LOGINElena's Point Of ViewThe silence that followed the slamming of the lobby doors pressed down like a physical weight, thick with Matilda's cloying perfume and the metallic tang of a situation that had just exploded. My employees stood frozen, their gazes bouncing between me and the man who had just dismantled the Sinclair patriarch as casually as someone might discard trash.I could see the questions forming behind their carefully neutral expressions, the shock rippling through the crowd like stones dropped in still water.I drew a deep, shuddering breath, smoothing my blazer with hands that trembled despite my best efforts to steady them. The familiar texture of the fabric grounded me, if only slightly. My fingers traced the lapel… a nervous habit I'd developed during my first board meeting years ago, when I'd been the youngest person in the room and everyone had expected me to fail.Around me, the lobby felt too bright, too exposed… every eye a witness to my unraveling composure. The
Elena’s Point Of ViewThe lobby of my headquarters, usually a place where I felt in total control of every moving part, had transformed into a theater of the surreal. My heart hammered a frantic, irregular rhythm against my ribs… a staccato beat that made my ears ring and my vision blur at the edges. I looked at Sebastian, whose face had become a map of terror and fury, every line etched deep with emotions he could barely contain.Then I glanced up at Jaxx, whose profile appeared carved from a block of dark marble, beautiful and terrifying in its absolute stillness.The silence in the room grew so thick you could have choked on it. My employees stood frozen like statues, some holding their breath until their faces flushed, others pretending to be absorbed in silent keyboards while their eyes remained glued to the explosion happening in the center of the room. I could feel their collective anxiety pressing against my skin like a physical weight."Jaxx..." The whisper escaped my lips, m
Elena’s Point Of ViewJaxx's chest pressed against my back, its warmth the only thing anchoring me to reality. My lobby… usually a sanctuary of crisp efficiency and the steady hum of logistical success, had transformed into a theater of the absurd. Matilda scrambled to her feet, her expensive silk skirt marred by dust from the floor she'd just kissed. Sebastian stood frozen nearby, his hand suspended mid-air as if the atmosphere itself had solidified around him.Jaxx ignored them completely. He paid no attention to the shattered vase or the twenty-plus employees currently witnessing the most expensive drama of their lives. The fragments of porcelain scattered across the marble might as well have been invisible.Instead, he turned me in his arms with a possessive, terrifyingly steady grip that made my breath catch. His fingers, calloused yet warm, caught my chin and tilted my head toward the light. The gesture felt both protective and predatory, a contradiction that sent conflicting si
Elena's Point Of ViewThe world didn't tilt, and I didn't burst into tears. Instead, a strange, crystalline silence settled over my brain, as if someone had pressed pause on reality itself. The sting on my cheek became a localized fire, a blooming heat that pulsed with every thud of my heart, yet my eyes remained locked on Sebastian.His face swam before me… twisted with righteous fury, convinced of his own moral superiority. In that moment, I recognized the same expression he'd worn when he'd dismissed my business proposals at family dinners, that same condescending certainty that he alone understood how the world worked.I could hear the collective gasp of my employees… the sound of air being sucked out of a room, and the panicked scuffle of Clara trying to keep a weeping intern from having a total meltdown. Someone's phone clattered to the floor, the sharp crack echoing through the stunned silence.I reached up, my fingers grazing the skin that was rapidly swelling. The flesh felt
Elena's Point Of ViewThe ride back to the suite had been a blur of high-speed turns and a silence so heavy I could practically feel it pressing against my eardrums. Jaxx remained focused on the road, his jaw forming a jagged line of tension, while I sat in the passenger seat attempting to reconcile the man who'd just "grazed" a woman's hand with a firearm with the man who'd spent the morning ensuring I had enough avocado on my toast. The contradiction made my head spin. Who really is Jaxx? The question buzzed like a persistent, annoying fly in the back of my mind, refusing to be swatted away. We finally made it back to the suite. The second the door clicked shut, the weight of the last twenty-four hours crashed down on me with the force of a tidal wave. The gala, the obsession, the "wife you up" threats, and now... the garden incident. Each memory felt like another stone added to an already crushing burden.I kicked off my slides, my feet meeting the cool floor, and was about to fa
Elena's Point Of ViewI was still crouching on the gravel, my ears ringing with the violent crack of those gunshots, when I forced myself to look up. My hands trembled against the rough stones, knees aching from the impact of my fall. I expected to see a security guard or some estate patrol… anyone official, anyone who made sense in this moment. Instead, my heart did a frantic, sickening leap into my throat. Jaxx was standing there. He didn't look like the man who had tucked me into bed with gentle hands or the man who had teased me over dinner with that infuriating smirk. He looked like something carved out of cold, jagged granite… all hard edges and deadly intent. His eyes were dark, flat, and terrifyingly calm, like the surface of a frozen lake concealing unfathomable depths. And in his hand, gripped with a terrifyingly familiar ease, was a black handgun that gleamed dully in the morning light. A scream, much louder and more jagged than the first, ripped out of my throat. I cou
Jaxx’s Point Of View “Oh… I came to check if you’re still breathing, Matilda.” Her lips parted, her breath hitched, shock painted her expression. She hadn’t expected that. She stiffened in her seat, as though the words themselves burned her skin. And that’s when the old man snapped. “Watch y
Elena’s Point Of View“This… can’t be happening.”I swallowed hard, lowering my head slightly so that Graham wouldn’t see my lips move. My hand trembled just enough that I had to steady the glass before it slipped from my fingers. I whispered, low enough that only the man in my ear could hear.“Wha
Elena’s Point Of ViewI bit the inside of my cheek until the taste of blood anchored me. My lips curved again—slow, forced, delicate, as Graham’s gaze flicked up to mine, his attention tightened around me like a noose. Did he see? Could he see through me?“He’ll never know you came just from hearin
Elena’s Point Of View“Tell him you’re done with his bullshit. To hell with him. And come to me. Do that…” his smirk was pure challenge now, “and I’ll give it to you.”For a moment, the world stopped. My ears roared, a violent rushing sound, as though blood itself rebelled against what I’d just hea







