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Auteur: Ona Hearts
last update Dernière mise à jour: 2025-09-26 11:50:21

Maria arrived, I ran to hug her, I couldn't hide my excitement, she was the only person that I could call a friend.

Her presence in the house felt like the boredom that I had to endure whenever Cassian was out, I stayed in my room until he was back from work, but now I will not have to do that anymore.

I helped her carry her bags upstairs, she had so many stories about the hospital to tell me, she was filled with smiles as we reunited once more.

We kept each other company until Cassian came back. I was nervous at first, worried about his reaction if he saw Maria, but then again, he was mature enough not to show his dislike towards Maria.

It was time for dinner so we both went downstairs, Cassian came down afterwards.

“How are you doing Maria?”

Cassian asked not looking at her,

“I'm fi..ne”

Maria stammered, she was still scared of Cassian.

Cassian didn't talk to her again. His attitude towards her was cold, it was so obvious that he didn't like her, Maria on the other hand wa
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  • Step Brother's Deadly Obsession    57

    Naomi’s POV The drive back to the city felt longer than it should have. The wind carried the scent of rain and burned metal through the open windows, and though Cassian’s hand never left the wheel, his mind was miles away, probably tracing lines of war I couldn’t yet see. The note burned in his coat pocket like a live ember. I could almost feel its heat from where I sat. Beatrice’s handwriting haunted me, every word felt like a ghost come to accuse. When we reached the safe house, the air was thick with tension. Guards were changing shifts, radios buzzing, eyes flicking toward us for answers they wouldn’t get. Cassian handed Rubio the note’s coordinates with a terse order. “Run it through everything we have. Cross-check against Syndicate patterns.” Rubio nodded and disappeared into the operations room. Mara followed, already on her comms. That left Cassian and me alone again. He walked to the window, staring out at the skyline. Rain had started to fall, soft at first, then he

  • Step Brother's Deadly Obsession    56

    Cassian’s Pov; Night settled like smoke over the valley as we drove north again. The same road that had carried us away from fire now carried us back toward it. The truck’s headlights cut through a thin fog, turning the blackened trees into pale ghosts on either side. Naomi sat beside me, hood drawn, her fingers tracing the wolf pendant I’d given her months ago. She hadn’t spoken since we left the city. She didn’t need to. The silence between us was thick enough to fill the cab. The ruins appeared just after midnight, a silhouette of ash and twisted metal rising from the fields. The barn’s frame still stood, ribs of charred wood glinting faintly under the moon. The air smelled of soot and rust. Rubio and Mara followed in a second vehicle, their beams sweeping the debris. “Perimeter looks cold,” Mara’s voice crackled through the radio. “No heat signatures, no motion.” “Keep watch,” I said. “We go in and out fast.” Naomi’s gaze stayed fixed on the ruins. “This is where I wa

  • Step Brother's Deadly Obsession    55

    Naomi’s Pov; The days after the rescue felt unreal, like waking up inside someone else’s dream. The safe-house was quiet, almost too quiet. Every sound seemed magnified, the hum of the generator, the shuffle of guards outside, the faint clink of dishes from the kitchen below. My body healed faster than my mind. Bruises faded, cuts closed, but my thoughts kept looping back to the cell, to the scent of iron and smoke, to the sound of Cassian’s voice cutting through the chaos. He hadn’t left my side for the first two nights. He’d sat in the chair beside my cot, half asleep, half awake, his pistol resting on the table. Sometimes I’d wake in the dark and find his gaze already on me, as if making sure I was still there. He didn’t talk much. Neither did I. Silence had become the language between us, heavy, necessary, almost tender. On the third morning, Mara brought me a tray of food and a manila folder. “Cassian’s orders,” she said. “He thought you’d want to see this.” Inside we

  • Step Brother's Deadly Obsession    54

    Cassian’s Pov; The road back to the city stretched out like a scar, long, silent, and endless. By the time the first checkpoint faded behind us, the adrenaline had burned away, leaving only the smell of smoke and blood in its place. Naomi sat in the back seat, her head resting against the window, eyes half-open but distant. Every few minutes the truck hit a bump and she flinched; she tried to hide it, but I saw. Her wrists were red and raw where the chains had been. Mara drove, one hand steady on the wheel, the other on the radio, speaking in short bursts to our safe-house teams. Rubio rode shotgun, rifle balanced across his knees, eyes scanning the horizon. No one spoke for a long time. When we reached the river road, I finally broke the silence. “Any tails?” Rubio shook his head. “Nothing on the scanners. Either Reyes’s men scattered or they’re licking their wounds.” “Good,” I said. The word didn’t sound like victory; it sounded like exhaustion. By the time we reached

  • Step Brother's Deadly Obsession    53

    Naomi’s Pov; I sat on the cot, staring at the mark I’d carved into the wall days ago. The wolf’s head looked rougher now, the edges darkened from the soot that drifted through the vents. I traced it with my fingertip, whispering the same promise I said every night. He’s coming. The sound reached me then. Distant at first, something metallic, a muffled pop, then another. It was sharper, faster. Gunfire. I froze, breath catching in my throat. The guard outside shouted. Boots pounded down the hall. Voices overlapped, curses, commands. And then the lights went out. The sudden darkness was absolute. I could hear my own heartbeat, the clink of my chains when I stood. For one heartbeat, I thought maybe Reyes was moving me again, that this was another trick to make me hope. But the next sound shattered that doubt: the roar of an explosion somewhere above, the ceiling trembling, dust raining down like ash. The door burst open, flooding the cell with light from the hall. The limping gu

  • Step Brother's Deadly Obsession    52

    Cassian’s POV It was close to dawn when Mara found me. The city outside the windows was still burning in places, thin trails of smoke curling against the pale light. I hadn’t slept, not since the night before, not since the warehouse. The smell of ash still clung to my clothes, to my hair, to everything I touched. I was standing at the map again, tracing routes that led nowhere, when Mara burst through the door. Her face was drawn, eyes sharp with urgency. “You need to see this,” she said I turned. “What now?” She didn’t answer. Just crossed to the far table where a monitor flickered, a live feed, one of hundreds we’d hijacked from Reyes’s security network. Most showed empty hallways, guards smoking, blank walls. But on this one, the image was different. A small, windowless cell. Gray walls, iron cot, single light bulb. And Naomi. My breath caught before I could stop it. She was sitting on the edge of the cot, head bowed, hair tangled. She looked thinner, bruises faint

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