MasukLilith POV Lucian hadn't moved from the center of the room. He stood there with his brandy glass like he'd been invited, like the house was still his by some understanding we hadn't gotten around to formalizing, and looked between Damien and me with the unhurried interest of a man watching something he'd already seen the ending of. My heart was going too fast. I could feel it in my throat. "Lucian." My voice came out steadier than I deserved. "I can explain." He tilted his head. "Started today, did it?" "Yes." The lie left my mouth before I could weigh it. "Yes. Today." He made a sound that was almost a laugh. He swirled the brandy once, watching the glass rather than me, and the casualness of it was worse than shouting would have been. "Really." "Yes." "Interesting." He looked up. "Then Sophie must be lying." The name landed like something dropped from a height. I heard myself say it before I understood why. "Sophie? Why would Sophie tell you anything?" His smile widened
Lilith POV The first thing I did was open every window immediately I got to the mansion Lucian signed for me. I went room by room, pushing sashes up, letting the October air move through the hallways the way it wanted to. The house was large, too large for one person, really, with high ceilings and wooden floors that creaked in specific places I was already memorizing. That was the thing I kept running into, room after room. The absence of an instruction. The absence of a correction waiting around the corner. I touched the walls as I walked. No cameras. No guards are stationed in the hallway outside. No sound from the next room that I needed to calculate and respond to correctly. I stood in the kitchen for a while, not doing anything particular, just standing in it. Sunlight came through the window over the sink at an angle that hit the countertop in a long stripe. I watched it move slightly as clouds went past outside. My phone buzzed. I looked at it without urgency. A bank
The debt was not dramatic. It never was, with men like Victor Sokolov. Drama was for people who needed witnesses. Victor had learned to carry his grief the way he carried everything else that mattered; quietly, completely, and with the patience of a man who understood that the right moment was always worth waiting for. Years ago, the arrangement with the Verona family had been one of his cleaner operations. Smuggling routes through the Adriatic, arms distribution across three territories, shared borders respected on both sides. Vittorio Verona was not a man Victor liked. But he was a man Victor could work with, which was rarer and more valuable than liking. Then came the night at the docks. An ambush targeting a rival crew. Efficient planning, clean execution, except for the calculation Vittorio either missed or dismissed. The explosion radius was wider than accounted for. Three of Victor's men died in the first wave. His son: a twenty-four years old, on his first real assignment,
Lucian POVThe door closed behind Damien and I stood in the quietness he left behind.I gave it exactly three seconds, then my phone rang.Enzo never called unless the information couldn't wait, and Enzo's version of urgency was not the kind that announced itself with raised voices or unnecessary words. When I answered, the first thing I heard was his breathing, but it was tighter than usual."Two of our men are dead."I went still."Confirmed?""Yes."The line cut.I held the phone for a moment after, not moving. The study was quiet around me. Two men.I set the phone down.So Damien's parting words weren't theater after all. I had watched him walk out of here with that unhurried confidence he'd spent years perfecting. My brother always loved a curtain line. He always knew exactly which sentence to leave hanging in the air as he turned away."You should be careful, brother."I had almost smiled.I was not smiling now.My jaw tightened once, and then I straightened my cuffs, smoothed
Third Person POV On getting to Sophie's apartment that afternoon, Lilith did not bother to knock properly. Her fist struck the door impatiently and before Sophie could reach it fully, Lilith had already pushed it open. After then Lilth went on to rush inside like she was escaping from a burning building outside. The apartment was warm from the heat of the lamp that was glowing in the corner just beside the biggest couch in the room. A cup of tea was sitting on the coffee table. Sophie was standing next to. The television as well was murmuring quietly in the background. “Babes?” Sophie finally found the voice to speak with her hands spread apart, “What happened?” Lilith did not answer. Instead, she walked past her quietly like someone moving underwater, strutting further and further until she reache
Damien’s POV Lilith’s hands were still around me. Her fingers were twisted in the back of my shirt and I could literally feel her body trembling against my own. It was like a shaking coming from deep inside the soul It was the tremble of a broken spirit. “I thought she was my friend…” Her voice vibrated against my neck bone. “I thought… I thought…” Her voice trailed…she could not finish the words. I didn’t need her to. My stomach tightened as ideas already started to form in my head. Then after some time, the strongest guess I could pick in my head found its way out through my mouth. “Is this about Isabella?” The way she immediately stiffened and how her arms started to loosen around me tol
Lilith POVI still can’t explain exactly how I got here.All I know is that one moment I was standing in front of Damien’s door, and the next, his mouth was glued to mine, tongues mixing up like we had been starving for years.I wasn’t even sure if I kissed him back first, or if he simply pulled so
Lilith’s POVLucian’s question hit me so sharply that for a moment, I forgot how to breathe. My whole body felt like it had been caught under a spotlight.I knew better than to answer too fast, just as I knew better than to hesitate too long. Still, the silence stretched, and that was already dange
Lilith’s POVAfter the guard’s footsteps faded down the hallway, I stood there for several seconds, unable to move.My heart kept pounding in a frantic rhythm that didn’t match the stillness of the corridor. My hands trembled as I smoothed the front of my dress, trying to steady myself, but nothing
Damien’s POVThe feed opened and there she was, framed in the hallway like an object I had left lying around for her to find.Lilith stood with her face tipped up at the molding, eyes fixed on the small red blink I had installed. She did not move when she noticed the camera; instead she looked dire







