LOGINCatherine Hart's POV"And who sent this?" Eve's voice cracked like thunder in the cramped apartment, her fingers white-knuckled around my burner phone. She thrust it back at me, but not before I saw the suspicion harden in her eyes, turning that vulnerable spark I'd glimpsed earlier into something mean. I snatched it away, my pulse roaring in my ears, mind racing through excuses while guilt and fear tangled like vines in my gut. "It's nothing..... A friend checking in." The lie tasted sour, but what else could I say? Admit the FBI tail was on her and that I was a snitch gathering the evidence that would sink her and her family. No, that would end me right here on this threadbare rug.But Eve didn't buy it; she stepped closer, her perfume, enveloping me, " Friends who ca you honey.....At this hour.... You're hiding something big, aren't you?" Her hand shot out, grabbing my wrist, not hard enough to bruise but firm, pulling me into the orbit of her intensity.The phone buzzed ag
Catherine Hart's POV"Get out here, Cat, " Richard's voice rasped through the pain, his knuckles white on the steering wheel as he idled the beat-up sedan at the shadowy corner two blocks from my apartment. The streetlamp flickered overhead, casting jagged pools of yellow on the cracked sidewalk, and I could smell the copper tang of his blood soaking through his shirt. I hesitated, my hand on the door handle, my heart slamming against my ribs. "Richard, that wound, it's bad. Let me call someone, get you to a doc off the books." Worry clawed at me. It was raw and unrelenting; he'd taken that graze for me, and now he was playing tough guy while I slunk away like a coward.But as I leaned in to check the sound, his eyes flicked to the rearview, spotting a black SUV creeping down the cross street. "No time. Go. I'll handle it." He shoved a new burner phone into my palm, his fingers lingering a beat too long, warm and steady despite the chaos we'd just fled.He pulled away before I
Catherine Hart's POV “Missed me, or was it just the intel you missed?” my voice said as I sniffed the stale air of the dingy apartment.I leaned against the doorframe, my arms crossed and my eyes locked on Richard Grunt’s broad frame hunched over a rickety table cluttered with files and a half-empty bottle of cheap whiskey.Richard’s head snapped up, his jaw tightening as he said angrily, “Don’t play games, Cat. You blew off two weeks' drop. I had to cover your ass with the brass, spinning tales about deep-cover complications.”He stood, the chair scraping harshly against the apartment's floorboards, his shirt rumpled and eyes bloodshot from too many sleepless nights.The slums of Beckershire pressed in around us, the peeling wallpaper and distant sirens wailing like ghosts. It was the kind of place where secrets lived and died.I stepped inside, kicking the door shut with my heel, the lock clicking like a loaded gun. “Complications? Call it trying to stay alive. Eve’s got eyes ever
POV: Ronan Klein“You know,” Brutus said, watching me pour the brandy, “most kings celebrate the day they win the crown.”I handed him a glass. “Most kings don’t inherit their throne over their father’s dead body.”The courtyard breathed around us. The stone walls, iron trellises and the ivy curling like old secrets that refused to die were familiar to us. The fountain whispered steadily, water striking marble with the patience of time itself. This place had always been ours. It was a refuge and a confessional. It was a place where lies were unnecessary to be said. We were two cousins who were sincere.Brutus took a slow drink. “The council knows Hartley killed your father. The treaty is signed. Eve Peron is officially your wife.” He paused. “So tell me....what does a king do next?”I stared into my glass, watching the amber liquid catch the light.“A King moves forward. He takes possession of his territory. ”His jaw tightened. “That’s not an answer. That’s a slogan.”I smiled fai
POV: Ronan Klein“You know,” Brutus muttered beside me, adjusting his cufflinks, “if this goes sideways, I’d like it noted for the record that I advised postponing it until after lunch.”I glanced at him. “Your concern is touching.”“I’m serious,” he said. “People make terrible decisions when they’re hungry or emotional. Today we’re dealing with both.”That earned a low breath of amusement from me, but the tension never left my chest.Klein Towers hummed with the change that was coming. Many decades of warring between the Klein and Peron house was coming to an end because of this treaty. This was modern warfare in tailored suits, shirts and of course, ties. The hall filled quickly. There were council members, corporate advisors and security chiefs. Screens mounted on the walls displayed the Klein and Peron insignias side by side, rotating slowly like a warning. I scanned faces out of instinct checking out supporters, skeptics and opportunists. It had become my constant practise.
Catherine Hayes — POV The city was loud that evening. Cars hissed past. I was halfway to the bus station when the black sedan slid into my path, smooth and deliberate, like it had been waiting for me to breathe before moving. The window rolled down. Eve Peron didn’t look at me at first. One manicured hand rested on the steering wheel. She was calm and commanding. “Get in,” she said. It wasn’t a request. It was an order. My feet felt rooted to the pavement. Every instinct told me to run. Every mistake I had ever made whispered that I should obey. I opened the door and stepped inside. The locks clicked. The car pulled away before I could speak. She drove without music and without explanation. I watched her hands, steady, and unshaken. Hands that had killed offenders in minutes and signed corporate deals at varying points. She was still wearing the clothes she had worn to the office that morning. The dress was so short , you could see the lacy panties she had on. “Don’t lo







