LOGINCiara's POV I don’t sleep.Not after the photo.Not after the message.Not after realizing someone was watching me close enough to know exactly where I was.Morning arrives anyway. Cold. Gray. Ugly. I wake up on Cain’s couch with a blanket draped over me. I don’t remember falling asleep. But I know exactly who covered me. The fabric still carries his scent. Leather and something darker that makes my chest tighten.Voices drift from the kitchen. Low. Tense. Cain and Seraphine.I stay still under the blanket. Listening.“We need to move her,” Seraphine says. Her chair scrapes the floor. “Somewhere they can’t find her so easily.”Cain’s voice comes next. Rough. Tired. “No.”“What do you mean no?” Seraphine sounds frustrated. I can picture her crossing her arms. “They found her once. They’ll find her again. The photo proves it.”Cain doesn’t answer right away. I hear him set a mug down. Hard. “If we move her, it tells them we’re scared. That we’re running. I won’t give them that.”Seraph
Ciara's POV The drive back felt endless. Cain’s hands stayed tight on the wheel. Seraphine sat in the back, tapping on her laptop. Nobody spoke much. The city lights blurred past the window, people walking, cars moving, life going on like my sister hadn’t vanished again. I stared out at it all and tried not to picture Alice alone. Tried not to remember the first time. The fear never really left. It just waited for moments like this to crawl back up my throat.Cain glanced at me once. His jaw flexed. He didn’t say anything. I was grateful for that.When we pulled up to the building, Seraphine was already waiting inside. Laptop open on the table. Papers everywhere. Three phones lined up like soldiers. Coffee gone cold in a mug.She didn’t waste time. “I was right.”My stomach dropped. I dropped my bag on the couch. “About what?”“The airport.” She turned the screen toward us. Maps. Flight logs. Security records. “Alice’s passport was scanned. But not at the main terminal. At a private
Ciara's pov I woke up on Cain’s couch with a blanket pulled tight around me. The fabric smelled like him. Leather and soap and something darker that made my stomach twist in ways I didn’t want to name. Morning light pushed through the blinds, gray and cold. I didn’t remember falling asleep. I only remembered the photo. The message. The feeling of eyes on me everywhere I went.My phone sat on the coffee table. Dozens of missed calls. I didn’t touch it.Voices came from the kitchen. Low. Tense. Cain and Seraphine.I stayed still. Listened.“We need to move her,” Seraphine said. Her chair scraped the floor. “Somewhere they can’t find her so easily.”Cain’s voice came next. Rough. Tired. “No.”“What do you mean no?” Seraphine sounded frustrated. I could picture her crossing her arms. “They found her once. They’ll find her again. The photo proves it.”Cain didn’t answer right away. I heard him set a mug down. Hard. “If we move her, it tells them we’re scared. That we’re running. I won’t g
Ciara's POV I didn’t sleep. Not really. Every time I closed my eyes, Alice’s face stared back at me from that photo. The timestamp. Today. The way she looked too still, too small in whatever room Simon had her in. My phone stayed clutched in my hand like a lifeline I couldn’t trust. The screen glowed in the dark every few minutes with new notifications I refused to open. Simon. Press. Unknown numbers. All of it noise I couldn’t deal with while my sister might be paying for my choices.Cain still wasn’t back when the sun started creeping through the windows. Seraphine had crashed on the couch sometime after midnight, one arm hanging off the side. I sat on the edge of Cain’s bed in nothing but his oversized t-shirt, thighs sticky from the night before, breasts heavy and aching against the soft fabric. Every small movement made my nipples drag against it, sending unwanted sparks straight down to my core. The nausea was worse this morning. A constant low twist in my stomach that made me
Ciara's POV Morning in Cain’s penthouse felt different. Not safe. Just quieter. No reporters screaming my name outside the windows. No Simon watching my every move like I was a problem he needed to fix. Just the low hum of the city far below and the faint scent of Cain’s skin still on mine from last night. My phone wouldn’t stop lighting up on the nightstand. I ignored it. Seraphine had already slipped out early, muttering something about digging into more of Simon’s paperwork. Cain was in the other room on a call, voice low and sharp. I sat on the edge of the bed in nothing but one of his t-shirts, thighs still sticky from the night before. My breasts felt heavier than usual, nipples tight and sensitive against the soft fabric. The constant low ache between my legs hadn’t gone away. If anything, it had gotten worse. I opened my banking app out of habit. It didn’t load. I tried again. Same error screen. Access denied. Cold spread through my chest. I switched accounts. Sam
Cain's POVThe fifth night we didn’t rush. After everything that had happened, after the secrets and the threats hovering just outside our door, I needed to feel her completely. I needed to show Ciara she was mine in every way that mattered. I laid her out on the bed like she was something sacred, her beautiful body stretched across the dark sheets, skin glowing under the soft lamplight. Her full breasts rose and fell with each quick breath, nipples already pebbled tight. Her thighs parted naturally as I crawled over her, my cock heavy and aching between us.I started with her mouth, kissing her slow and deep, tongues sliding together in a rhythm that matched what I planned to do with her body. My hands roamed everywhere, mapping every curve I had missed for so long. I cupped her breasts, thumbs brushing over her sensitive nipples until she arched into my touch with a soft moan. I pinched them gently, rolling the stiff peaks between my fingers, feeling her tremble beneath me.“God, I
Ciara's POV I don't move from where cain has me pinned... I don't even think of it. I push my entire focus on the man who was fucking me so hard until I saw stars. I ignored Simon's until his voice slowly faded out, and the panicking from the house ceased. I let Cain thoroughly fuck all the avai
Ciara's POV Cain took one careful step closer. “Because I’ve been in love with you since the day I first saw you. Seven years ago wearing that terrible blue top stepping out of the mall.” “I thought you loved it.” I chuckled as tears rolled down my tears, now picturing vividly that blue top he
Ciara's POV The divorce papers sat on my mother’s antique dining table. I stared at the crisp white sheets, my husband's signature already dry on the final page. Freedom. Or what should have felt like freedom. Instead, it felt... like a larger prison. So, this was the unpleasant surprise that
Ciara's POV I was so damn confused by Simon’s behavior. Suddenly, he wanted me to stay with him, but I didn’t. I left with his brother instead.And I was even more surprised by Cain’s behavior when we sat together in the sunroom. He was attentive and caring. For once, he didn’t try to rip my clot







