Alessandra’s POVThe days had started to blur with each other. I wasn’t counting anymore. Morning slipped into evening without much notice, and though my body moved, my mind felt elsewhere. Still, I found myself doing little things again—things I hadn’t been able to face before my existence in a man’s life became a lie. Cooking, for instance. The house had a cook, a quiet woman who barely said a word, (I don’t know where Diego got her from especially since he likes to cook) but sometimes I would wave her off and step into the kitchen myself. It was strange—how chopping onions or stirring a pot could steady my shaking hands when nothing else could.Liam leaned against the counter one afternoon, watching me with that easy grin of his. He was always there somehow, like a shadow that laughed instead of brooded.“You know,” he said, twirling a spoon he’d stolen from the drawer, “if anyone ever asks me about your cooking, I’ll have to lie. Because if I tell the truth, they’ll think I’m
Killian’s POVIt had been a week.Seven long nights without her voice. Seven mornings where I woke up half-expecting to find her tangled in the sheets beside me, only to face an empty bed.I couldn’t take it anymore.The first few days I told myself I was giving her space. I told myself she needed time to cool off, to hate me less, to maybe see that all I did—every reckless word, every secret I buried—was because of how much she meant to me. But the silence stretched on, and the more it did, the heavier my chest felt, like someone had chained me to the ground.Alessandra had left with fire in her eyes. I saw it that day, the way she shook when she said she was done, the way her lips trembled and she cried in front of me. That look haunted me. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw it, and I wanted to tear myself apart for being the reason it existed at all.Now, a week later, the storm in me had nowhere to go. I couldn’t sit still. I couldn’t think straight. Every meeting blurred into
Alessandra’s POV By the next morning, the storm hadn’t stopped. Rain pressed against the glass, cold and steady, as if the world wanted to remind me that nothing inside me was ever going to feel warm again. I sat on the edge of Diego’s couch, staring at my hands. They wouldn’t stop shaking. No matter how much I pressed them into my lap, no matter how much I dug my nails into my skin, they wouldn’t stay still.I didn’t even hear the knock on the door. Diego did. He cursed under his breath, wiped his palms on his jeans, and got up. “Who the hell—”The words cut short the second he opened the door.My heart jumped, then slowed to a chilling pace.My father filled the doorway with that same presence I had spent my whole life hating. Broad-shouldered, calm-eyed, dressed in a black coat that didn’t have a single drop of rain on it. He looked like he’d walked through the storm untouched, like even the weather knew better than to get in his way.Diego stiffened, but crossed his arms. “Wh
Killian’s POV The rain didn’t stop. It beat against my skin, cold and relentless, soaking through my shirt until it clung heavy to me like chains. But I didn’t move. I stood where she had left me, eyes fixed on the gate Alessandra had walked through minutes ago. I didn’t even breathe right. My chest hurt in a way no bullet, no blade, had ever managed. Her voice was still in my head. Sharp. Betrayed. “You’ve been lying to me all this time? All this time, Killian?” I hadn’t had the words. I never did when it came to her. My whole life I had been trained to speak little, to act more, to kill if I had to, even when I didn’t. But with her, I wanted to say everything, and I could never say enough. The only thing that had left my lips was the one truth I could not bury— “I love you.” Because I did. Fucking hell I did. And then she was gone. Now I just stood here, rain pounding into the earth, thunder breaking somewhere in the distance. My fists clenched and unclenched at my sid
Alessandra’s POVThe words on the laptop screen wouldn’t stop burning into my eyes.Payment Confirmed. Continue protection detail until further notice.I could still hear the echo of Killian’s footsteps in the hall, but my body wouldn’t move. I felt nailed to the floor, as though my bones had turned to stone.When the door opened and he stepped in, all sharp edges and lazy confidence, the part of me that used to soften at the sight of him didn’t move. It stayed frozen.“You’re in here,” he said lightly, as though it was any other night. “I was wondering—”“Who paid you?”My voice was barely above a whisper, but it cut the air like a blade.He stopped mid-step. I watched the way his body stilled, his lips parting, confusion flickering before something darker passed across his face.“What?” His voice was careful now.I turned to face him fully, my hand trembling as I pointed at the laptop. “Who the hell paid you, Killian?”Silence.His gaze flicked to the screen, then back to me. And th
Alessandra’s POVWhen I woke up, my body was sore in places I didn’t know could ache. The room was dim, with the curtains still pulled shut, but the sunlight pushed through faintly at the edges. Killian lay beside me, his hands wrapped possessive around my waist, and he was looking both ruined and perfect. His hair was a mess, his lips slightly parted, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.I found myself staring. Studying the curve of his jaw, the faint bruises I’d left on his skin, the way his hands wrapped around me even in sleep.“You’re staring too hard.” His voice was rough, deep from sleep. His eyes flickered open, catching me red-handed.Heat rushed to my cheeks. “I wasn’t staring.”“You were,” he said, smirking as he pulled me closer to him. “Should I be worried you’re planning something? Or should I be flattered?”“Neither,” I shot back quickly, though my smile betrayed me. “Maybe I was just deciding if I should smother you with a pillow after last night.”He l