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Chapter 40."I wish I was there." Kai repeated.Her fingers tightened around the edge of her sweater, because the exhaustion of the day had stripped away whatever defenses she usually managed to keep in place. "Would you kiss me if you were?"Kai exhaled slowly. "Probably.""Probably?"His voice dropped. "Definitely."A warmth spread through her despite the cold room, and she smiled. "I hate you.""Switch to video?" She was more than eager."You look like hell," he said, the moment the call connected, his voice to a low rumble.Skye let out a sharp, jagged laugh, leaning back."I feel like it too, Kai. Every single door is slammed in my face. I’m chasing a phantom and my career is hanging by a thread."Kai shifted, the sound of his name from that plump pink lips does something to him, he often wondered what those lips would look like, feel like wrapped around him, with Skye on her knees and looking up at him with want and desire. He didn't offer platitudes. He didn't tell her it woul
Chapter 39.By the third morning in Berlin, Skye had stopped pretending she was going to get used to Adrian Keller.She could tolerate difficult people, since she'd dealt with Professor Vogel, Jonas, internet strangers, club members who thought catcalling was a personality trait, and Kai Sturm on a particularly bad day. Adrian was different. He didn't shout, and he didn't insult her directly, he simply had a way of making every interaction feel like a quiet examination she was already failing.So when he dropped Anna Volkov's file onto her desk again, Skye stared at it for several seconds before pulling it toward herself. Three days, three days to convince a woman who had spent years refusing interviews that VISION deserved one.Skye opened her laptop. If Adrian wanted to see her fail, she would at least make him work for the satisfaction.She started with the obvious, Anna's career, her competitions, her international performances, her awards, her retirement, and the knee injury that
Chapter 38.Berlin greeted Skye with rain, a fine, persistent drizzle.By the time she reached the VISION building, the sleeves of her coat were damp, her hair had begun to frizz around her temples, and the butterflies in her stomach had multiplied into something closer to a full-scale invasion.She stood outside the glass doors for a moment, staring at the sleek black VISION logo above the entrance. This was it, the place she had been imagining, the place whose pages she had studied until she could recognize the photographers by their composition alone. The magazine whose editorials had made her want to believe that photography could be more than a degree, more than an assignment, more than a desperate attempt to prove she belonged somewhere.She tightened her grip around her camera bag, then walked inside.The reception area was bright, and intimidatingly expensive. Assistants moved qu
Chapter 37.Skye’s thumb scrolled through a stream of notifications.The tide had turned and the viral video of Kai dismantling Jonas, and not just physically, but socially, had ripped through the Düsseldorf social circles like a wildfire. One headline read: Football Star Jonas V. Suspended Pending Investigation into Harassment Claims.Another, from a local gossip blog, noted that three major sponsors had already pulled their funding.Mara had vanished from the digital sphere, and her profiles deactivated. "You’re staring again," Lena said, leaning against the doorframe with a triumphant grin. "Stop it. The internet has forgotten you were ever a 'scandal.' Now, you're just the girl Kai Sturm decided to protect. Which, by the way, is a much better brand."
Chapter 36. Kai got what he needed.The next afternoon, sun beat down on the pavement outside a crowded café in the heart of Düsseldorf, where the scent of burnt espresso filled the air.Kai leaned against his matte-black bike, arms crossed over his leather chest, eyes hidden behind dark lenses. He wasn't looking for a fight, but he was waiting for one. Jonas arrived with a flourish, flanked by two friends who looked more like hired muscle than companions. He stopped a few feet from Kai, a smirk plastered across his face, radiating a confidence that felt brittle and rehearsed. "Still hanging around the fringes, Sturm?" Jonas asked, his voice loud enough to draw the attention of the patrons at the outdoor tables. "I heard you’re still trying to play house w
Chapter 35.The first thing Kai noticed when he woke that morning was that he had not slept properly, and the second was the same thing that had been haunting him for days. Skye.He had tried not to look at the news, telling himself the scandal was not his problem, that whatever had happened between them at the party had been enough reason to keep his distance. He had been hurt and when she had arrived late and had been with another man. She had tried to defend herself, but he had been too angry to listen, so he walked away.Pride had told him it was the right thing to do, but every other part of him had been screaming that it wasn't.Now, watching her name dragged across social media, watching strangers dissect photographs they had no right to see and accuse her of things they knew nothing about, Kai realized something he had been refusing to admit. He could be angry with Skye, he could be hurt by her, he could even believe, for one terrible moment, that she had chosen someone els







