LOGINCORINNELucian’s family is a lot; not in a bad way. They’re just intensely affectionate.The amount of hugs and kisses I’ve received within the first hour alone probably outweighed every bit of physical affection I’d gotten in my entire twenty-nine years of existence combined. I enjoy meeting them, enjoyed the warmth, enjoyed watching Lucian become progressively more possessive every time another family member stole my attention. Everything was overwhelming, exhilarating and surprisingly sweet—right up until the door to this suite clicked shut, sealing me inside with the one man who makes me feel crazy everywhere.I had been coasting on the adrenaline of the day, that I forgot to account for this. The fact that I now had to somehow survive sharing a mattress with a man I’d spent the entire day secretly fantasizing about.I stared at the bed, the red petals looking like drops of blood against the snowy linens. “I can just take the sofa while we’re here,” I pointed to the said fu
LUCIANMy focus remained on her from the moment we stepped out of the plane till our driver pulled into the massive coastal resort that was a labyrinth of white stone and blooming bougainvillea.Corinne sat quietly beside me in the backseat with one hand resting in mine and her gaze fixed on the amount of persons standing outside our SUV. I hate how nervous and how pale she looks. She insisted she was fine but she’s quiet, and her hand drifted occasionally toward her stomach like she didn’t even realize she was doing it.I was equally troubled by the sudden skittishness in her eyes, it feels like she’s trying to hide something from me which is almost ironic considering I’m the one keeping secrets from her right now.Maya’s investigation escalated quickly over the past few days and until I know exactly how dangerous Nathan planned to become, I’m not dragging Corinne into any of it.Still, the guilt sit heavier every time she smiles at me.“Are you—”“I’m okay, Lucian,” she squeezed my
CORINNELucian’s eyes were still shinning with wrath and the second we step into the plane, his hands began moving in a blur of motion, traveling down my arms and gripping my elbows as he performed a frantic scan of my body.“Are you hurt?” The gentleness in his voice compared to the cold fury from seconds ago nearly gave me emotional whiplash. “Did anyone touch you?”I heard the question, but unfortunately my brain stopped functioning properly somewhere between him threatening an entire crowd for me and the concern etched on his face right now.“I’m fine,” I finally responded with a shake of my head. “Nobody touched me.”He let out a low curse and shoved a hand through his hair in pure frustration. The movement caused the dark strands to fall over his forehead and the ink winding along his forearm to flex and stretch against the dark fabric—a sight that made it increasingly difficult for me to maintain my composure.God help me…I want to climb the man like a tree.“Goddamnit,” he his
CORINNE“Are you sure that’s okay?”I looked up to find Shannon watching me closely, concern etched all over her face despite how calm she was trying to appear.Outside the SUV, camera flashes kept bursting like tiny explosions against the tinted windows while voices shouted over one another from somewhere beyond the barricades. It sounded chaotic even from inside the vehicle.I adjusted Lucas’ little bucket hat lower over his eyes before responding. “Yes, this is the best option.”“We can just wait for reinforcements,” Lucian voiced.He’s standing at the center of the vehicle with his arms crossed over his chest and a thunderous scowl directed at the windows, he look ready to tear the door off its hinges himself. His father stood beside him, equally grim, the two of them a wall of silent, protective fury.“That’ll just cause unnecessary delays,” I replied calmly before crouching in front of Eli to fix the tiny earmuffs resting around his neck. “And the longer we sit here, the more cr
CORINNELucian has been acting strange for the past few days. He’s more attentive than usual, which honestly should’ve been impossible considering the man already hovers around me like an overprotective shadow. But lately, there’s this tension sitting beneath everything he does, even worse is the way his eyes track me whenever I move too far away from him.My identity is still unknown to the public, thankfully. The tabloids are practically foaming at the mouth trying to figure out who Lucian Delacroix was hiding inside his house, but the closest anyone had gotten was a blurry back shot of Shannon and I during one of our impulsive shopping trips last week.Shannon had found the entire thing hilarious. I, on the other hand, nearly had a heart attack when I saw the photos online.“You should be grateful,” she’d said while sending me seventeen laughing emojis. “Your ass looked fantastic in those pictures.”Traitor.Tonight, the four of us were having dinner together because tomorrow morni
LUCIANIt’s been days since the news about Corinne and I broke out, and while the media practically tore itself apart trying to dissect our relationship and find her identity, I cleared the estate. I granted the entire staff—George included—a paid leave for the remainder of the week.And somehow, the days blurred together in the best way possible for the four of us.The twins turned every hallway into a racetrack, every couch into a fortress, and the kitchen became a battlefield of flour and laughter. Corinne fit into it all so naturally that I sometimes catch myself staring in awe, trying to understand how and when that happened.And asides from playing and helping with the boys, she sits with me in my office, reviewing documents with an attention that rival my executive team. Now that she no longer has to pretend she wasn’t Lyra, she’d stopped holding herself back, and the results are terrifyingly impressive.In less than three days, she reorganized projections my finance department
CORINNE“She was murdered.”The words hung in the tense air between the three of us.Murdered… Elena. Lucian’s wife.Even though I’ve never met her and feel no personal grief for her, a morbid curiosity flared in my chest; I wanted answers even if I had no right to them.“What?” Lucian’s voice was b
LUCIANThe twins were strapped into their car seats, finally succumbing to their tiredness as they slept. Beside me, however, sat a very awake, very fuming passenger princess and for the life of me, I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face.My left hand lazily controlled the wheel while my right rested
CORINNEAfter that absolute bombshell of a lie, we were herded into the main sitting room like defendants entering a courtroom. Lucian’s parents claimed the sprawling velvet sofa, while Lucian and I were relegated to a two-seater directly opposite them. The twins were on the rug between us, complete
CORINNEEven the twins went quiet, with their little bodies still pressed close to mine as Lucian’s parents slowly dissected me with their eyes. They are measuring my worth and sizing me up like an intruder who has somehow managed to breach their innermost sanctum.I really should have listened to m







