登入The fire had burned low.Brianna sat on the couch, her head still resting on Dawson's shoulder, her hand still in his. The evidence was on the table. The war was waiting. But for this moment, she just wanted to be still.She turned to look at him."I'm what?"He was quiet. The silence stretched between them, heavy and thick. She could see the tension in his jaw, the way his eyes were fixed on the window."You don't have to say it," she said. "I just want to know what you were going to say."He shook his head."I don't know how to say it."She touched his face. Her palm was warm against his cheek."Then show me."He turned to look at her. His eyes were dark, tired, full of something she could not name.He pulled her close. His arms wrapped around her. She pressed her face into his chest.He did not speak. But his silence spoke volumes.She could feel his heart beating beneath her cheek. Fast. Unsteady. He was scared. Not of Declan. Not of Eric. Of this. Of what they were becoming.She
The morning light was gray through the cabin windows.Brianna sat at the kitchen table, her father's photograph in her hands, the evidence spread before her. She had been staring at his face for a long time. The smile. The eyes. The hope that had been frozen in time. She traced the edge of the photograph with her thumb, trying to memorize every detail.Dawson was across from her, his coffee untouched, his eyes on her face. He had been watching her for a while, letting her process, letting her feel whatever she needed to feel. He did not rush her. He did not push. He just waited.She looked up at him."Why help me save him? He was your enemy."Dawson was quiet for a long moment. He set his coffee down. His hands rested on the table. She could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his jaw tightened."My enemy is Declan." His voice was low, rough. "Antonio was just a weapon."She looked at him. The words hung in the air between them."And me?"He was quiet."You're..."He stopped.Sh
The morning light was gray through the cabin windows.Brianna sat at the kitchen table, her father's photograph in her hands, the evidence spread before her. She had been staring at his face for a long time. The smile. The eyes. The hope that had been frozen in time. She traced the edge of the photograph with her thumb, trying to memorize every detail.Dawson was across from her, his coffee untouched, his eyes on her face. He had been watching her for a while, letting her process, letting her feel whatever she needed to feel. He did not rush her. He did not push. He just waited.She looked up at him."Why help me save him? He was your enemy."Dawson was quiet for a long moment. He set his coffee down. His hands rested on the table. She could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his jaw tightened."My enemy is Declan." His voice was low, rough. "Antonio was just a weapon."She looked at him. The words hung in the air between them."And me?"He was quiet."You're..."He stopped.Sh
The fire had burned low.Brianna sat on the couch, Dawson's arm around her, her head resting on his shoulder. The evidence was still on the table. The war was still waiting. But for this moment, they were just two people who had found each other.She turned to look at him."Tell me about your mother."He was quiet for a moment. His hand moved to her hair, stroking it gently."She was beautiful. Kind. She used to sing to me at night."She touched his face."What happened to her?"He looked away. His jaw tightened."She left. She couldn't take it anymore. My father... he was cruel. He hurt her. He hurt me. And one day, she just couldn't stay."She squeezed his hand."Did she ever try to come back?"He shook his head."No. She never came back."She looked at him. At the boy who had been left behind."I'm sorry."He was quiet for a long moment."I used to think it was my fault. That if I had been better, if I had been stronger, she would have stayed."She pulled him close."It wasn't your
He walked toward her. His face was tired. The shadows under his eyes were dark. He had not slept in days. Neither had she."Brianna."She looked at him."What?"He sat across from her. His hands rested on the table."Are you ready for this?"She was quiet for a moment."I don't know if ready is the right word." She looked at the file. "But I'm not going to stop."He reached for her hand. She let him take it."I know."She looked at him. Really looked.For the first time, she saw past the mask. Past the cold exterior. Past the walls he had built around himself.She saw the boy behind the monster.He was tired. He was scared. He was trying so hard to be strong, to be the person she needed him to be. But underneath it all, he was still the boy who had watched his mother walk away. The boy who had been beaten by his father. The boy who had grown up in a house full of wolves and had learned to become one to survive.She squeezed his hand."Dawson."He looked at her."What?"She touched his
The apartment door closed behind them.Brianna stood in the hallway, the locket still in her hand, her mother's tears still fresh in her mind. She had said what she needed to say. She had heard what she needed to hear. But the weight of it all was still pressing down on her chest.Dawson was beside her. His hand was on her back."Are you okay?"She shook her head."No. But I will be."They walked down the stairs. The morning light was gray through the narrow windows. The building was quiet.Outside, the air was cold. Brianna stood on the sidewalk, looking up at the sky."He never knew," she said. "He spent his whole life looking for me, and he never knew."Dawson stood beside her."But now you know."She looked at him."Now I know."He reached for her hand."Then we'll tell him together."She stared at him."What?"He met her eyes."After we destroy my father. After we bring them all down. We'll tell your father the truth. We'll tell him everything."Her eyes filled with tears."He's
The dress hung on the back of her door like a ghost.Brianna had found it in the back of her closet that morning, buried under clothes she never wore. Simple. Navy blue. Long sleeves. A neckline that didn't invite attention. It belonged to Dawson's mother, left behind in a room that had been untouc
The photos slid off Brianna's lap and scattered across the floor mats of the Bugatti. Pictures of her walking to class. Pictures of her mother crying on a park bench. Pictures of Brianna sleeping in her old bedroom, taken through the window."You're sick," Brianna whispered. The air in the car sudd
The glass of whiskey in Eric’s hand tilted as he took a step closer, the amber liquid swirling like his dark intentions. The lock on the door clicked with a finality that made the air in the room turn thin."Don't look so terrified, Brianna," Eric said, his voice dropping to that patronizing, sicke
The sun hadn't even fully risen when the door to Brianna’s new bedroom creaked open. She scrambled to sit up, her heart nearly leaping out of her chest.It was her mother. Eloise was already dressed in a sharp power suit, looking like she hadn't spent the night in a house full of monsters. She didn







