LOGINRoman My wolf had been pacing since sundown, and by midnight I was starting to feel like I was losing an argument with my own instincts. I sat hunched over the makeshift desk in that hunting cabin with three monitors glowing pale blue in the dark, and forced myself to keep reading instead of driving straight through the Vale estate's front gate like a man with zero self control. That symbol Dahlia had described over text, I already knew exactly what it meant before she sent the photo. Serena's mark. The same one burned into the burner phone casing. I stared at the picture on my screen and felt something cold settle low in my gut. “Stop doing that thing," Morgan said through my earpiece, voice crackling faintly. "You go quiet and I know you're two seconds from doing something stupid." "I'm not doing anything." "You're gripping that table so hard I can practically hear the wood cracking through the phone." I forced my hand to relax. He wasn't wrong. My knuckles had gone white aro
Dahlia The Vale estate was beautiful in the way expensive cages usually are. Gleaming floors, tall windows, fresh flowers in every hallway that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe growing up. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought I'd landed in some luxury resort instead of the enemy territory. Too bad I did know better. "Miss Dahlia, this way please." A young attendant with a nervous smile guided me down yet another hallway, the third one since breakfast. Her name was Priya, and she'd introduced herself that morning with a kind of forced cheerfulness people use when they're being watched just as closely as you are. "Do I actually need an escort to the garden," I asked, keeping my tone light, "or is this just Vale hospitality?" "Mister Vale prefers his guests stay accompanied while they're still, um… getting familiar with the grounds." Getting familiar with the grounds? Cute way of saying I wasn't allowed to walk ten feet without someone reporting back on where I went.
Roman I watched from the ridge as her car disappeared around the bend, and every instinct in me screamed to follow it straight through the gates instead of standing here like a ghost in the trees. I didn't move. I made myself stand there, jaw locked, hands curled into fists at my sides, and watched the dust settle back over the road long after the convoy was gone. This was the plan. I stayed hidden. I stayed close but unseen. I let her walk into that estate alone because that was the only version of this that gave us any chance of getting ahead of Gideon before he made his next move. Doesn't mean it didn't feel like tearing something out of my own chest. I turned and headed back to where my truck was parked off the old logging trail, out of sight from the main road. My phone buzzed twice on the drive, both from contacts I hadn't spoken to in years, people who owed me favors from a life I'd left behind long before Lucien Argent ever signed a contract for a bodyguard. I answered the
DahliaI met my father in his study, and for the first time in weeks I walked in already knowing exactly what action I needed to give.He looked up from his desk, tired lines still carved deep around his eyes from everything that had happened with Cassian. I let my shoulders sag a little more than they needed to. Let my voice come out smaller."Father." I stood in the doorway, twisting my hands together like I couldn't steady them. "I've been thinking about what you said, about the Vale territory."He set his pen down slowly. "And?""You're right." I made myself look at the floor for a second before meeting his eyes again. "I've been fighting you on this because I was scared. Because I didn't want to admit how unsafe I actually feel here right now. But after what happened to Cassian, I can't keep pretending everything is fine."Something in his face shifted, relief and guilt tangled together, and I hated how easy it was to produce that reaction just by handing him the words he'd been
RomanSomeone was banging on my door before the sun was even up.I was still half awake, mind replaying everything from the night before, Dahlia's question hanging in the air between us with no real answer. I pulled on a shirt and crossed the room fast, already bracing myself for bad news. Nothing good ever knocked this early.I opened the door and found Morgan standing there. He looked wrecked. Eyes red, jaw tight, shirt wrinkled like he hadn't slept at all."Morgan. What happened?""Can I come in?"I stepped aside and let him through. He didn't sit. He paced instead, running a hand through his hair over and over like it might shake something loose."You're scaring me," I said. "Just say what it is."He stopped pacing and turned to face me, and his expression made my stomach drop before he'd even opened his mouth."I need to tell you something before Lena finds a gentler way to say it. Because there isn't a gentler way.""Morgan.""I've been feeding information to Gideon's people." H
Dahlia"Dahlia," he said slowly, opening his eyes.I'd been sitting in that stiff hospital chair for what felt like hours, watching the steady rise and fall of his chest, terrified every time it seemed to catch or slow. The moment his voice broke the silence, relief hit me so hard my whole body sagged forward."Oh my goodness, Cassian, you're awake." I grabbed his hand, gripping it tight enough that he winced slightly, though he didn't pull away."I had the weirdest dream last night." He winced again, reaching up to grab his head, then shifted like he meant to swing his legs off the bed. I caught his arm before he could."Don't move, Cassian. You haven't healed properly.""What are you talking about?" His eyes finally cleared enough to actually take in the room around him, the machines, the IV line, the pale hospital walls. "Oh my. Why am I in a hospital?""You were attacked yesterday. Don't you remember? In the archive room."He went quiet, brow furrowing, like he was digging through
Roman I wrapped her naked body against my chest, water droplets traced lazy paths down her skin and I couldn't tear my eyes away. Gods, she is beautiful. My eyes trailed slowly from the curve of her neck, down to the swell of her breasts, perfect and heaving as she breaths. Her nipples were ha
DahliaI learned two things about Roman Wolfe in the first twenty four hours. One: The man was a snitch. Two: I couldn't trust him as far as I could throw him and I couldn't throw him at all. The bastard probably weighed twice what I did. I stood in front of my father in his study, head lowered.
Dahlia The third time someone tried to kill me, I was more annoyed than afraid. Mostly because I'd just bought this dress three hours ago, and now there was a very real chance it was about to get ruined by some homicidal asshole's blood. Again. The bass thumped through the floorboards of Th
Dahlia We shouldn't have been doing this. Every rational part of my brain was screaming it. He was my bodyguard, my father's employee. A man I'd sworn to break within a week. "Fuck. We shouldn't..." "Stop," he snapped, running a hand through his hair. "Don't think about it, don't regret it.







