Mag-log inâ Xander âBy dawn, there were no negotiations left to consider.The snow had not stopped falling through the night. It covered the courtyard, the trees, the burned road where the wreckage still smoldered faintly in the distance. White over ruin. White over blood. White over what remained of restraint.I did not hold council.I did not wait for surveillance confirmations or layered strategies.I gave one order.âMove.âWe tracked them beyond the tree line, through the forest paths they thought would conceal their retreat. The snow betrayed them, footprints carved their escape in clear, desperate lines. They had run without formation. Without discipline.Without understanding what they had done.Usually, I commanded from behind the line. I observed and calculated. I allowed my men to execute with precision while I remained untouched by the chaos.Not tonight.Tonight I walked at the front.Dominic noticed immediately. I saw it in the way his gaze followed me, measuring, cautious.âLet
â Xander âThe fire had been extinguished by the time I returned.Smoke still coiled upward into the night, thick and bitter, staining the snowfall gray. The wreckage sat in the middle of the east road like a carcass picked clean by violence.The metal had collapsed, the windshield was gone and the frame was unrecognizable.My men stood back, forming a perimeter. No one spoke when I approached.Dominic walked beside me.âThey pulled what they could,â he said quietly. âThere wasnât much left.âThere rarely was.I stepped closer.The smell lingered, burned fuel, charred rubber and something heavier beneath it.Human.One of the men swallowed. âWe found remains in the driverâs side.âDriverâs side.Not the back, not hidden or restrained.My gaze lowered to the blackened interior.The body was slumped forward, fused into what remained of the seat. Fire had erased identity. Flesh and fabric had become indistinguishable.There was nothing recognizable.Nothing that screamed her name.For a
â Xander âWar did not frighten me.It steadied me.Gunfire cracked through the estate like splitting wood. Glass shattered somewhere along the east wing. Men shouted over one another, radios screeching with half-formed updates.Chaos was loud.But inside my headâSilence.I stepped over a body without looking down.âChiudi lâingresso ovest,â I said calmly. âBloccate il cancello secondario. Nessuno entra, nessuno esce.âClose the west entrance. Lock the secondary gate. No one in. No one out.My voice did not rise.It never needed to.Dominic appeared at my side, blood staining the cuff of his sleeve â not his own.âThey knew the blind spots,â he said low enough for only me to hear. âLower perimeter. North fence.ââThey didnât know,â I replied evenly. âThey were told.âThere was a difference.Information was not guessed.It was given.Another burst of gunfire echoed. A chandelier crashed somewhere in the foyer.Snow drifted through the open doors where one of the panels had been blown
~ Avelyn ~Snow swirled in behind him, melting into the carpet like evidence that didnât belong.Kyleâs face was tense and surprising as it may sound. It wasnât from panic.He looked focused.âHow did you even get up here?â I whispered.âThereâs no time,â he said, glancing toward the hallway door as if he could see through it. Distant shouting echoed faintly through the estate. A thud. Something breaking. Gunfire, muted but unmistakable.My stomach dropped.âThatâs not security,â I breathed.âNo,â Kyle said quietly. âIt isnât.âThe projector light flickered across his face, casting pieces of me over him. Pieces of my frozen body suspended mid-spin on the screen behind us.His jaw tightened when he noticed it.âHe keeps recordings of you?â he asked.I didnât answer and I heard him curse under his breath, âThat sick bastard.ââWe have to go. Now.âThe urgency in his voice snapped me back to the present.âGo?â My heart began to race for a different reason. âKyle, this is Xanderâs private
~ Avelyn ~The room felt too large after he left.Too quiet.The silence wasnât peaceful. It was waiting.I stood where he had ordered me to stay, fingers trembling slightly as I lifted them to my neck. The skin there was tender from his grip, not exactly bruised, he hadnât let it go that far but marked in a way I could still feel beneath the surface.My hand drifted lower and before I could stop myself it landed on my stomach.A barely-there touch and a secret I carried alone.I didnât know which terrified me more. What he would do if he found out⌠or what he would do if he didnât.I moved to the window because I couldnât stand still anymore. The air inside the room felt thick, like it was pressing against my lungs.I expected to see headlights. Armed men. Movement in the courtyard. Something violent to match the storm brewing inside this house.InsteadâA single snowflake drifted past the glass.Then another. And another.Within seconds, the sky was shedding white.The first snow o
~ Avelyn ~âI knew you would come.âHis voice didnât rise and it didnât need to. It settled into the room like a verdict already passed.For a heartbeat, I couldnât move. Couldnât breathe. My fingers were numb, curled uselessly at my sides as the letter lay on the floor between us exposed, incriminating, no longer mine to protect.Slowly, he stepped inside.The door closed behind him with a quiet finality that made my stomach drop.âYouâre not very good at lying,â Xander said mildly but I could hear the underlining of restrain in his tone. âBut youâre excellent at convincing yourself you are.âI shook my head before I realized I was doing it. âI wasnâtâ I didnâtâââStop.â One word. Absolute.I obeyed, my mouth closed like they had no right to be opened in the first place. I gulped the excess saliva in my mouth. He walked closer, unhurried, eyes never leaving my face. He didnât bend to pick up the letter. Didnât need to. He already had what he wanted.Me cornered.âI watched you tonig







