LOGINVivienne's POV I found him before he found me, and I couldn't help to not comment on how that was rare these days.Ronan stood in the open space near the bikes, his shoulders squared, and voice low but commanding as he spoke to a small group of men clustered around him. He wasn’t loud, because he never had to be. People leaned in when he talked, instinctively straightening, nodding, adjusting their stances like gravity had abs shifted.I slowed my steps when I realized what he was doing.“Positions stay tight,” he said, tapping two fingers against the map spread across the table. “No gaps. I want eyes on every turn. You…” he pointed without looking up, “...you ride third. Switch with him if anything feels off.”“Why boss?” One of the men frowned. “You think someone’s gonna pull something?”“No.” Ronan’s jaw flexed. “I think Lana likes attention.”That earned a few quiet chuckles, but all I could manage was my stomach dropping lower than usual. “I don’t,” he added flatly. “Extra
Vivienne's POV It had been two days of breathing over my shoulder. Two long excruciating days that felt like time had crawled to a standstill somehow and no one had the fucking keys to unlock it. Or something like that. That was what it felt like, with Ronan everywhere and all the time. He wasn't hovering, nor frantic, he was just there. Watching, and waiting, like a man guarding something he wasn’t sure how close it was to breaking.I managed to get space only because my body had betrayed me, and at the right time too. I guess. Ronan had caught me bent over a trash bin outside, gagging so hard my knees buckled. I’d barely managed to wave him off between dry heaves, whispering that I was fine, that it was nothing. He didn’t believe me, but he finally let me have air. He let me walk, let me exist without his shadow for a while. “You can head out if you want.” He'd said. His tone was grave, and that was all the indication I needed to know that he was struggling.He'd only been l
Ronan's POV She woke slowly. Not startled, not peaceful either, just aware, and I had no idea how I felt about that. Her lashes fluttered, her body shifting beneath the sheets, and the moment her eyes opened fully, they locked on me. I didn’t move. I hadn’t been moving for a while, and I just knew because the pain in my lower back had morphed into a constant strain that threatened to break me apart if I moved or breathed the wrong way. I sat in the chair beside the bed, elbows on my knees, with my hands clasped, and watching her breathe like it was the only thing anchoring me to the ground.She tensed, not in fear exactly, but in recognition.“You’re staring,” she murmured, voice rough with sleep.“I know.”I didn’t soften it. I didn’t smile, nor did I reach for her. I stayed exactly where I was, calm, still, and contained in a way I knew she wasn’t used to. It wasn’t anger she was seeing, but it wasn’t tenderness either.It was control. While many had conflicted views on how
Ronan's POV I didn’t sleep, not for a second. And even if I could, I doubted I would have been able to successfully force my eyes shut without pushing them open in the next five minutes. If I pushed too hard, the minutes, then I would be wide awake again. You couldn't blame me, because anyone who was in my shoes, would definitely react the same way too. I sat on the edge of the bed with my back against the headboard and Vivienne curled against my chest like something fragile, something breakable I couldn’t afford to lose.She slept through most of the night, but every now and then she’d twist in the sheets, her body jolting like she was running from something in her dreams. Once, she flinched so hard her hand flew to her stomach, and she whispered something I couldn’t fully hear.A broken, breathless “please.”Each time, I tightened my hold around her, smoothing my hand down her spine, and whispering her name until her breathing evened again.And the whole time, one thought burne
Vivienne's POV The room I could swear was once safe no longer thrummed with that aura. Instead , it had been replaced with something else, something else in the form of Ronan that was just waiting to explode. Maybe any other person would be scared, but the thought of what was about to happen, only made my skin tingle in anticipation. I still felt the tremors deep in my bones, and I knew it was a lingering weakness from the horror of the previous minutes, but when he lifted me off his lap, every ounce of fear seemed to disappear into a scorching, desperate heat aimed only at him.I wanted him. No, I needed him..He didn’t put me down gently. Instead , he got up with me still in his arms, walked me backward, and towards the bed with his eyes dark with desire. The backs of my knees hit the mattress, when he finally set me on the bed and I collapsed onto the soft spread, the weakness in my legs finally winning.But before I could even try to sit up, he was over me.His weight settle
Ronan's POV I didn’t stop walking until the door slammed behind us. Even as wesde our way to the room, you just had to believe that I couldn't hear a single slap of my feet against the wooden floors. I had only one mission in my mind, and that was to get Vivienne to safety and even after we'd arrived in the soft cocoon of the room, it still didn't feel whole. The door closing behind us was all it took to pull me back to the present. It wasn't violent, neither was it loud, but just final. Vivienne trembled in my arms, her breath uneven against my chest, with her fingers curled weakly into my shirt like she didn’t know what else to hold on to. I could feel her pulse next time my skin, rapid and unsteady, like her body was fighting itself just to stay upright.I didn’t put her down. Not until I sat on the edge of the bed with her still in my lap.She felt too light, oo fragile, and too wrong. That brought a frown to my face immediately. Her head rested against my throat and for a







