MasukThe shift from survival to strategy happened faster than I expected. There was no dramatic announcement, no long debate, no hesitation.One moment we were reacting the next, we were planning a war.The room felt different that night. Every person present carried the same understanding without needing to say it out loud.This was no longer about hiding but this was about stepping forward.Gregori stood at the center, one hand resting casually against the table, though nothing about him felt relaxed anymore. The usual ease in his expression had been replaced by something far more focused, something that made it clear he was no longer just observing the situation.He was leading it.“We will move tonight,” he said.No one questioned it.“To Las Vegas.”The words alone were enough to make me pause slightly.Las Vegas; bright, public and exposed.I frowned slightly. “So, we are going into the open?”Gregori’s gaze shifted to me, a faint smile forming at the corner of his lips. “Exactly.”S
The moment we stepped inside the clinic, the atmosphere shifted.Gregori, who had been standing near the center of the garage, immediately turned toward us, his expression calm at first—until his gaze landed on Dominic and it changed into sharp and alert.“What the hell—” he started, his voice tightening as he stepped forward quickly.I did not give him time to finish.“Dimitri,” I called out immediately, my voice urgent as I turned toward the doctor. “His wound—please check it. It is bleeding again.”The words came out faster than I intended, my chest still tight from everything that had just happened, my mind refusing to settle as the image of blood soaking through Dominic’s shirt replayed over and over again in my head.Dimitri reacted instantly, already moving toward us.“What happened?” he asked, his tone calm but focused, his eyes scanning Dominic with practiced precision.Before I could answer, Gregori spoke.“He was shot before, but we stitch and bandage it,” he said.The room
Morning came slowly.Not in light, not in sound but in awareness.The first thing I felt was warmth.Not the distant kind, not something fading, but something solid, surrounding me, anchoring me in place before I had even fully opened my eyes.His arm was wrapped tightly around me. Not loosely, not absentmindedly but firmly, as though even in sleep, he refused to let me go.My breath slowed as I became more aware of everything else—the steady rise and fall of his chest against my back, the weight of him behind me, the quiet tension still present in the way he held me.Careful but unyielding.I shifted slightly, testing the movement, and the moment I did his grip tightened possessively.“You are awake.” His voice was low, rough with sleep, yet fully aware.I stilled for a second before turning my head slightly. “Did I wake you?”“You moved.” That was his answer, it was simple but it said everything.I turned slowly within his hold, facing him now, and the moment I did, his gaze was alr
“Take me, Dominic”The moment the words left my lips, telling him softly that the pain in my back had faded, that the injury no longer pulled at me the way it had before, something shifted in his gaze.It was subtle but unmistakable.His eyes darkened, not with anger, but with something deeper, something restrained that had been held back for far too long.“You should not say things like that so easily,” he murmured, his voice low, almost warning.My breath caught slightly. “Why?”For a brief moment, he did not answer.Instead, his hand lifted, brushing slowly along my arm, up to my shoulder, and then higher, until his fingers rested g
Two days had passed since Dominic and the others left, and no matter how much I tried to remain calm and reasonable, I could not ignore the quiet unease that had begun to settle deep within my chest, growing heavier with each passing hour.At first, I convinced myself that everything was fine, that whatever they were doing required time, precision, and patience, especially considering how dangerous the situation had become, but as the hours stretched into long, silent nights and then into another full day without a single word from any of them, that reassurance slowly began to lose its strength.Still, I refused to let that anxiety consume me.I refused to sit and wait like someone fragile.So instead, I forced myself to adapt.I forced myself to belong.Surprisingly, it was not as difficult as I had imagined.Dominic’s people were nothing like what I had once believed. They were not cold, nor distant, nor did they treat me as an outsider. If anything, they accepted me in a way that f
The warmth of his lips lingered long after he pulled away, not fading or softening, but settling deep within me as if it had found a place it refused to leave, something far more profound than a fleeting kiss, something that quietly rooted itself in my chest and stayed there.For a long moment, neither of us moved or spoke, and the silence between us did not feel empty but full, stretched with something unspoken as we remained close enough for me to feel the warmth of his breath against my skin, his hand still resting against my face as though letting go was not something he was ready to do.And, strangely, I found that I did not want him to.My fingers stayed curled against his shirt, holding on without realizing it, my heartbeat uneven and restless as I tried to steady myself, yet the truth settled deeper with every passing second that nothing about this felt steady anymore, not when he looked at me like that, not when his touch carried something I could not yet name but could alrea
We rode for what felt like a long time, though lost track of where we were going. At some point, the tears had stopped. Not because everything was suddenly alright, but because I had simply run out of strength to keep feeling everything at once. The wind had dried them away, leaving only a str
The man continued to look at me, his lips curved into a faint, mocking smile as if he found my current state far more entertaining than it should have been. “Looks like someone woke up in a rather unfortunate position,” he said casually, his tone light yet edged with quiet amusement. I exhaled
The next morning arrived with a quiet heaviness that lingered in my chest the moment I opened my eyes, as though the weight of everything I had learned—and everything I still did not understand—had followed me into sleep and refused to leave. For several minutes, I remained lying still, staring a
We landed in Paris beneath a sky softened by pale gray clouds, the kind that seemed to blur the sharp edges of the city and give everything a quiet, distant beauty that most people would have found enchanting. For many, arriving in Paris would have meant excitement, romance, and wonder but for me







