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Chapter 15

Author: Ivy Vane
last update Last Updated: 2026-01-15 03:07:23

Antonio POV

The thought lands heavy and unwelcome, tightening something low in my chest. I’ve seen men like Coffee before. Men who mistake intelligence for ownership. Who take a woman’s strength and try to break it down into something manageable. Something obedient.

I imagine his hands where they didn’t belong. His words doing what fists never had to. The way he must have spoken to her when no one else was listening.

It makes my jaw clench.

A woman like her doesn’t shrink. She adapts. She endures. And men like him mistake endurance for permission.

I look at her again and the anger shifts, changes shape.

She’s standing there quietly, unaware of the violence running through my thoughts, and it hits me all at once how wrong it is that anyone ever made her feel small. The way she holds herself now isn’t broken. It’s refined. Sharpened by survival.

Her hair falls perfectly into that clean bob, framing her face with intention. It suits her. Controlled. Elegant. Strong. When she move
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  • The Cost Of Surrender    Chapter 20

    Coffee POV They think I didn’t know. That’s the part that almost makes me laugh. I sit alone in my office long after everyone else has gone, the city spread out beneath me like something I built with my own hands. Glass. Steel. Light. Order. Proof. I replay the conversation again, not because I need clarity, but because repetition sharpens truth. She wasn’t alone. Antonio’s men stepped in immediately. Protected. The word irritates me. Minah doesn’t need protection. She needs remembering. I lift the glass and take a slow drink, letting the burn settle. Whiskey is grounding. It reminds me that control still exists, even when people pretend it doesn’t. She let him come to her home. That’s what matters. Not the men. Not the guards. Him. Antonio. A brute dressed in refinement. A man who built power on fear and blood and thinks that makes him something to admire. I scoff at the idea of him even belonging in the same space as her. Men like that don’t understand Mi

  • The Cost Of Surrender    Chapter 21

    Coffee POV The problem with men like Antonio is that they mistake intimidation for intelligence. I know his type. Built on violence. Sustained by fear. He believes proximity equals power, that standing in a doorway makes him significant. That guarding a woman makes her loyal. It’s almost charming in its simplicity. I straighten my cuffs and glance at my reflection in the glass. Composed. Unshaken. Men like him rage when they feel threatened. I calculate. That’s why I always win in the end. Emotion clouds judgment. Structure clarifies it. She’ll come back. Not because she wants to. Because reality will corner her. I know Minah better than anyone ever will. I know how she doubts herself late at night. How she second guesses her strength when things get quiet. How safety scares her almost as much as pain does, because safety asks her to trust. And trust was always mine. The thought of her with him returns again, sharper this time. Antonio’s hands where mine once were

  • The Cost Of Surrender    Chapter 21

    Coffee POV The problem with men like Antonio is that they mistake intimidation for intelligence. I know his type. Built on violence. Sustained by fear. He believes proximity equals power, that standing in a doorway makes him significant. That guarding a woman makes her loyal. It’s almost charming in its simplicity. I straighten my cuffs and glance at my reflection in the glass. Composed. Unshaken. Men like him rage when they feel threatened. I calculate. That’s why I always win in the end. Emotion clouds judgment. Structure clarifies it. She’ll come back. Not because she wants to. Because reality will corner her. I know Minah better than anyone ever will. I know how she doubts herself late at night. How she second guesses her strength when things get quiet. How safety scares her almost as much as pain does, because safety asks her to trust. And trust was always mine. The thought of her with him returns again, sharper this time. Antonio’s hands where mine once were

  • The Cost Of Surrender    Chapter 19

    Coffee POV They think I didn’t know. That’s the part that almost makes me laugh. I sit alone in my office long after everyone else has gone, the city spread out beneath me like something I built with my own hands. Glass. Steel. Light. Order. Proof. I replay the conversation again, not because I need clarity, but because repetition sharpens truth. She wasn’t alone. Antonio’s men stepped in immediately. Protected. The word irritates me. Minah doesn’t need protection. She needs remembering. I lift the glass and take a slow drink, letting the burn settle. Whiskey is grounding. It reminds me that control still exists, even when people pretend it doesn’t. She let him come to her home. That’s what matters. Not the men. Not the guards. Him. Antonio. A brute dressed in refinement. A man who built power on fear and blood and thinks that makes him something to admire. I scoff at the idea of him even belonging in the same space as her. Men like that don’t understand Minah. They cons

  • The Cost Of Surrender    Chapter 18

    The man stood just inside the office door, hands clasped so tightly his knuckles had gone pale. Coffee didn’t look up from the screen in front of him. “Talk,” he said calmly. The man swallowed. “She wasn’t alone.” Coffee’s fingers paused on the glass in his hand. “Explain.” “I approached her like you asked,” the man continued, voice tight. “Parking structure. I barely touched her wrist.” That got Coffee’s attention. He leaned back slightly, eyes lifting. “Barely.” “I didn’t hurt her,” the man said quickly. “I didn’t get the chance.” Coffee’s jaw tightened. “Why.” “There were men,” he said. “Three of them. Maybe four. They moved in immediately. Professional. Quiet. They didn’t shout. They didn’t threaten. They just… removed me.” Coffee stared at him. “They told me to walk away,” the man added. “Said she was protected.” Silence stretched. “Protected,” Coffee repeated softly. “Yes.” Coffee stood and crossed to the bar without another word. He poured himself a glass of whisk

  • The Cost Of Surrender    Chapter 17

    They don’t touch. The realization settles between them like an unspoken agreement, heavy but respected. The air is still charged, desire humming quietly beneath the surface, but neither of them crosses the line. Not tonight. Minah exhales slowly and sinks onto the couch, exhaustion finally winning. Antonio takes the chair across from her instead of sitting beside her, giving her space without retreating. “I didn’t always know it was abuse,” she says after a long pause. Her voice is calm, but her hands twist together in her lap. Antonio doesn’t interrupt. “At first, it was just… control,” she continues. “Who I talked to. How late I worked. How I dressed. He framed it as concern. As love.” Her mouth curves into something that isn’t a smile. “I’m a doctor. I thought I was too smart to miss it.” Antonio’s jaw tightens, a quiet shift she doesn’t notice. “He’d apologize afterward,” she says. “Always beautifully. Always convincingly. And when I stopped fighting back, he s

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