LOGINVivienne's POV Pain woke me before consciousness fully did. A sharp, burning ache tore through my side every time I breathed, dragging me upward slowly and unwillingly. For a few seconds, I didn’t know where I was and everything felt heavy, blurred around the edges and muffled like I was underwater.Then memory slammed into me all at once. I recalled Brick, the gun grazing my side, Ronan and the package.My eyes snapped open and panic hit so fast it nearly made me choke..I jerked upright instinctively, only for pain to explode through my side hard enough to rip a cry from my throat.“Easy.” The voice came immediately from a corner in the room. It was low, controlled and dangerously calm, but worse? I recognized its owner immediately.My head whipped toward the direction of the room, and Ronan stood near the door, one hand still resting against the handle like he’d just walked back in. For one horrible second, I couldn’t process what I was seeing.There was blood on him and not a l
Ronan's POV I hadn’t stopped walking since I carried her out of that place. Not once, and honestly, I wasn't even dreaming of it My boots slammed against the pavement hard enough to jar up my spine, but it still didn’t feel fast enough, nothing felt fast enough. I hated to admit it, but it felt like I was running out of time faster than I would like. If anything were to happen to Vivienne….No. I pushed the thoughts aside immediately. I didn't need things like that crowding my mind right now. Vivienne lay against my chest, limp and trembling, blood soaking through both her clothes and mine while every second stretched into something unbearable.“Where the fuck is the car?” I roared.The sound ripped through the night so violently that three of my men nearly tripped over themselves scrambling forward.“It’s coming!” someone shouted back.“Then make it move faster!” I yelled into the night, while my grip tightened around Vivienne instinctively as another weak sound slipped from her
Ronan's POV The gunshot cracked through the room, and for one split second, nobody moved. It seemed like the world had come to a painful stop, and nothing actually mattered, until Vivienne gasped that is. The sound ripped through me harder than the bullet itself.Her body jerked violently, fingers flying to her side as blood bloomed between them, and suddenly the entire room narrowed into one brutal, unbearable point.Her.Everything else disappeared. The noise, the men, Brick and even the music. None of it mattered to me anymore. Vivienne stumbled, her knees buckling beneath her, and something inside me snapped so hard I felt it in my teeth.I moved before she hit the ground.I caught her against my chest just as her legs gave out completely, her body trembling in my arms as a weak cry slipped past her lips.“Vivienne.” Her name tore out of me rough and sharp.Blood soaked through my fingers almost immediately when I pressed my hand against her side. The sound wasn't deep nor w
Vivienne's POV Everything inside me went still immediately. It wasn't quiet, nor was it calm,but still. Like my body had forgotten how to function the second he walked in.Ronan stood at the entrance, framed by the dim light spilling in from outside, his presence cutting through the noise like it didn’t belong in the same world as everything else in this room, and for a second, just a second, I couldn’t breathe.His eyes found me immediately. Not the room, not the men, not Brick, but me. They dropped to where Brick’s hand was still wrapped around my wrist, then to my outfit, then back to my face, and something in him shifted.He didn’t move right away, didn’t rush forward, didn’t explode. He just walked in, his steps slow and measured, and each step heavy enough to make the room adjust around him.The noise died down without anyone saying a word. Conversations faded, laughter cut off, and even the music felt quieter somehow, like the air itself had decided to listen.Ronan stoppe
Vivienne's POV “Bring her here.” The words landed heavy and final, but I didn’t move. I couldn't.My body locked up as the two men at the door shifted, ready to follow through, but something in me snapped before they could take a step.“No.” It came out sharper than I expected, louder too, and cutting through the noise just enough to draw attention.I quickly realized, that that was a mistake.Every head didn’t turn, but enough did,enough to make me feel it and enough to make him notice.Brick didn’t even look at his men.Instead, he pushed back his chair slowly, like he had all the time in the world, and stood to his full height.Another big mistake, and it was still mine, because the moment he started walking toward me instead?Every instinct I had screamed at me to run, but there was nowhere to go. My back hit the edge of a table as he closed the distance, and just like that, the space between us disappeared.He was close, way too close that his presence sent goosebumps racing
Vivienne's POV I stared at my reflection like it belonged to someone else, because maybe it did. The girl in the mirror wasn’t the one who had slept under a bridge two nights ago. She wasn’t the one scrubbing floors and counting change behind a register. She looked different.Dangerous.The skirt barely covered anything, hugging my hips like it had something to prove. The fishnets clung to my legs, drawing attention I didn’t want, and the top…I swallowed.The top left just enough exposed to make a statement I didn’t feel.I looked hot, I knew that, but I didn’t feel it, not even close. If anything, I felt like I was stepping into a version of myself I didn’t recognize, one that had been chosen for me and designed for a purpose I didn’t agree with.My fingers hovered over the hem of the skirt, tugging it down slightly, even though it made no difference.“This isn’t you,” I muttered under my breath.But it didn’t matter what I thought, not anymore at least. My gaze dropped to the
Ronan's POV I spoke to the doctor again because silence was eating at me. I initially wanted to talk myself out of it, I wanted to convince myself that it wasn't necessary, but the more I tried, the harder it got, and before I could yell out Maverick's name, I was already on my way to find a do
Ronan Hospitals had a way of stripping everything down to the barest truths. I'd learned this a long time ago, but even in a million years, I didn't think I would be back in the four walls of one of the places I hated the most. Well hate was a pretty strong word, but my point still stood. I t
Vivienne's POV I woke up choking on air, and when I said it wasn't the best way to come around, you just had to believe me . The pain and discomfort tore into my lungs like I’d been underwater too long, my chest burning as I sucked in a sharp, panicked breath. Pain followed immediately, low,
Vivienne's POV The quiet was worse than the noise. There was no shouting, no revving chorus, and most importantly, no crowd pressing in close enough to blur the edges of my fear. I knew I should be grateful for the drastic drop in number, considering how many bikes had followed us here, but fo







