LOGINLUTHER POV The car hummed quietly beneath me, the leather under my hands familiar and grounding. I didn’t glance at Sienna. I didn’t need to. Her presence was a weight I could feel, light but persistent, pressing at my chest in a way I refused to name. I kept my jaw set, eyes on the road ahead, though every instinct I had screamed to look at her, measure the way she sat, the tension coiled in her shoulders.She wasn’t mine. Not fully. Not yet. And that thought alone made every careful step I had taken today feel simultaneously necessary and wrong. Every plan I had meticulously arranged, every strategy I thought would keep us both safe, suddenly seemed fragile, like it could be shredded with one careless move.I parked the car in the underground lot, the space gleaming in sterile perfection. Every polished surface, every reflection, reminded me that I operated in a world where appearances mattered—where even a mistake could cost more than I was willing to pay. The lights above cast th
Sienna POVThe slap didn’t just sting—it rang.My cheek burned, hot and pulsing, like Piper’s palm had left a whole handprint carved into my skin. I stumbled back a step, breathing hard, fingers reaching instinctively for my face as my ears filled with the sharp inhale of everyone in the lobby.The receptionist gasped first.Her eyes widened, her hand flying over her mouth like she had just witnessed a murder instead of workplace drama.Piper’s reaction was slower. She tilted her head, blinked once, and then gave this sickening little pout.“Awwn,” she cooed, dragging out the fake sympathy like it tasted sweet to her. “I’m so sorry, did my claws scratch you?”The word claws should’ve been a joke, but it wasn’t. Not from her. Piper’s claws were freshly done—long, shiny, sharp. She knew exactly what she did.Something warm slid down my chin.I touched it with trembling fingers, expecting maybe sweat or tears.But when I pulled my hand back…Red.Blood.My blood.On my fingers.Right in
Sienna POV“It is so desperate of you to come to work to see Nigel,” Piper said.Her tone was sugary-sweet and venom-laced, like someone who has been rehearsing that line in the bathroom mirror for weeks. She wanted attention. She wanted reaction. She wanted a scene.My spine stiffened.Work.Wait.Work?I blinked once, letting the word settle.So Nigel… worked here?In this building?In Luther Lavigne’s building?The receptionist’s eyes flicked between us—her face neutral but alert.This wasn’t just gossip anymore.It was spectacle.Piper leaned closer to Nigel, like she needed to stake claim. Like I was a threat. Which was funny, because I wasn’t even trying to be anything. Not to him. Not anymore.My chest rose slowly as I inhaled.And then I exhaled just as slowly.I wasn’t about to fold.“I’m not here to see Nigel,” I said, making sure my voice was steady, clean, not shaking. “I’m here to see Luther Lavigne.”The name came out unbothered.Simple.Direct.Piper laughed.Not just l
Sienna POVI turned.The voice belonged to a woman behind the reception desk.She was maybe in her early thirties, pretty in that quiet, expensive way. Her hair was pulled back into one of those sleek buns that never have flyaways, like gravity itself respected her. A thin gold chain sat at her collarbone, subtle but clearly real. Her blouse was pressed to perfection—white, soft, not the cheap stiff kind. And her perfume… light, clean, citrus with something floral. Controlled. Everything about her was controlled.She didn’t smile, not really. Just that polite work expression people wear when they’re paid to be approachable but not accessible.Her eyes skimmed me—taking me in, assessing. Not judging. Just… observing. The way a gatekeeper looks at someone who hasn’t yet proven they’re allowed past the door.“Yes?” she prompted softly.I swallowed, keeping my voice steady.“No, I’m with Mr. Lavigne. I’m Sienna… Sienna Monroe.”The name slipped out awkwardly. Like I wasn’t sure I was supp
Sienna POVThe way he looked at me made warmth crawl up under my skin. Not in a romantic way—no. It was the kind of look people use when they’re trying to understand you without you having to speak. A knowing kind of quiet. And it made me feel… exposed.His jaw tightened just slightly, like he was sorting through something in his head. Then his voice came, calm and firm:“I think, based on the day you’ve had, you should come with me.”It wasn’t a suggestion. It wasn’t even close. His tone didn’t leave space for me to choose something else, and yet… it wasn’t forceful either. Just steady. Certain. Like he had already made the decision for both of us before I even realized I needed someone to make it.My mouth opened, probably to give some useless protest, but no sound came. I just nodded. Pathetic, I know. But everything in my chest felt heavy, and I was tired of pretending like I could hold myself together with my bare hands.He led me to the car, opened the door. Not gentlemanly. Not
LUTHER POVSienna signing that contract wasn’t just business to me.Most people think everything I do is calculated, political, strategic—cold. Sometimes they’re right. But that paper wasn’t about property or power. It was about binding her to me in a way I could not be written out of.It was commitment.Even if she didn’t understand it, even if she thought it was just some agreement to stay under my roof and carry my child—she was stepping into my life. My world. My war.She doesn’t trust me. I’m not blind. I feel it in her silence, in the sharpness of her tone when she speaks, in the way her eyes flick to exits without realizing she’s doing it. She watches me like I might turn into something dangerous at any moment.Maybe she’s not wrong.But what she never acknowledges is this: she followed.She stayed.She could have run a dozen times.And she didn’t.That matters more than either of us is ready to say.Bringing her to my room wasn’t an act of possession—not the way she fears. It







