantly. His smile vanished, replaced by the familiar, impenetrable mask of the Lancaster heir. The transformation was so swift and complete it left me cold.“I have to take this,” he said, his voice clipped and devoid of its earlier warmth. He didn’t look at me as he scooped up the pho
The world beyond the gates ceased to exist. The ghost of Eve, the weight of the Lancaster name it all dissolved in the honeyed light of a new morning. For one entire day, we were not a Lancaster and a Pete. We were just Adam and Lucia. Two people discovering each other for the first time.No fears nor doubts...Just I and the man I call husband.Adam was scrambling eggs, his brow furrowed in concentration, when I came up behind him, unable to resist the pull any longer. I wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing my cheek against the solid warmth of his back. He stilled, his hands pausing over the pan.“Good morning,” he murmured, his voice a low vibration against my ear.“Mmm,” I replied, inhaling the scent of him mixed with the rich aroma of coffee and toast. I felt him relax into my embrace, one hand leaving the spatula to cover mine where they rested on his stomach. It was a simple touch, but it felt more intimate than anything I’d ever known.We ate at the counter, our knees tou
The first brush of consciousness came with the scent of him.Cedarwood and sea salt, warm skin and something darker, something intrinsically Adam that made my pulse stutter before I even opened my eyes. I was pressed against something solid. Breathing. Alive. Not alone. My lashes fluttered open to early morning light painting gold across rumpled sheets, illuminating the arm draped possessively over my waist. Large, capable fingers splayed across my bare stomach where my sleep shirt had ridden up during the night, his pinky dipping just beneath the waistband of my shorts. Every point of contact burned. I didn't dare move. Adam's breathing remained deep and even behind me, his chest rising and falling against my back in a rhythm that matched the ocean waves beyond the terrace doors. The heat of him enveloped me, his thighs bracketing mine, his knees tucked behind mine as if even in sleep, his body refused to let me go. The realization sent a dangerous thrill through me. I wa
The tires of Adam's car had barely finished spitting gravel when the silence began to suffocate me. I stood frozen at the villa's massive entrance doors, my fingers still tingling from where they'd brushed against his when he handed me the security codes. The morning sun painted the driveway in harsh stripes of light and shadow, each one a reminder of his absence. 'You'll be safe', he'd said. The team knows what to do.As if safety was just a matter of armed guards and locked doors. The house exhaled around me, its usual warmth leaching away minute by minute. Without Adam's brooding presence filling the space, the high ceilings seemed to stretch into infinity, the marble floors turned to ice beneath my bare feet. I caught myself listening for the familiar sounds that usually anchored my days—the precise click of his dress shoes on tile, the low rumble of his voice on business calls, the way he'd sigh through his nose when a report frustrated him.Now there was only silence.11:47 A
The morning sun cast long shadows across the terrace, painting Adam's profile in gold and darkness as he stood rigid before me. The salt-laced breeze tugged at his untucked shirt, pressing the fabric against the hard planes of his chest. His hands flexed at his sides, the same hands that had pulled me from death's grip less than twentyfour hours ago. I could still feel the ghost of them on my skin. "You should stay away from me." His voice was rougher than the cliffs below us, scraped raw from shouting my name across the waves yesterday. A humorless laugh escaped my lips. "That's rich coming from the man who dove into the ocean after me." His golden eyes darkened like storm clouds swallowing the sun. "That was different." "Because you were playing hero?" I took a step forward, the tiles warm beneath my bare feet. "Or because you realized you couldn't actually let me go?" Adam's breath hitched, his broad shoulders tensing beneath his shirt. The pulse at his throat jumped er