MasukCIARAThe underground garage was unusually quiet and altogether weird the next day.The elevator doors slid open, and I stepped out first, scanning the concrete levels with concern.I adjusted my blazer and followed."Where's Carlista?" I asked."She's somewhere around." Mary responded.Her phone was halfway to her ear when it rang.She frowned."Carlista."A pause.Then her expression hardened."Repeat that."I immediately stopped walking."What is it?"Mary listened for another few seconds.Then she lowered the phone."We have a problem."I laughed humorlessly."That's becoming the slogan of my life.""Maggie is somewhere here.""Why?"“I have no idea."My stomach tightened."Now?""Now."I hated the answer before she even finished speaking."We leave together maam just ignore her.""Let's hope she behaves.""Hopefully.""Ciara—""No."Before either of us could continue, another elevator opened.Carlista stepped out carrying three folders and a coffee she probably forgot existed.Sh
CIARAThe silence in the elevator is uncomfortable and bothersome. The transaction logs were clear: the syndicate was closing in on our son’s home location despite all we did to keep him safe.My son.... Our son.The world thought Mathew was just the stoic, brooding fighter and billionaire playboy then they thought he was an asset I threw at corporate disputes. Nobody knew about his crazy obsession tò the woman I became, nobody knew that the child with Mathew’s dark, hyper-vigilant eyes was currently tucked away behind a triple-layered security detail because his existence would tear the lots of empires to pieces."We need to move him," I said, my voice dropping into that flat, icy register as I stared out the floor-to-ceiling glass at the London skyline. My reading glasses were gripped tightly in my right hand. "If the Swiss faction has the encryption keys, Richmond isn't safe past midnight. We move him to the safehouse in Shoreditch.""The Shoreditch house isn't ready, Ciara and why
MATHEWI had broken men's jaws for less than what this woman was doing to me at this very moment."Move."The woman standing in front of the private elevator didn't even blink."No."I stared at her.She stared right back.For a brief moment, I wondered if Ciara had secretly started hiring retired assassins.The woman folded her arms.I checked the plaque on the reception desk.Mary Thompson.The new secretary.Louis had mentioned her during the drive over.Apparently, Ciara had hired her less than an hour ago.That should have been my first warning."You're standing in front of my elevator," I said."No."My eye twitched."No?""No."She pointed toward the brass plaque beside the elevator."That elevator belongs to Horizon Holdings which is Miss Ciara’s property."I looked at the plaque.I looked back at her.Then I smiled."Correct.""Ciara belongs to me."Mary's expression didn't change.Not even slightly."That's not how ownership works."I laughed.The receptionist behind the des
CIARAThe following morning, I buried myself in work.It was either that or spend the entire day thinking about Mathew then overthinking things and I refused to do that."You're glaring at your laptop again."I looked up to find Carlista standing in my office doorway with a tablet tucked under her arm."I'm not glaring.""You absolutely are.""I'm reviewing reports.""With murder in your eyes."I sighed.Carlista smirked.That woman enjoyed irritating me far too much."The interviews start in ten minutes," she said."Oh..thank goodness.""Thank goodness?" she repeated. "You've rejected twenty-three candidates.""Twenty-one.""Twenty-three.""Two withdrew.""They withdrew because you terrified them."I shrugged."If they can't survive an interview, they can't survive this company or me."Carlista laughed."Come on, dictator. The next victim is waiting."I stood and grabbed my notebook."Let's go."The conference room was already prepared when we arrived.A long glass table dominated th
MATHEWThe underground gym in Bethnal Green smelled like faint dust. The fluorescent tubes overhead flashed like a nest of hornets, casting a flickering, yellow light over the rusted chain-link fence that served as our ring.I stood in the corner, my bare back pressed against the turnbuckle, slowly wrapping the black linen tape around my left knuckles. My three cracked ribs from the Shoreditch fight flared sharp every time I took a deep breath, but the physical sting was a dull, rhythmic reminder that I was still alive. It was predictable. It followed the rules of impact and recovery."You're not focused, mate," Louis’s voice muttered from the apron. He was leaning against the steel post, his crisp Mayfair suit completely out of place among the grease and the grease-monkeys. He was cutting a strip of adhesive tape with his teeth, his sharp eyes scanning my face. "Your alignment is off by two inches on the left stance. If you let this giant catch you on the liver, the Swiss trip is ca
MATHEW "Why the hell is she doing this again looking all gorgeous in a yellow dress with flawless skin while meeting a stranger?" I complainLouis chuckled "She's meeting with one of her company's investors who happens to be a billionaire and investigating her uncle's influence within the company."To anyone else in the room, I was just the quiet, brooding head of security, keeping an ear communication line open to Louis in the lobby. To the woman sitting at Table Four, I was the ghost who held her in the dark when the lights were out. She smiled at the man across from her.That man was Kenneth Wane—no relation to her uncle’s side, but a billionaire venture capitalist from the Swiss faction. He was the golden key to her company's technology funding. He was laughing at something she had just said, his hands gesturing smoothly over a plate of truffle tartlets."Oh I feel so bad for him," Louis’s voice crackled softly through my hidden earpiece. "Kenneth’s internal servers just cleare







