THE WOMAN WHO CAME BACK

"Who the hell is she?" I said as I stormed into Kieran's office.He didn't even look up. He just kept typing away on his keyboard as if I weren't standing there. As if I hadn’t asked a question.Typical Kieran behaviour."I’m talking about the woman that just walked out of here, Kieran,” I continued. “The blonde from the boardroom. Too poise, too intelligent. Sorta looked like she could bankrupt a man with a smile."Kieran eventually sat back in his chair and gave me that slow, smug smile I'd been trying to scrub my brain clean of since we were in diapers. "That's our newest partner. Irene Nowell,” he finally said. New partner?! “She’s KnightTech founder and we just merged with them."Needing to understand whatever the fuck my brother was saying, I closed the door behind me and stepped inside. "And how, pray tell brother,”I said. “Are you sure she's legit?"“Simple,” he said, spreading his hands like he was talking about dinner and not the fact that he’d not taken a decision as critic

The violins were overkill.I'd barely stepped into the bloody tower before a string quartet greeted me with some rendition of Vivaldi, glasses tinkling and muffled whispers wafting through the air like perfume."Remind me why we do this?" I asked the bartender, Louis, who was a friend of mine, as he slid a whiskey down the bar.A grin spread across his face. "Because your brother likes theatrics."Yeah. That was true.I leaned back against the bar, sipping from my glass slowly while taking in the sea of bespoke suits and surgically-engineered grins. All glass. All gloss. The perfect cage for corporate wolves.And then I saw her.Irene.She was standing beneath one of the chandeliers, the light washing over her like liquid gold. She wore this midnight-black dress that wasn't particularly attention seeking, but hell—it got mine. Every one of her curves was accentuated by the dress and her smiles were enough to make a man drown. But her eyes?They looked far away. And angry.Kieran stood

I stayed under the awning long after she was gone, listening to the drip of rain from its edge onto my shoes. My mind was already picking apart every detail, every slip in her perfect mask. I’ve met enough liars to know the difference—the ones who lie for gain and the ones who lie because the truth would ruin them. And she… she was definitely the second kind. The rain kept falling, cold and steady, but I didn’t move. My fingers were stiff, half from the chill, half from the way my chest felt locked up. Something about her words—no, the way she looked at me—had sunk deeper than I wanted to admit. It wasn’t just about the lie. It was about what it cost her to tell it. By the time I stepped out from under the awning, the street was nearly empty. A single taxi rolled past, its tires slicing through a puddle that splashed up onto my jeans, but I barely noticed. My head was still in that hallway, replaying her face, her voice, her hesitation before she spoke. I should’ve gone ho

The bus spat me out onto the curb with the rest of the morning rush. Suits, heels, umbrellas—everyone moving like ants toward the steel and glass giant looming over the block. Black Enterprises. It never looked like a building to me. More like a warning. A polished monument built to remind the rest of us that the Blacks always won, no matter who had to bleed for it. And still, my feet carried me closer. Every instinct screamed to walk away, but my gut had already made the choice back in my apartment when Irene’s voice still clung to the walls. He’ll destroy you the way he destroyed me. I had to know. The glass doors parted with a hush, and the cold air inside hit like a slap. Same sterile smell. Marble shining like ice. Receptionists who smiled with their teeth but not their eyes. I hadn’t been here in years but nothing changed. Except me. I wasn’t the same man who left. And maybe that’s why I didn’t bother with pleasantries. “Your brother’s in a meeting,” one of the receptio

The words were still in my mouth when I left him. That’s exactly why I came back. They tasted bitter, reckless, like blood on my tongue, and I hated myself for saying them out loud.I didn’t wait for him to respond. Didn’t want to. If I stayed at that table any longer, under that blinking red camera light, with his eyes locked on mine like he could pull the marrow right out of me—I would’ve broken. Said too much. Given away everything.So I stood. Smoothed my coat, left the coffee untouched, and walked.One block. Two. The air was wet and heavy. My heels made sharp sounds against the pavement, but all I could hear was his voice. If he makes me choose between my life and that boy’s—I’ll end him.God help me, I believed him.I pulled my head up, kept moving. Didn’t breathe until the café was two streets behind. I didn’t look back. I never look back—it’s the first lesson you learn when your whole life is running from a man like Kieran Black.Charles.The thought of him waiting at home pu