LOGINNoah's POVI stayed on the carpet until the sound of Elliot's shoes faded down the hall. The door had closed behind him, but the light was still on. My face was wet, and my chest hurt in a way that had nothing to do with the punches.I pushed myself up with both hands. My knees were stiff, and there was a dark patch on the carpet where my forehead had been. I wiped my face with the sleeve of my shirt and looked at the chair behind the desk.I walked around the desk and sat in it. The leather was still warm from him. I had never sat in this chair before. As a boy I was not even allowed to stand near the desk, and part of me still expected him to walk back in and pull me out of it.The tablet was on the floor where it had fallen. I picked it up and pressed the side button, and the dark screen lit up to a lock screen.I tried the first thing that came to mind, which was his birthday, and the screen opened.The home screen was almost empty. There were no photos of me and no messages, only
Noah’s POVI drove with both hands locked on the wheel and the radio off. The city moved past the windows in streaks of light and shadow, but I did not see any of it. My knuckles were still raw from the hospital door I had slammed on the way out. Delia’s face stayed behind my eyes; the stitches, the tears, and the way she had said it were not what I thought. Tessa’s voice stayed too. Because your wife has been screwing your father.I had not answered either of them. I had walked out and gotten in the car and pointed it at the one place I should have gone months ago.The house was dark except for the light in the study. I did not ring the bell. The side door was unlocked the way it always was when he worked late. I went through the kitchen, past the empty dining room, and up the back stairs. My shoes made no sound on the carpet. When I pushed the study door open, he was behind the desk, reading something on a tablet. He looked up. He did not look surprised.“Noah,” he said. “You look l
Noah’s POVThe hospital corridor smelled like disinfectant and cold air. I found Delia’s room first. She was sitting on the edge of the bed in a paper gown, one eye swollen half shut, a line of stitches across her cheek. She looked up when I walked in. For a second she only stared. Then she tried to smile. It pulled at the cut and she stopped.“You came,” she said.“Of course I came.” I stayed by the door. The chair next to the bed was empty. I did not sit. “What happened?”“Tessa started it.” The words came fast. Too fast. “She cornered me at the gym. She kept talking about Elliot. She said things. I told her to stop. She swung first.”I watched her face. The uninjured eye would not stay on mine. Her hands were tight on the edge of the mattress.“She swung first,” I said.“Yes.”“And you only defended yourself.”“Yes.”From the doorway behind me a short, rough laugh cut the air. Tessa stood in the hall with a bandage across her nose and another on her lip. One eye was already dark. S
Katia’s POVSam walked into my office without knocking, tablet already in her hand and a smile on her face that meant she had something she could not wait to share. She closed the door behind her and dropped into the chair across from my desk like she had been waiting all morning for this exact moment.“You need to see this,” she said.I looked up from the contract I had been marking. “If it is another supplier trying to renegotiate, I am not in the mood.”“It is not a supplier.” She turned the tablet toward me. The screen was already playing. The video was shaky, filmed from a few feet away, but clear enough. Two women on a gym mat. One of them had Delia’s hair. The other had Tessa’s red jacket half off her shoulders. They were on the floor. Fists. Elbows. Someone’s head hitting the mat. Blood on a cheek. The camera jerked when whoever was filming stepped closer. Delia’s voice came through the speaker, low and furious, something about time and taking it. Tessa answered, louder, somet
Delia’s POVI found Tessa at the gym; she used three times a week. Not the fancy one downtown where people went to be seen. The smaller one near the water, the one with the old boxing bags and the smell of sweat that never fully left the mats. I had watched her schedule long enough to know she went there after her stream ended, when the cameras were off and she thought no one was looking.She was alone in the back room, wrapping her hands, when I walked in. The door shut behind me. She looked up. For a second she only stared. Then she smiled.“Delia,” she said. “Didn’t think you knew this place.”“I know more than you think.”She finished the wrap on her left hand and flexed her fingers. “You look angry. Something happened?" she asked.“I want to know what is going on between you and Elliot.”Tessa tilted her head. The smile stayed. “Elliot Vesper? Your father-in-law?”“Do not play with me.”“I’m not playing.” She stepped closer. The room was small. The heavy bag hung between us. “You
Noah’s POVDelia was in the kitchen when I got home. She stood at the counter with a glass of water in her hands, the lights dimmed. She looked up when I closed the door, but she didn’t smile.“You’re late,” she said.“I was with Julian,” I replied.“About what?” she asked.“My father.”She set her glass down, the sound barely audible in the quiet house. “What did he say?”I remained by the door, still holding my keys. “I called him and asked about Tessa. He didn’t deny anything. He told me she was useful and that I should tell you to stop driving past his house.”Delia fell silent, her hands resting on the counter. She didn’t look surprised. Instead, she looked like someone who had been waiting to hear those words but still wished she hadn’t.“Useful,” she repeated. “That’s what he called her?”“Yes,” I confirmed.“And you believe him?”“I believe he didn’t deny seeing her.”She nodded slightly. “So what happens now?”“Now you stop,” I told her. “No more driving past his house, check
~Katia~“Get out!” my mom screamed, her voice tearing through the hallway like a bomb going off in a small room.The sound hit the walls and bounced back so violently, like the house itself was flinching. Even the air felt startled, buzzing with the kind of tension that makes your skin crawl. My he
~Katia~"Do you know how hard I've been holding myself?" I didn't answer because all I wanted was to get laid. I could still feel the ache between my legs. He carried my bridal style and led me to his hotel room. "Now, I can fuck you however I want because you are now my wife, princess." The room
~Katia~Vegas heat hit me like a wave the second I stepped off the private jet. The runway shimmered under the late afternoon sun, and I squinted past my sunglasses, already half-listening to the ping of updates on my encrypted racing burner phone. Six hours before the race, and my heart was alread
KatiaI woke up to the sound of people singing badly.“Happy birthday to you...” I blinked hard against the sunlight filtering through the curtains, my brain slow to reboot. The voices were getting louder, and for a second, I thought I was dreaming. A really weird, off-key dream.“Happy birthday, d







