MasukMaya’s POVMaya’s POVThe sheets are still warm beneath me, tangled around my legs like a second skin. Lucien’s breath evens out beside me, slow and steady, his chest rising and falling in the dim glow filtering through the half-drawn curtains. The air smells of salt and sweat, of the faint musk of his cologne clinging to the pillow where his head had been moments ago. My fingers trace idle patterns on the rumpled fabric, following the dips and ridges left by our bodies.I should move. I should get up, pull on something more than this oversized shirt—his shirt, actually, the sleeves swallowing my hands when I tug them down—but my limbs feel heavy, anchored by something deeper than exhaustion. I haven’t been able to sleep.The golden light spilling from the garden outside paints stripes across the bed, gilding the curve of his shoulder, the sharp line of his collarbone. I watch the way his lashes cast shadows on his cheeks, the way his mouth—still slightly parted—softens when he’s
Lucien’s POV I close the door softly, pressing the back of my palm to my lips to stifle a yawn. “Tired?” A slow smile curves my lips as I turn, finding Maya behind me. My gaze roams over her—slowly, eagerly, noting the slip beneath the robe she has on. Something lacy. “Nope,” I shake my head. “Not at all.” She tilts her head, folding her arms loosely. “Really? I heard you yawning.” “Bedtime stories have that effect,” I say, moving toward her. She makes a small, pleased sound that shoots all the way to my toes as I tug her close, an arm sneaking around her waist.My head dips as I brush my lips against hers, nipping her bottom lip as an afterthought. She moans softly, reaching for my shirt. Her fingers curl around a fistful as I lean away, yanking me back. “Nuh-huh,” she says, grabbing my face with one hand. She kisses me, deep, her tongue slipping into my mouth with a languid stroke. I grab her waist, my fingers digging into the robe, grinding her hips against mine. We stagger as
Maya’s POVJamie folds the paper—with the list of Kendall’s hideouts—and shoves it into his pocket as we walk out of Michael’s house an hour later. “How did you find him?” He asks. “If he went off the grid?”“He trusted me. He told me that if I ever ran into trouble, I should find him,” I say. My shoulders slump a little as a regretful sigh slips out. “I didn’t take him seriously back then. He was smart—smarter than me, than Kendall. He would’ve been a good agent.”“Or maybe Kendall would’ve put him in the ground.”I hop into the car as Jamie holds the door open, the guilt from seeing Michael sinking heavily. He closes it, going around to the driver’s side. “What about Andrew? You said he took over Salvatore’s audit project?”“I don’t want to spook him. Andrew’s…” I take a moment to find the word. “Very curious. If he thinks something’s wrong, he’s not going to stop until he finds out what it is. He’s going to alert Salvatore.” “I could break into his office,” Jamie offers. “If you
Maya’s POV Jamie slides a look in my direction. “You sure this is the place?”I stare at the rundown building in front of us, with unpainted walls, boarded-up and crumbling windows, and a heap of stinking dirt just beside the building itself. I nod. “Yup. Michael was always a private person. He ran his missions solo, and the higher-ups let him—when wouldn’t allow anyone else—because he always brought results.”He sucks his teeth. “Huh. So are we walking into a trap? Is he the kind of man who has a bunch of sharp objects buried under false floorboards, waiting for a gullible person to fall to their death?”“Huh,” I chew on my bottom lip for a minute. “You know…that’s possible. We could be working into our deaths.”Jamie tucks his gun away. “Nuh-huh. I’m not letting you go inside. Why don’t we try some other way?”I shake my head, staring at him somberly. “There’s no other way, Jamie. We have to go through the valley of death to get to the answers we need.”He shoots his hands out,
Lucien’s POVThe doors to the museum open. There’s a black van parked just outside, with four men flanking on either side. There’s nothing but pitch blackness inside the van. I glance around, scoping out the surroundings. I can’t be too careful. I don’t trust my father, even if it were his dying words. I enter the van. “Don’t.” I stop a burly man as he tries to close the door. “Do it, and I’ll shoot you between the eyes.”“You should listen to him.” A feeble voice rattles from somewhere inside the van. “It’s not a warning. And he doesn’t miss.”Fear flashes through his eyes as he steps away. A light comes on, and I turn. “Hello, Lucien.”Dying. He’s been close to his deathbed since I returned from prison, but my father looks like a man about to say his final words. His shoulders are sunken to the point where they don’t exist anymore—his head hanging forward. His hands are on the cushioned rest, withered digits barely moving. There’s a thicker blanket covering his legs and an ox
Lucien’s POV“That’s huge!”I can’t help the laugh that slips out as Adrianna grabs my hand and tugs me forward, practically bouncing on her toes as she drags me toward a massive display towering over the rest of the museum floor.“That’s a Tyrannosaurus rex!”“Is it?” I tease, glancing down at her, amused by the sheer excitement written all over her face.She nods eagerly, her grip tightening around my hand. “Yeah, it is. It’s one of the biggest ones!” she says, her voice rushing out fast with excitement. “It’s amazing—and it can crush a lot of things!”She lets go of me without warning, stepping closer to the skeleton, her head tipping back as she takes it all in.“Wow…” she whispers, her voice soft now, filled with pure awe. “It’s amazing.”I watch her instead of the display, the way her eyes light up, the way she forgets everything else when something catches her interest.“Maybe we should get a replica before we leave,” I suggest casually, folding my arms as I step up beside her.
How did you know?” She says, with fake enthusiasm, shaking her head all around. “It’s a bring one, get your job back deal. If I bring somebody to join the CIA, they’ll reinstate all the former privileges.”“They’ll even forget that I slept with you—“ I can hear the sarcasm heavy in her voice. Not t
“Go?” I echo, shaking my head, because nothing about what he’s doing makes any sense. “What happened? Where are you going?”When he rushes out again, I toss the sheet aside and jump off my bed, heading after him. I catch him as he sprints through the living room, buttoning up his shirt mid-run. “L
Maya squeals, squirming to break herself loose. She hits my back continuously, squeezing her fists and doing everything—except pulling back her punches. “Where’s your bedroom?” I ask. “As if I’d tell you,” she retorts. “Put me down this instant, Lucien Moretti?”“Or what?” I ask, tipping my head
I lift a brow.So, he’s finally acknowledging it. Mortality. The inevitable.Or maybe he’s simply calculating what legacy he wants carved into stone before he’s lowered into the ground.“The Vitelli family,” he continues, folding his arms across his chest. The movement seems to strain him; after a







