LOGINAnnabelle's POVWhen I returned from the training with Camille and Bukky, I indulged in major disobedience against him.Not because I wanted to spite him. Not even out of simple curiosity. But there was a pull, something deeper, stronger. The house felt alive, watching me, almost calling to me.I waited until the others were distracted. Then I slipped out.The air in this particular wing was different, colder, thinner, heavier. The kind of air that seemed to remember things. I had never been to this part of the mansion before.As I moved through that corridor that no one barely walked through, my steps soft against the marble, I noticed a door slightly ajar. I knew Antonioni had locked it before. In fact, he'd once mentioned that part of the house was forbidden for anyone to go there. My heart pounded.Slowly, I pushed it open. The hinges gave a soft groan.A long narrow corridor stretched ahead, lined with faded, moth-eaten rugs. My breath caught. My feet kept moving.I didn't know a
Antonioni's POVShe was warm against me when I woke, her back pressed to my chest, my arm draped heavily around her waist. The heat of her body seeped into mine.I didn’t open my eyes. I didn’t need to. I could feel her. Small, soft. Mine.The faintest shift of her hips told me she was awake now. The way her breath caught, the ache I knew I’d left in her body would remind her of last night.It had been weeks. Too many damn weeks since we’d had a night like that. The Park had eaten into everything, too many meetings, too many distractions, training too. We’d only had fragments of time. Quick fucks stolen between obligations. Not that. Not the way I’d taken her last night, slow, hard, until there was nothing left in her but the sound of my name.I remembered every moment. How she’d trembled, how she’d begged, how her eyes had darkened when I looked at her like she belonged to me. Because she did.I felt her shift again. A smile tugged at my mouth. I didn’t open my eyes. I didn’t need t
DCaughtrlle's POV When I woke up, the first thing I felt was him. The solid heat of his body, chest against my back, arm heavy around my waist.The second thing I felt? The ache, low, deep. Between my thighs, across my hips, the sweet soreness of everything he’d done to me.I breathed slowly, eyes still closed, just feeling.How long had it been since we’d had a night like that? Weeks? Maybe longer. The business of the Park had swallowed us. All we were left with were brief moments, tense meetings, passing touches, but nothing like… last night.Last night…Heat flushed through me just remembering.How he’d stripped me slow.How he’d taken me again and again, all the way wet, until I couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, only moan his name.How he’d looked at me, really looked at me with that dark, possessive gaze that always undid me.I shifted slghtly, and felt the delicious pulse of soreness again.God.I bit my lip, a small smile tugging at my mouth.“You’re awake,” came his voice, low,
AAtonioni's PrisesI was craving her badly, so I checked her in her room but she wasn't there. I made a mental calculation of where she could possibly be and I moved. Of course, I found her where I expected, by the outer west arch, boots up on a crate, tablet in hand, sipping Bitter Black. Her hair was still damp, tied back. No one moved like her this early.The sky was steel grey beyond the domes. The air still had the chill of night, settling over the Park.I crossed and stood above her. Didn’t speak including straight off. Let her land look up.are “You did well yesterday,” I said.Annabelle smiled slowly, one side first. “Thought you might notice.”“Not just the pitch,” I said. “You worked the lines, got the suppliers in. Food was the best we’ve had since the tenth cycle. No gaps, no delays.”She arched her brow. “You sound surprised.”“Not surprised,” I said, voice low now, stepping in. “Impressed.”I let the edge of my thumb trace her jaw, light, deliberate. “You always deliver
Annanelle's POV I couldn't sleep any longer. I was just thinking about him at the Outer West Arch. I had my bath, grabbed my tablet, and a drink from my fridge to at least keep myself busy while I was out.And like a wish, or a coincidence, he showed up behind me, boots planted wide, arms folded, watching me.I felt him before I looked up. Antonioni always carried that weight, heavy presence, impossible to ignore.I wanted to say “good morning,” but he closed me up with a head-swirling compliment.“You did well yesterday,” he said.Simple words, low, rough. But from him? That was something.I smiled, slowly, one corner of my mouth first. “Thought you might notice.”Not cocky, not with him. But a small pride in it.“Not just the pitch,” he added. “You worked the lines, got the suppliers in. Food was the best we’ve had since the tenth cycle. No gaps, no delays.”I tilted my head, eyebrows raised. “You sound surprised.”“Not surprised,” He said, stepping in close now, voice softer, just
AAtonioni's POV The sun was fully out now, brushing the trees with gold. A few voices murmured in the distance, people packing up, laughing quietly. The air was warm but still fresh, holding the scent of grass and burnt firewood. Birds fluttered lazily overhead. Nothing rushed. Even the trees didn’t move. Not even a breeze. Just stillness.The time was 8:32 am.We were seated on the eastern bench, the one under the fading canopy of Zone 2, where the sun always first kissed the leaves. I don’t know why I picked that exact spot. Maybe because I wanted the light to fall on their faces when I said what I needed to say.Bukky was sipping the last of his ginger tea. Diego had his fingers laced together like a priest, the only time he ever looked calm. Milo had his arms crossed like a soldier with unfinished anger. Matteo? That bastard was already smiling. Like he knew.I placed the chip on the table, my voice low but deliberate. "She couldn’t place the face, but she had the chip. That was







