LOGINMIYARA“Miyara, right?” she called, her voice sweet and friendly, just like the last time we had met. Her eyes swept over Isa, and I swear I felt Isa stiffen beside me while Elsie’s expression hardened for a second. “Elsie,” I stepped forward, dragging my heavy suitcase beside me. “Didn’t think we’d meet again. Not like this at least.”“You two know each other?” Isa asked beside me, her gaze wary. “Yeah. We met at Barbara’s party and she’s a friend of Jace.”Elsie and Isabella stared at each other weirdly, like they knew something I wasn’t in on. “I suppose you’re my new roommates,” she said, placing the box of books down. “I was told about what happened with you guys.”She and Isa locked eyes. “I’m sorry about that.” Now what the hell was really going on?“Looks like you two know each other,” I said, folding my arms over my chest. Elsie only offered a small smile while picking up the box from the floor. “Isabella and I used to know each other.”Used to?I wanted to ask more que
MIYARAI should have stepped aside. Yet as his eyes held mine, my breath stuttered. He placed both hands on either side of the railing, caging me in.Those lips. I shook the thought away, even though my entire body was tensed up and already reacting to him.“You kept it,” he said, gaze dragging over my face carefully. I raised a brow. “Kept what?”A smirk crossed his face before he stepped back, hand slipping into his pocket. He pulled out something.“The bracelet,” he said quietly.My stomach flipped. His gaze didn't leave mine.No. There was no way he could—“Where did you… Get that?” I asked, voice strained, trying my best not to give away the weird feeling in my stomach. He turned the small object around, observing it, then scoffed. “Who would have thought it would end up buried in an abandoned book?” His eyes snapped to mine as he closed his palms around the bracelet. “You used to never take it off.”A heavy feeling settled in my chest. No matter how many times I told myself it
CADEN“Someone was inside their apartment,” Mark's voice cut through the silence in my private office. “A group of guys.”My eyes snapped up, my jaw locking so tight I tasted blood. “Was she hurt?”“No,” he replied, voice dipping. “But her friend was threatened.” He moved closer, eyes sharp. “Looks like she was the target.”I’d given her space against every instinct and she still ran off to meet fucking Sokolov behind my back and now her apartment had been broken into?“How bad is it?” I asked, already getting up from my seat. “Very bad, “ he replied, and it was all it took for me to be on my way. That apartment was not safe anymore. “Handle the rest of the work and cancel all pending schedules,” I gritted, grabbing my suit. She wasn’t staying there another night.“Wait… but,” Mark called after me as I turned the doorknob. “It’s just one more meeting.” He finished, and I was almost out before I stopped and looked behind my shoulder.“If I call you later, play along.”Employees bow
MIYARAMy hand was still trapped under his on the table. His thumb had stopped moving, but he didn’t let go.“Jace…” My voice came out shaky. “What are you saying?”He didn’t answer right away; instead, he glanced around the café like he was seeing it for the first time. Then his gaze dragged back to mine, darker than before. “Not here.” He said quietly as the waiter glanced over at us briefly. He stood, pulling me with him in one swift motion. My chair scraped loudly against the tile, and for a second I thought he was going to drag me out the door, but he only moved us three to the corner booth that no one ever sat in. It was half hidden behind a fake plant.He slid in first, then tugged me down beside him instead of across. Our thighs pressed together under the narrow table, closer than we’d ever been.What was he doing?“Better,” he murmured, head tilting to look at me. I scoffed. “What is this?” “Just a safer place for what we’re about to discuss.”I shifted away from him, a s
MIYARAThe word echoed in my head. Brother.I blinked, looking between them. Finn and Jace stared at each other like two wolves deciding which one would bite first. Then Jace’s gaze dropped to me and softened.His hand twitched on the table, almost as if he wanted to reach out to touch me. “Is it true?” he asked, voice barely above a whisper.My throat went dry. I wanted to say a hundred things, but nothing came out.Finn snorted and stood, towering over the table with that same arrogant smirk I’d grown to hate. He dragged a chair closer until his knee brushed mine. I shifted away on instinct.“Tell him, baby.”Heat flooded my face. I was the poor little thing Jace had been talking about — the one promised to his brother.“I… I didn’t know you two were—” My voice cracked, the words getting stuck in my throat.Jace’s jaw tightened. The easy, teasing grin I was used to was gone. This version of him looked dangerous.“You’re about to be engaged to him?” His tone was low, almost lethal, b
MIYARAThe bell chimed as I stepped inside the juice bar. A mixture of sweet fruity scents hit me and I inhaled instinctively, then exhaled, bracing myself for whatever was about to happen.My eyes scanned the room briefly before I spotted him. Jace, slouched over a table with a tall iced drink in front of him, was in all black, silver hair impossible to miss. As if sensing my presence, he lifted his head, eyes instantly colliding with mine. His face widened into the biggest grin I’d ever seen as he waved a hand.I swallowed hard, already wanting whatever this was to end. Pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose, I headed towards him, heart racing. “Printsessa,” he called as soon as I was near him, and I realized how long it had been since I heard that. I had been intentionally avoiding him and any place I might run into him on campus. “You came,” he said, getting up from his seat and pulling out a chair for me. “Yes… I guess,” I replied, sliding into the chair. The eyes on u
MIYARA’S POVThe steaks hissed and popped behind me, forgotten. The kitchen smelled of burnt meat and danger.Caden’s phone screen glowed between us, freezing me in place. My own voice, breathy, desperate, filthy — spilled from the tiny speaker again and again. “Please… harder… yes, like that…”I
CADEN’S POVThe window frame bit into my palms as I watched the silver-haired prick kill his engine. Watched her stumble. Watched her hesitate—then take his fucking hand.Heat exploded in my chest.Miyara Anderson. My stepsister. My obsession. The one who thought she could slip through my fingers
MIYARA’S POVHe walked over to where I stood in three long strides, looking as if he had just seen a long-lost friend. I was suddenly conscious of how I looked but he had already reached me before I could do anything.“Fuck. Did you get into a fight? Why is your hair looking like that?” His eyes sc
CADENThe second she hung up I was already moving.I’d been here the whole time. How I got in? Didn't take a genius to blend into a party thrown by a bunch of reckless college students. Being a few years older than them made it easier to go unnoticed.I pulled the black cap down over my face as I s







