LOGIN*Avina*I trudged toward the master suite, my body feeling like it was made of lead. The adrenaline that had carried me from the hospital to the driveway was gone, leaving only a deep, aching exhaustion. I walked past the guest room—the one I’d been staying in before the wedding, and went straight to Ronan’s room. Our room. I pushed the double doors open and stepped inside. The room was massive, decorated in deep grays and rich charcoals, mirroring the man who owned it. It smelled like him too, that irresistible mixture of his cologne, expensive soap, and a hint of the cold city air. I walked over to the massive windows that overlooked the front driveway. I wanted to see them. I wanted to see if she was touching him. I wanted to see if he was leaning in, if he was weakening. I pulled the heavy velvet curtain back just a fraction. Nothing. The driveway was empty. The guards were back at their posts. The black SUV was parked, but Ronan and Camila were gone. My heart gave a violen
*Avina*"Zach," Ronan’s voice was a low, vibrating growl that filled the cabin of the SUV. "Get her out of here. Now.""Sir?" Zach asked, his hand already on the door handle."I don't care how you do it. Escort her off the property. And find out who let her through the main gate. I want them sacked by sunset. No one enters this estate without my express permission. No one."Ronan turned to look at me, his eyes searching mine for any sign of a break. His jaw was so tight I heard the faint click of his teeth. He reached over, his hand finding the back of my neck, his thumb stroking the skin just below my ear. It was a grounding touch, but I could feel the tremor in his fingers."You okay, baby?" he whispered. I forced a smile onto my lips. "Why wouldn't I be?," I replied, my voice steadier than I felt. His own mouth thinned, but he said nothing. Instead his hands reached for his seat belt. Camila had also noticed us, so as Ronan stepped out of the car, her eyes sharpened with a cert
*Avina*> [MACY: Ran the facial rec on the club’s internal security feed from that night. I checked the back hallways, the private rooms, and the service entrance. Avina... there’s no trace of Xavier. No one matching his description entered or exited The Iron Lung in the 48-hour window. Aria was drugged out of her mind. She likely saw a shadow and her trauma filled in the blanks.]
*Avina*The next three days were a masterclass in what it meant to be a Graves. Not because of the power or the money, but because of the suffocating, terrifyingly sweet intensity of Ronan’s devotion. If I moved a finger, he was there with a glass of water. If I sighed, he was adjusting my pillows. If I closed my eyes for longer than ten seconds, I could feel him hovering, checking my breathing as if I might just decide to stop out of spite. It was endearing, it was exhausting, and it was entirely Ronan.The current hospital room was a five-star suite disguised as a medical ward. The walls were a soft cream, the lighting was dimmed to a warm honey hue, and the air smelled like the expensive white lilies Ronan had delivered every morning. But no amount of luxury could mask the underlying tension that hummed through the room every time Aria’s name was mentioned.I watched them like a spectator at a high-stakes chess match where both players refused to sit at the table. Aria would crack
*Avina*I looked at him, and for a second, I felt a flash of pity. He was trying so hard to fix something that couldn't be mended with words or money. "I know," I said. It was a lie, or at least a half-truth. I didn't know if I wanted to try again. I didn't know if I wanted to bring a child into a world where I had to hit men with marble statues just to survive the night. But I couldn't tell him that. Not now. "You need to go home, Ronan," I said softly, brushing a stray hair from his forehead. "You look like you're about to collapse. Go shower. Change. See Aria. I’m not going anywhere.""I'm not leaving you," he insisted, his jaw setting in that stubborn Graves line. "Ronan. Please. I just... I need a moment of quiet. And you need to be a father to the daughter who is actually here."That got to him. He slumped, the fight bleeding out of his shoulders. He kissed my knuckles, a long, lingering press of his lips, before finally standing up. "I’ll be back in two hours," he promised
*Avina*The first thing I registered when I woke up was the smell. It wasn't the metallic, copper scent from the club or the sour stench of sweat and fear. It was clean. Far too clean for that hellhole. Instead it was that expensive, sterilized scent of an elite private hospital—bleach masked by a hint of lavender and the faint, ozone hum of high-end machinery. My eyelids felt like they were glued shut with lead. When I finally forced them open, the world around me was a blinding, clinical white. I winced, my head throbbing with a rhythmic, pounding ache that felt like someone was using my skull as a drum. Beep. Beep. Beep.The steady, artificial heartbeat of a monitor filled the silence. As my vision slowly dragged itself into focus, I realized I wasn't alone. There was a weight on my left arm, something heavy and warm. I shifted slightly, a groan catching in my dry throat, and looked down. It was Ronan. He was slumped in a chair that looked far too small for his frame, his hea
*Avina*The water was scalding, exactly how I needed it. I stood under the showerhead, my forehead pressed against the cold, white marble tile. The steam rose in thick, suffocating clouds, blurring the edges of the high-end bathroom until the world felt small and manageable. I didn't turn the temp
*Ronan*The silence in the office was thick and pressed heavily against my eardrums. I stood there, my hands still half-raised toward her, my breath hitched in my throat. I looked at the woman standing in the center of my workspace. She looked like a nightmare and a miracle all at once. There was
*Avina*Silence permeated the room, and I felt sick to my stomach with each passing second.Organ harvesting.The words felt like heavy stones dropped into a deep, dark well. My stomach knotted, my throat growing parched as pure panic and horror flooded my system. It wasn't just the thought of deat
*Avina*I jolted upright with a sharp inhale, my eyes snapping open with my breath catching halfway like something had clawed its way up my throat.And I instantly regretted that action. The world lurched and a sharp pain detonated behind my eyes. It was as if someone had driven a spike straight t







