LOGINALESSANDRO The first thing I noticed was the pattern.I had been seated in my study for hours, the television running on mute while reports scrolled endlessly across the screen. My fingers tapped idly against the arm of my chair, but my mind… my mind was somewhere else entirely.Emily.Even when I tried not to think about her, she was there. In the silence. In the spaces between my thoughts. In the things I couldn’t explain.And then Daniel died.I leaned forward, finally reaching for the remote and turning up the volume just as the news anchor repeated the same line again.“—suspected foul play, with early investigations linking the case to businessman Julian—”“No,” I muttered under my breath, my jaw tightening. “That’s not right.”Julian was many things. But this? No. This was something else. I had seen this before.The way the blame was being placed. The timing. The execution. It was too precise to be sloppy, yet too convenient to be coincidence.A setup.My fingers stilled.“Ge
MALTIDATime was no longer something I had the luxury of wasting, and unlike other people who waited until everything began to crumble before they acted, I had learned very early in life that control was not something you regained—it was something you maintained, aggressively, deliberately, and without hesitation. Ivory had stepped into my world too smoothly, too confidently, like someone who understood rules she was never taught, and I did not like that. I did not like things that slipped through my fingers unnoticed. I did not like unknown variables. And most importantly, I did not like threats. She was dangerous. I knew it without needing proof, without needing confirmation. It was instinct, and my instincts had never failed me.Julian, on the other hand, was becoming a different kind of problem—less subtle, more irritating. He was getting close, to discovering the entire truth and I wouldn't let that happen. While he was on the run with Emily, I had prayed endlessly that he got k
JULIANMaltida had changed and she was no longer the woman I use to know. And the worst part? I couldn’t predict her anymore. At least that has helped me know her moves for all these years. I stood by the floor-to-ceiling window in my office, staring down at the city lights bleeding into the darkness, my reflection faintly staring back at me. My fingers tapped absently against the glass, a rhythm I wasn’t aware of until it stopped.“She’s definitely up to something.” I muttered under my breath. I had been monitoring her closely and I know she's still interested in killing my son. I was torn between killing her and getting him to safety, but either of this will not be easy, since it was a taboo to kill a kings queen and Emily had made sure I would set my eyes on my son. Behind me, the door clicked open softly.“Sir?”I didn’t turn immediately. I didn’t need to.“Talk,” I said.My head of security stepped further into the room, his footsteps measured, controlled. “We’ve expanded surve
MALTIDA Something about her had been wrong from the very beginning.I had not wanted to admit it at first. In my world, instinct was everything, but so was patience, and I had learned long ago not to lunge at shadows before confirming they were real. Still, Ivory had unsettled me in a way I could not easily dismiss. It was subtle—so subtle that anyone less experienced would have mistaken it for admiration, or even harmless curiosity.But I was not inexperienced.I had spent years been the predator and I had no plans to settle into being the prey. So when I said something was wrong, I trusted that instinct.Ivory was too polished. Too precise. Too well-connected for someone who had supposedly appeared out of nowhere.At first, I had been flattered. It was not unusual for new money to gravitate toward me, to seek my approval, my attention, my endorsement. I was a gatekeeper in more ways than one, and people knew it.But Ivory had not performed.She had observed.That was the differenc
EMILY I had imagined this moment a hundred different ways, and yet none of those rehearsed versions prepared me for the reality of standing face-to-face with Maltida, breathing the same air, watching her smile as if she were untouchable. The room itself was a quiet declaration of wealth, soft gold lighting, polished marble floors, and the faint scent of something expensive and floral lingering in the air. Everything about her world screamed power, and yet all I could see were the cracks beneath the surface, the desperation she worked so hard to hide.I kept my expression composed, my posture relaxed but calculated, every inch of me transformed into Ivory, the woman she expected to meet. “Mrs. Maltida,” I said smoothly, offering a polite smile as I extended my hand.She took it, her grip firm but curious, her sharp eyes scanning my face as though trying to place me in a world she thought she already knew. “Ivory,” she repeated, testing the name on her tongue. “I’ve heard quite a bit a
EMILYThe silence after they left was unbearable.I stood in the middle of the apartment, staring at the door long after it had closed behind Miriam and Venida. My arms felt empty, achingly so, as if they still expected the weight of my son to be there.I let out a slow breath, pressing my palm against my chest as if I could steady the storm raging inside me.“This is it,” I whispered to myself.There was no turning back now.If I wanted my son to live freely… if I wanted any kind of future for him… then I had to end this.And the first step was simple.Emily had to disappear.Two days later, I sat in front of a mirror I barely recognized.The small apartment belonged to Ella. It was tucked away in a quiet part of the city. The curtains were drawn, the lights dim, and the air smelled faintly of powder and something floral. I had bumped into her yesterday and honestly the rest was history. I haven't even had the time to ask her why she was no longer working for Alessandro. Ella stood
ALESSANDRO The ground shook beneath the pounding of hundreds of hooves, the thunder of them rolling across the hot desert toward the south . Dust rose in thick clouds, stinging my eyes and coating my tongue. Almost as one, the cavalcade curved and slowed, then came to a rolling halt.“The Rio.”I
JULIAN I had known we would be followed. I had been certain of it. It wasn’t logic, it was sheer, hardened instinct.And I had been right.I crouched on a rock ledge above the narrow trail that wound toward the rim of the plateau. The path was treacherous even in daylight—slow, rough, and easy eno
EMILYHe had lied after all.I clung to the hot anger that swept through me. Anger was better and safer than the hurt and disappointment that had filled me after our night of sheer pleasure. My fingers dug into his shoulders as we cantered between two towering buttes, leaving the town farther and f
ALESSANDRO I have not slept in days. The clock in my study has ticked through two full nights since Julian took her, and every single sound feels like a hammer against my skull. I was loosing my damn mind. Because I am one word away from burning this entire place down.“She’s not at the northern







