After the grand revelation of Ben’s birth story, I pretty much zone Caden out.Anything he says goes right over my head—not because I don’t understand him, but because I’m simply not interested anymore.By the time we make it to my mansion, Caden pulls up the car and turns to me, waiting for me to say something.I don’t.I don’t wait. I don’t say goodbye, or good night, or anything to start any kind of conversation. I simply push open the door, hug Axel to my chest, and step out.“Vivienne!” he calls out to me, probably for the millionth time. “What happened, dammit?”I so want to tell him what went wrong. I want to tell him exactly what went wrong. But then I think again and wonder—what’s even the use of it? He’s never going to change. He’ll always have this bad habit of keeping things to himself, of having secrets, and I’ll never be able to do anything about it.Other than curse my fate, like I have so many times in the past.What if this is some kind of cosmic warning? What if this
During the whole ride back home, Alexander’s words keep echoing in my head.If my life had been a big tangled web of complications before, now it was even worse. To think a man like him came into my life just so he could establish a claim on the child I was carrying… it disturbs something deep inside me.Although something inside me feels sad too—maybe because just when I had started to lower my guard around him, just when I started to see him as a good father figure for my child, he turned out to be someone he never really was.A friend.Now, I don’t know what to think.On one hand, I’m glad everything is out in the open, that he confessed his intentions and stepped back without much of a scene. On the other, I feel exposed, embarrassed, stupid even, that I couldn’t see through his façade—that I let a man with such dark intentions get so close to my child. That I let myself feel anything for him.“Are you okay?” a deep voice arrives from my side, and I blink rapidly, realizing too qu
Once we step out of the abandoned building, leaving Caden’s men to deal with Astrid’s madness, we come face-to-face with the man I didn’t expect to find under the same roof as Caden.“Xander,” I breathe out, caught off guard.“Here,” Caden offers, as he gently shifts Axel from my arms to his. “I’ll be waiting at the car.”And then he leaves. Just like that.I blink after him, but my brain’s too fried to keep up. Too much blood, too many screams, too many goddamn emotions for one night. I don’t even have the energy to ask why Xander’s here.“Glad to see nothing bad happened to you or Axel,” Xander says, stuffing his hands in his pockets. I realize he doesn’t sound anything like himself. Or the ‘him’ that I’m used to. The gentler, nicer side of Xander. And not the one he saves only for business. “You had all of us worried.”I look past Xander’s shoulder and watch Caden propping Axel on the bonnet of a black sedan, helping him with a raincoat. I blink back at Xander, frowning.“You didn’
I rush to grab Axel out of Samuel’s grasp, but the man is too heavy. I manage to turn him over when I notice Caden lifting the bastard and tossing him aside.“Is he okay?”“I don’t know,” I gasp out as I drag Axel onto my lap, shaking him gently. “Hey. Baby. Come on. I’m here now. Look at me. Open your eyes, sweetheart. Say something.”Axel grunts a little, the side of his face painted with dirt. He shivers and starts whining.I hear Caden sigh, but I’m not looking his way.When I hug Axel tight, this time, he squeezes me back, sobbing against my chest. “M…Mommy,” he whimpers, unable to open his eyes. My poor baby boy is still traumatized, but at least he’s safe. “Loud… hurt my ears.”The breath I’ve been holding leaves me all at once, and I pull my baby even closer. Shaking. Smiling. Laughing.Crying.“You look fine, bud,” Caden states, dropping to one knee next to us. I wish I could run into his arms—I would even dance a damn happy dance—but I don’t.Axel, on the other hand, doesn’t
I’m tempted to whip around and face him—just to confirm that what I heard was actually his voice. That the sudden burst of serenity filling my entire soul means something—that it comes from him, and him only.I’ve never felt so much happiness just from hearing someone say a few simple words.But this isn’t the moment. Not when Axel’s life is on the line.“Caden!”But then Astrid’s whole demeanor takes a complete turn. Her taunting sneer and lunatic haze twist into something… miserable. Her eyes go wide and round, and her lips take a downward dive.“Oh my God, you’re here,” she cries, literal tears slipping from her eyes. Her hands go up in the air. “Please save me from this crazy woman. She’s out to kill me!”That’s the biggest pile of bullshit I’ve ever heard in my life. What the hell is this woman up to?Caden, however, simply looks at her with complete boredom. “Drop the act, Astrid. I’ve heard and seen more than enough.”“What? No. I don’t know what you heard, but look at her. She
[Vivienne]“Mommy!” I hear Axel scream as he stands behind the pillar, holding it with all his might.When I jumped on Astrid and tackled her to the ground, I forgot I was leaving my little boy, who can’t see, all alone.I might have been really desperate.“You’re so dead, Vivienne!” Astrid snarls, launching herself at me again.I move the gun up and at her, aiming right for her head. “Yeah. Try that, for sure.”That makes her hesitate.On the other hand, Samuel looks absolutely misplaced and terrified. For a man as old and enormous as he is, he’s not very bold, I realize. In fact, from the very beginning, he has been constantly uncertain of himself. Even his act of abducting us wasn’t his own or out of rage—it was out of hopelessness.If not for this dangerous and messed-up situation he dragged us into, I would have honestly felt pity for him.Not that I do. The only thing I have for him is a huge-ass grudge.Astrid laughs, and that’s enough to bring my focus back to her.“What the h