LOGINAaronFor a moment, no one spoke.My mother remained standing in the center of the room like a woman prepared to fight four grown adults for a pot of food.Zayden was the first to recover.“No.”His tone was calm, but final.My mother turned to him slowly.“You brought danger to my house, frightened me half to death, and now you want to stop me from saving my dinner?”“Yes.”I covered my face with one hand.Slate laughed into his teacup.“That was brave,” he said to my mother. “I respect it.”She pointed at him next.“And you. Stop smiling like a fool. You were bleeding on my sofa.”“I’m charming when injured.”“You are annoying when conscious.”Slate looked delighted.I wanted the floor to open and swallow me.My mother turned back to Zayden.“Young man, move.”“No.”She took one step closer to him.He did not move.She took another.Still nothing.Then she reached up and flicked his forehead directly over the cut above his eyebrow.I gasped.Slate nearly choked laughing.Zayden blin
AaronWe ran through the alley with no plan except getting away.My mother’s slippers slapped against the pavement as she hurried beside me, one hand gripping her handbag, the other clutched tightly in mine. I kept pulling her forward, glancing back more times than I should have.Gunfire still echoed from the street behind us.Every sound made my pulse jump.“This,” my mother said between breaths, “is why I told you to date sensible men.”“Mom, please.”“I said men with office jobs. Men who complain about meetings. Men who own calculators.”“We are being chased!”“And whose fault is that?”Even then, I nearly laughed.At the end of the alley, a black SUV waited with the engine running. The driver stepped out the second he saw us and opened the back door.“Mr. Aaron.”My mother slowed and gave him a suspicious look.“Why does an armed stranger know my child?”“Mother.”He wisely kept silent.I helped her inside and climbed in after her. The door shut, and the vehicle pulled away at onc
AaronThe first gunshot shattered the front window.Glass exploded across the living room in a spray of glittering shards. My mother screamed and dropped to the floor. I barely had time to move before Slate grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me down with him.“Stay low!”Another shot tore through the wall where my head had been a second earlier.My pulse slammed so hard it felt painful.This was happening.At my mother’s house.Because of me. Because of them.Zayden didn’t flinch.He moved like he had been waiting for chaos his entire life.One hand shoved the sofa sideways to create cover. The other fired twice through the broken window with terrifying precision.Outside, someone shouted.Then silence.Then tires squealed again.My mother clutched my arm so tightly it hurt.“Aaron!”“I’m here,” I said breathlessly, dragging her further down behind the couch.Slate crouched beside us, gun raised toward the entrance.“How many?” he barked at Zayden.“Three outside. Maybe more.”“M
AaronI barely slept.Every sound outside made me open my eyes. Every passing car, every branch scraping the window, every shift of the house settling into the night made my chest tighten for a second before reason returned.By morning, reason felt exhausted.I got up late to the smell of frying plantain and eggs.My mother believed food could fix nearly everything. Heartbreak, headaches, unemployment, bad moods, global conflict. If it existed, she would try to feed it away.I dragged myself into the kitchen.She looked up once and frowned. “You look terrible.”“Good morning to you too.”“You were awake half the night.”“You were spying on me?”“I am your mother. I do not need to spy.”I sat down, too tired to argue.She placed a plate in front of me and then casually said, “Someone dropped flowers at the gate.”I blinked. “What?”“Flowers.” She pointed toward the living room. “Very expensive looking ones too.”I stood immediately and walked in.A bouquet the size of a small tree sat
AaronI stared at the message until the screen went dark in my hand.You left without saying goodbye.Only one person would send something like that and somehow make it feel like a command, a complaint, and a threat at the same time.Zayden.I read it again, jaw tightening. The nerve of him. After everything that had happened, after the chaos, after the way he lived like everyone around him had to move according to his rules, this was what he chose to say.Not Are you alright?Not Did you get there safely?Not even Talk to me.Just that.You left without saying goodbye.I tossed the phone onto the bed and paced across the room.“What exactly did he expect?” I muttered. “A farewell speech?”The worst part was that my heart had kicked the moment I saw his message. I hated that reaction. Hated that even from miles away, he could still get under my skin with six words.I picked the phone back up and typed before I could stop myself.I didn’t know I needed permission to leave.I sent it im
AaronI didn’t go downstairs for the food.At first, I told myself I just needed a minute.A moment to clear my head.A moment to untangle the mess of thoughts twisting through me like barbed wire.But one minute became ten.Then twenty.Then the smell of stew drifted under my door, rich and warm, and I still hadn’t moved.I lay on my bed staring at the ceiling like answers might be written there.They weren’t.All I had were lips I didn’t ask for and words I didn’t know what to do with.Slate’s kiss had been impulsive.Sharp.Like a match struck too close to dry wood.Silas’s had been different.Measured.Heavy with something unsaid.And Zayden—I squeezed my eyes shut.Even when he wasn’t in the room, he found ways to be there.The way he looked at me.The way he gave commands like the world listened.The way he had walked into that warehouse with a gun in his hand and death in his eyes.I sat up suddenly.“No.”I said it out loud like I could command my thoughts the way he commande
The next morning, the sun was shining brighter than usual.Aaron woke up in bed, wearing his two-piece pajamas, looking confused as hell, and it dawned on him what had happened last night.Best night ever, he could feel the smile all over his face, he realized he hadn't spoken to his best friend in
The hallway felt impossibly long as I approached the door. Every step echoed against the marble floor, though the suite beyond was silent. The faint smell of Zayden always intoxicating, My chest tightened in a way that made it hard to breathe.I paused, hand hovering over the cold brass handle. Thi
I didn’t know what happened but I could feel myself drowning in the dizziness hitting me wanting him inside me, he’s a dominator and I just wanted to submit all I could to him. He turned me over, my back pressed against the door, heat pooling between my legs. He gripped my ass, lifting my legs
The moment felt impossibly heavy, as if the air itself were holding its breath. Zayden’s eyes never left me as if they could see straight through every layer I’d tried to hide. My chest tightened, my stomach coiling into knots.“Everyone else… leave,” Zayden commanded, voice low but carrying enough







