“Smile like you love me.”Zayd’s voice was low as he leaned into Nirvana’s ear, the flashbulbs from press photographers strobing over the red carpet outside the towering gold-gated entrance of the Castellani Foundation's charity gala. The glittering chandeliers inside sparkled through the windows like firelight. Laughter echoed. Classical music played. And every sin in the room wore diamonds.Nirvana slid her hand deeper into the crook of his arm, her lips curling into a dangerously beautiful smile. “You’re not the one I’m pretending to love.”Zayd chuckled. “No. But I’m the one helping you pretend.”She looked stunning in black satin, her leg exposed through the slit of her dress, a silver dagger clipped at her thigh. Her hair was curled softly, a classic wave that shimmered under the lights. She looked like she belonged here…dripping wealth, mystery, and seduction.And across the room, RAyNe saw her.The smile dropped from his face immediately.Lucian let out a low whistle beside hi
“You’re seriously hogging the only blanket when you were the one who bled all over it.”Nirvana’s voice cracked the silence like a whip as she sat up, naked beneath the tattered remains of her coat. The thin morning light filtered in through the cracks in the rotting cabin walls. Her hair was wild, lips raw, thighs sore. RAyNe lay beside her on the floor, one arm propped behind his head, watching her with that damned smug glint in his still feverish eyes.“I almost died,” he said with exaggerated pain. “And this is the gratitude I get?”She snorted. “You’re lucky I didn’t finish the job last night.”His grin widened. “You’re welcome for the best hate-fuck of your life.”“You’re disgusting.”“I’m yours.”Her heart kicked, hard.“Don’t,” she warned, throwing the coat over herself as she stood. “Don’t make this anything.”“I didn’t say it meant anything. I just said I’m yours. Entirely. Fatally.”She paused, back to him.Her hand clenched.“I’m going to regret this,” she muttered.RAyNe’
“If you die on me, I’ll never forgive you.”Nirvana’s voice cracked as she dragged RAyNe’s half-conscious body through the underbrush, his blood warm against her shaking fingers. Leaves tangled in her hair, mud clung to her knees, and panic threatened to crush her chest. She didn’t even know where she found the strength anymore…but something kept her moving.A sliver of moonlight cut through the dense forest canopy just enough to reveal it…a small, crooked silhouette ahead. An old hunting cabin, half-collapsed, hidden by time and moss. It looked like it hadn’t been touched in decades.She practically kicked the door in.“Just… hang on,” she muttered through her teeth, dragging him inside and slamming the door shut behind her.Dust exploded in the air. Rotting wood creaked beneath her feet. There were holes in the roof, but it had four walls and cover. It was enough.RAyNe groaned as she lowered him onto an old cot near the fireplace. His hand pressed uselessly against his shoulder, bl
"You think running away makes you free?"RAyNe's voice sliced through the thick tension in the room like a blade through silk. The walls of his estate trembled under the weight of his fury…silent, brooding, and on the edge of combustion. He sat on the black leather chaise, one leg crossed over the other, hands steepled beneath his chin. Two weeks. Two excruciating weeks of being ignored, evaded, shut out like a plague.Gianna stood opposite him, tablet clutched to her chest, her eyes flickering with caution.“She was seen again… with Prince Zayd,” she said carefully. “This time at a bridal boutique. They seemed… affectionate.”The sound of glass shattering echoed through the room. RAyNe’s crystal tumbler had hit the floor. Bourbon seeped into the Persian rug like blood.“Wedding?” he murmured, blinking once, slowly. “They were at a wedding shop?”Before Gianna could answer, the front doors slammed open.Elias strode in, reeking of smoke and sarcasm. “Maybe they’re getting married. You
"This meeting will decide the future of Castillo Holdings. I suggest we all take it seriously," Jezara's voice sliced through the tension like a blade.The grand conference room on the top floor of Castillo Tower pulsed with power and heat. Twelve board members sat around a gleaming obsidian table, half shifting uncomfortably, the others defiant or cold. The room was thick with tension, the windows framed by storm clouds rolling in over the city skyline like an omen.Adrian Holt sat to Jezara's left, legs crossed, sipping espresso with a calmness that felt manufactured. His eyes, however, were moving too fast to hide his unease. He wasn’t here for Jezara. He was here for himself."Castillo Holdings is hemorrhaging loyalty. Someone must take over this empire before it burns," Jezara continued, her crimson suit glowing under the chandelier. Her gaze cut into each face. "And who better than someone who's already been running its shadow division for the last seven months?""You mean the s
"Someone's here," Gianni muttered, his voice barely a whisper as he pressed himself against the cold stone wall of the estate. The darkness around him was a cloak, but the security here was no joke. One wrong move, and he’d be a corpse.The sprawling Voltaire estate loomed around him, shadowed by towering trees and guarded by men who didn’t look like they smiled often. Gianni had slipped past the perimeter with the stealth of a phantom, his focus unyielding.Nirvana had to be dead. Rayne believed it. Everyone believed it. But something gnawed at him…a nagging suspicion. Then came the photograph..the one with the stretcher, the medics, the airstrip. His instincts told him there was more to the story.He’d followed the trail here. Geneva. Darius Voltaire’s estate.The greenhouse loomed ahead, its glass panels misted with condensation, lush greenery shadowed within. Gianni scanned the area, then slipped inside, his boots silent against the tiled floor. Tropical plants rose around him, ca