MasukNATHANIELA cold laugh escapes my chest. I step back, drag one of the heavy wooden dining chairs over, and plant it directly in front of him. I sit down, leaning forward so we are eye to eye."No. Fuck you," I snarl. The icy, corporate facade finally cracking, and letting the asshole completely off the leash. "You beat my cousin to the brink of death because he didn't want to be in business with you. You bought the house the mother of my child was working on so that you could make her an accomplice of your dirty business. You sent people to stalk my child…. Should I continue?I stare at the bleeding, pathetic cartel boss on the floor, and all I see is Betty. Her stubborn green eyes. Her fierce defiance. The intoxicating taste of her mouth in that goddam elevator. I see Rhys lying in that hospital, and I see Grace.I bite the inside of my cheek so hard I taste copper, locking all that in a vault so I can finish this execution."Another thing," I say, my voice dropping to a terrifying,
NATHANIEL"Is this some kind of sick joke to screw me over?" Fausto roars, violently slamming the titanium tablet onto the hardwood floor with enough force to shatter the screen, sending shards of glass sliding across the polished wood.I don't flinch. I just slowly lick my lower lip, casually adjusting my posture to cross my ankle over my knee."Apologies," I say, my tone entirely deadpan. "There is nothing that can be done. Like I said... I am not in control of anything."Fausto shoots out of his chair and slams both his heavy hands down on the marble table, leaning over it, his face turning a dangerous, mottled crimson."You and I had a deal!" he spits. "I give you back your cousin in exchange for access! Do you know what happens to people who screw me over, boy? You think what I did to Rhys was even a fraction of what I would do to someone like you? You don't want to find out! So I suggest you stop screwing around and give me what I want!"His chest rises and falls rapidly, his br
NATHANIELI don't move a single muscle in the back of my armored SUV until my earpiece crackles with the confirmation I need: Betty is safely out of the beach house. I let out a slow, rigid breath.I couldn’t let her stay in that place for a second longer. Especially when I watched Fausto and his cartel muscle pull up to this location. It made the reality of the threat razor-sharp.I was dealing with a criminal, a murderer. And having the mother of my child breathing the same air as his men was no longer an option.I lock the screen of my iPad and lift my head, locking eyes with Pete and Alex, the two other elite Marines flanking my doors in the parking lot of The Pearl."The man I am meeting inside is highly dangerous," I state, my voice stripped of all emotion. "Keep the perimeter tight. Nobody goes in, and if things go south, nobody comes out. Understood?"They both nod firmly.I step out of the car, adjusting the cuffs of my bespoke suit, and my hand tightens around my iPad and my
BETTYI pull my car onto the coastal road approaching the beach house.But before I slow down for the gates, my eyes dart to the rearview mirror, confirming the black SUV with Nathaniel's Marines is parked exactly where he promised, blending into the distant tree line.At first, when he suggested this, I thought he was being overly dramatic. But now that I am actually here, staring at the imposing perimeter of the property, the presence of those Marines is the only thing keeping my hands from shaking off the steering wheel.I pull up to the gate, and the security guard who steps out of the booth isn't the friendly, older gentleman I had grown fond of.This man is built like a tank. He is wearing a dark, tailored suit, and a coiled earpiece disappears into his collar.He doesn't smile. He doesn't say hello. He just holds up a hand, checks a digital tablet, and stares at my license plate before his dead eyes flick to my face.He presses a button, and the heavy iron gates slowly swing op
NATHANIELI can’t believe she is being this infuriatingly stubborn. Honestly, at this point, I would prefer her curled up under the blankets crying her ass off, because at least a weeping woman isn't actively risking her own life to gain a sliver of control.She turns her back on me and marches into her walk-in closet. I follow her right in, desperate to talk some sense into her, but she simply grabs her purse, brushes past me again, and tosses it onto the bed."Betty, you need to listen to me," I command. "I know you don’t trust me, and I don’t blame you for that. But you need to do exactly as I say. Do not go back into that house, because…""Actually, I do trust you when you say he is a dangerous man," she interrupts, spinning around to face me. "But hear me out, Nathaniel. Just for a second. Right now, I am under a legal contract. He can sue me if I breach it. And abandoning that project is a breach.""I don’t give a shit about the contract!" my voice booms, the raw, unpolished pani
NATHANIEL.I stare at the man in the mirror. Clean-shaven jaw. Meticulously trimmed beard. A charcoal suit tailored to absolute perfection.On the outside, I look exactly like the untouchable man I have always been. Nathaniel Blackwell. The machine. The apex predator.But beneath the suit, my chest feels entirely hollow. I look like my old self, but I do not feel like him.I grip the edges of the marble vanity, forcing my hands to remain steady, but my mind ruthlessly drags me back to yesterday.The exact moment I stepped into Rhys’s room and dropped Fausto’s name into the suffocating silence.I can still see the exact, terrifying shade of pale Betty’s face turned. I can still feel the absolute, paralyzing tension that filled the space between the three of us before she finally shook her head."I cannot deal with this right now," she muttered under her breath, before she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room.Rhys immediately tried to throw his battered body out of bed to cha
BETTYWe step out of the car into the cool night air to stretch our legs, both of us needing a moment to recover after that ridiculous make-out session.The sky above us is clear, scattered with stars, and for the first time all evening, the world feels quiet.I stretch myself along the hood of Rhy
BETTYAfter knocking several times, the door finally opens, and Lucy stands on the other side, her hair half curled, a hot iron still clutched in one hand.Her brows shoot up when she sees me, and without saying a word, she places the curler on the console table beside her and opens her arms wide.T
BETTYThe first thing I feel when I wake up is pain, and not the dull kind. It’s a sharp, pounding one that makes me feel like my brain is trying to claw its way out of my skull.I groan, opening my eyes slowly, and I lean back against the headboard, pressing my fingers to my temple, rubbing in slo
BETTY“Fuck. When did she come back? Was she the one he was talking to at the office?” My legs turn to water as she gets closer, and it feels like my entire world is about to detonate.She removes her mask with one elegant motion, her smile slow, and knowing before stopping right in front of us.Th







