Hehe. Who would that be? Do you think they'll get caught in the mess?🌚 Hint: leave a comment after reading and I'll drop eh😂
Chapter 42Rhett’s POVI’d left her place a few weeks ago, but I couldn’t stay away.The night was filled with the stench of gunpowder from the job I’d just pulled. I should’ve gone straight to the manor, and cleaned the blood off my knuckles, maybe even tried to sleep off the rage that was still forming in my gut. But none of that shit mattered when the only thing circling through my head was Astrid. Her touch.I’d told myself walking away was the safest choice and giving her distance would untangle whatever mess was growing between us. Yet here I was, driving back to Micah's place like some goddamn addict chasing his fix.By the time I pulled up outside, the windows were dark, the place asleep. I'd drove down here after I got an info from my source that she'd gone with Talia. Damn Talia.I killed the engine, hopped down, and scaled the wall like I’d done a hundred times before. My shoes landed soft on the balcony as though the shadows themselves were pulling me in.Her window was
Chapter 41Astrid’s POVIt had been a week.Seven long, dragging days trapped under my mother’s roof, drowning in her lectures and Dave’s constant presence. Mom fluttered around me with fussing words, repeating the same warnings–“eat more“, “you should rest more”, “don’t think too much.” And Dave hovered like a shadow I never asked for. It was exactly why I hated staying here.This morning she’d sent me to fetch groceries with her, and by the time we returned, my head throbbed with all the blabbering I had endured. My patience was gone. I dropped the bags on the counter and forced a smile that didn’t reach my eyes.“Thanks, Mom. I’ll… unpack later,” I muttered.I excused myself, climbing the stairs two at a time, desperate for space.College would resume soon anyway and summer break was nearly over. I wanted to be back at Micah’s, even if it meant listening to his grumpy words instead of Mom’s.And maybe…seeing Rhett again.The thought lodged in my chest like a thorn. I hadn’t heard
Chapter 40Rhett’s POVI stormed back to the manor, my blood still boiling, my fists aching for someone to break.Astrid’s face wouldn’t leave my head. Her pale, bandaged features replayed in me. Because I hadn’t been there. Because someone had dared to touch her.And I knew Mercedes had a hand in it. If anyone in this rotten empire had the cruelty to go after Astrid, it was her.I caught sight of her near the marble staircase, conversing with one of the men. Her voice was smooth with confident movements, but when her eyes flicked up and landed on me, she stiffened.“Rhett,” she called, walking toward me.I didn’t let her finish. My rage snapped its leash.In two strides, I was on her, yanking her arm and dragging her down the corridor. She struggled, but I didn’t stop until we reached the shadowed passage behind the armory. There, I shoved her hard against the wall.Her back hit with a crack, and she cried out, blood spitting from her lip where it split open. “Figlio di puttana!” she
Chapter 39Astrid’s POVThe door creaked open, and the space between Rhett and me vanished like smoke. I jerked back, my lips parting, my heart hammering against my ribs as though it wanted to escape. Rhett straightened, his hand falling away from mine so fast it was as if I’d burned him.Micah and the doctor walked in.Micah’s eyes swept over the room suspiciously. He didn’t say a word, but his gaze lingered on Rhett for a beat too long, narrowing as if he’d caught something out of place. The doctor, oblivious to the tension that was thick enough to choke on, moved to my bedside with a professional smile.“How are you feeling, Astrid?” the doctor asked gently, checking the monitors.I barely heard him. My pulse was still racing from Rhett’s nearness, from the almost-kiss that still lingered like a ghost on my lips. My eyes refused to move from Rhett. He stood rigid by the window. He still held that worried expression he had on earlier, but he said nothing.The doctor spoke again, ga
Chapter 38Astrid’s POVRhett hadn’t come home.It had been days since that night he disappeared with Layla, and every hour without a single word from him felt like needles pressing into my chest. I hated myself for caring. I wasn’t supposed to care. Not about the way his absence carved out silence so deep it hurt to breathe even for a moment.I’d tried calling Layla, tried messaging Rhett, but both had gone unanswered. He was deliberately ignoring me, and I knew it.“Damn it,” I muttered under my breath, tossing the useless phone onto the couch.I should have been stronger than this. But somehow Rhett Rivers had embedded himself into my veins like an influence, and ignoring him only made me crave him more.The sudden knock at the door jolted me out of my thoughts. I straightened, expecting Micah to show up but Talia did. She gasped when she saw my state.“You’ve been sulking for days,” she accused.“I’m not sulking,” I muttered, scrolling through my phone again, pretending like I wa
Chapter 37 Rhett’s POV The sun hadn’t fully climbed the horizon, and yet Dominic had dragged me into his den like I’d never left it. I sat at the long oak table in the west chamber, men crowded every corner, the air tainted with the metallic tang of guns laid out like silverware. My father stood at the head of the table, his presence commanding, and his voice dripping with arrogance as he gestured toward what was stacked against the walls. “These,” he said, knocking ash from his cigar, “are the future. Precision, power, and reputation. Every one of them hand-crafted, imported, and worth more than your lives combined. Pay attention, Rhett. This is your inheritance.” But I wasn’t listening. Not really. I sat stiff, my arms folded, my eyes locked on him. The sound of his voice made every bile rise in my throat. My gaze drifted to the far wall where sunlight drifted through bulletproof glass. For a second, my thoughts weren’t on weapons or whatever the heck he was saying. I