Mia suddenly fell into a deep sleep. Then… Hot breath. Rough hands. Gentle lips. Her body stretched between two forces, Axel’s bruising grip and Daniel’s comforting caress. She couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began, only that she was completely theirs. Daniel’s mouth was on her neck, his soft hands spreading heat down her ribs, his voice low and tender as he whispered how much he’d missed her. Behind her, Axel’s teeth grazed her shoulder, his hand tangled in her hair as he growled out every filthy thought he’d ever had about her. It was desperate, primal. The perfect balance of darkness and light, sin and salvation. She arched as they moved together, her body the battlefield of everything she’d been torn between. Axel fucked her from behind, rough and deep, while Daniel kissed her lips and touched her as if she were breakable and sacred, slowly thrusting back and forth inside of her. Two men. Two pieces of her soul. All surrounding her body. And it felt right
The Airbnb door shut behind them with a soft click, muffling the chaos of Vegas outside. Mia kicked off her shoes and sank onto the plush couch, the velvet cushions swallowing her whole. The panic still clung to her skin like smoke, but it was thinning now. Fading into the edges of her mind. Lauren dropped the bag of leftover pancakes on the counter and opened the fridge. “Wine or wine?” she called over her shoulder. “Surprise me,” Mia said with a tired laugh. Lauren returned with a bottle of something pale and sparkly, pouring two generous glasses. “To surviving serial killers with a pancake addiction,” she toasted. Mia clinked her glass. “To forks as weapons.” They both laughed, and the tension cracked a little. By the time they curled up under a mountain of blankets, a cheesy romantic comedy playing in the background, it almost felt normal again. Safe. Like no one was hunting her, like she hadn’t seen the devil in a booth at a pancake house. But it didn’t last. Laur
The door opened before Mia had even finished unlocking it. “MIA!” Lauren practically screamed, wrapping her up in a hug that knocked the air from her lungs. The smell of her familiar perfume hit Mia like a time machine. She hadn’t realized how much she missed home until it was standing in front of her with a bottle of cheap wine and a bar of Cadbury’s. “You’re really here,” Mia whispered, her voice thin. “Damn right I am,” Lauren grinned, dragging her inside. “You think you can disappear on me and not expect me to show up with alcohol and judgment?” They settled in the Airbnb’s sleek, modern living room—high ceilings, spotless counters, a fire pit on the balcony that neither of them could figure out how to light. The wine poured quickly, the chocolate torn into like old times. It started light. Lauren told stories. Mia laughed, even managed to relax. But it didn’t last. Eventually, the silence came. The questions waiting in Lauren’s eyes. “Mia… what really happened to
Mia was smiling. With him. Axel sat motionless across the street, one hand still on the car door handle as his eyes locked on her through the early morning haze. She stepped out of the building in a soft grey dress, laughing at something that sandy-haired bastard said. He leaned close—too close—and she didn’t pull away. Axel didn’t breathe. He didn’t blink. He just burned inside. His Mia. No—not his anymore. She was done with him. He’d broken her and Slade had finished her. Now she was running into another man’s arms, and Axel could do nothing but watch. The guilt twisted like a dagger in his ribs. But deeper than guilt was rage. Cold. Unforgiving. Familiar. Something he could work with. He didn’t remember getting back into the car. Didn’t remember the red lights, the turns, or the way his knuckles bled after the first punch landed against the face of a man who owed the Morino family money. The guy’s screams echoed against alley walls, blood painting Axel’s fi
The sunlight bleeding through the blinds was too gentle to be Vegas. For a second, Mia thought she was somewhere else—anywhere else—until the faint hum of the city stirred in the background and the weight of a familiar arm kept her anchored. Daniel’s arm. Heavy and warm around her waist. His chest rising steadily behind her back. For once, she didn’t wake up in a panic. No cold sweat. No scream lodged in her throat. Just warmth. A silence that didn’t feel suffocating. And the faint scent of vanilla and fresh cut grass. His scent, still clinging to the sheets and the pillow beside her. She exhaled slowly, eyes flicking to the dusty light patterns dancing along the Airbnb wall. It was beautiful here. It was modern, clean, almost too nice for the chaos inside her chest. Daniel shifted behind her with a groggy hum and kissed the top of her shoulder. “Morning, sunshine.” Mia smiled before she could stop herself. “Morning.” He sat up, stretching, his toned torso catching t
He hadn’t slept. He couldn’t. Not when she was out there. Not when his gut kept twisting with dread and guilt and that hollow ache that told him he’d finally gone too far. That this was his last chance at redemption. Mia was gone. And this time… he wasn’t sure she’d come back. He had finally given in, he was ready to crumble the mafia empire to give Mia a normal life, to show her how much she means to her. He would do anything she asked of him. The city was quiet in the hours before dawn, the neon lights dimmed but never fully dark, shadows creeping down every alleyway like ghosts that refused to rest. Axel’s car smelled like sweat and regret, the scent of Amber’s perfume still faint on his shirt despite how many times he’d scrubbed it with bottled water in a gas station sink. Hoping to hide the scent of her. His collar was damp. His fists ached from gripping the wheel too tightly. And he was beginning to loose his mind. He’d searched all night. Bar after bar. Corner store aft