Se connecterKillian dropped my foot and gently took my bleeding hand, peeling the soaked towel away. The cut on my palm was deep, running horizontally just below my fingers. He cleaned it with the alcohol, his jaw locking so tight the bone looked like it was going to snap right under his skin. He was treating me like I was made of fragile porcelain. Like I actually mattered. The hypocrisy of it made my throat burn with fresh acid. "Don't do that," I whispered. My voice sounded wrecked, hoarse and scraped raw from screaming. Killian paused. The silver tweezers hovered just over my open palm. He didn't look up. "Don't do what," he replied, his tone low and guarded. "Don't pretend you care." Killian froze. His body went completely rigid. For a long, agonizing second, the room was silent. The air grew heavy, thick with a sudden, suffocating tension that pressed down on my lungs. Slowly, Killian lifted his head. His pale gray eyes met mine. The sheer intensity in his gaze made the hair on my a
LUNA POVFor a fraction of a second, the air was completely sucked out of the room.The silence was absolute. Killian stood frozen in the splintered doorway, his eyes locked on the deep red puddles staining the white tiles. He stared at the jagged, blood-soaked piece of the mirror gripped tightly in my fist.Then, the shock vanished. It was replaced by a raw, unhinged panic that tore through him like a physical blow."Luna!"He didn't care about the glass scattered across the floor. He dropped to his knees right in front of me, the sharp shards crunching loudly and biting into the expensive fabric of his trousers. He grabbed my wrists with his large hands. His grip was painfully tight, his chest heaving with desperate breaths."Are you out of your mind?!" Killian demanded. His voice wasn't his usual cold, controlled command. It was a harsh, fractured bark that echoed off the ruined walls. "Drop the glass. Drop it right now."I didn't move. I just stared at him, my vision blurry with f
My hands gripped the marble vanity tighter, my knuckles turning white.I should be the angry one! A sudden, bitter resentment surged through my chest, battling the overwhelming grief. He kidnapped me!He dragged me out of my home and locked me in a cage. He terrified me. He had used me as a pawn in his brutal war. But despite all of the terror, despite the nightmares and the captivity, I had tried to put the past behind us. I had forgiven the unforgivable because I wanted to survive. I wanted to give this life a chance."Do I not deserve happiness?" I asked my reflection, my voice cracking out loud in the empty bathroom. "Just a little bit of peace?"I stared into my own red, weeping eyes. My chest heaved, my breath hitching as I looked at the absolute wreck I had become. The last layer of my denial finally crumbled.I had fallen in love with him.I loved a monster.I didn't even know when it happened. Maybe it started long before I ever knew his real name. Maybe it was slowly buildin
LUNA POVThe cold water ran from the bathroom faucet, spiraling down the drain. I gripped the edges of the marble vanity, staring blankly at my reflection in the massive mirror.My face was flushed, my skin pale, and my eyes were heavily swollen from another night of crying. A fresh tear slipped over my lashes, tracking slowly down my cheek before hitting the porcelain sink with a quiet, hollow tap.Why are you being so pathetic, Luna?I wiped my face roughly with the back of my hand, but the tears wouldn't stop. They just kept falling, hot and humiliating, stinging my raw skin.It had been exactly one month.Thirty agonizing, suffocating days since the fire. Thirty days since the invisible wall had slammed down between us, turning the man who had finally made me feel safe back into a stranger.At first, I had tried to be understanding. I told myself he was grieving. He had lost his people, and as the Pakhan, he carried the weight of that tragedy alone. I thought he just needed space
The heavy leather of the punching bag groaned under the brutal force of Killian’s fists. Crack. Crack. Crack. He didn't wear gloves. His knuckles were wrapped in white tape, but the fabric was already soaked through with dark, blossoming patches of his own blood. He didn't feel the pain. He pulled his right arm back and delivered a devastating hook. It had been exactly one week. One week since the warehouse burned to the ground. One week of suffocating silence echoing through the halls of the mansion. He drove his knee into the heavy bag, the chain rattling violently from the ceiling. Every time he closed his eyes, the smell of ash filled his lungs. He saw the thirty black body bags lined up on the concrete. He heard the dying Italian’s voice echoing in his skull, branding his wife as the traitor. He wanted to kick the bedroom door open. He wanted to shake her, to corner her and demand the truth until her voice gave out. But then he would walk into the dining room and see the she
The dining table was set for one."Good morning, ma'am," Daisy said softly as I walked in. She poured a fresh cup of coffee and set it on the table. She gave me a polite, sympathetic smile. "The Pakhan left the estate about an hour ago."I stopped, my hand resting on the edge of the chair. I just gave her a slow nod, keeping my face carefully blank.Daisy bowed her head slightly and walked back into the kitchen.I sat down alone in the quiet dining room. My heart gave a painful, uneasy throb. Ever since we had moved past our brutal beginning, Killian had never left the mansion without telling me. Even if I was fast asleep, he would always wake me up just enough to kiss me and tell me he was going out.I forced myself to be rational. Yesterday was a tragedy. I couldn't expect him to act like everything was normal.I spent the rest of the day waiting. The mansion felt completely empty. I sat in the living room, watching the clock tick away the hours. The afternoon turned into evening, a
"Look at me."I squinted through tears streaming from my eyes. He was a dark shape in the center of the brightness, backlit until he looked like a hole in reality."The rules are simple," Killian said. "You stay awake. You stay upright on that stool."He checked his watch."It's eleven in the mornin
It was heavier than I expected, solid cast iron designed for commercial use. The handle was hot even through the decorative towel wrapped around it.My hands were shaking. My whole body was shaking. I was weak from hunger, from pain, from exhaustion so deep it had seeped into my bones.I lifted the
"You threw your food?"I shook my head. No. No I didn't."She's lying, Don," the guard said smoothly. "She made a huge mess in her room. Said it was slop not fit for pigs."Killian swirled the whiskey in his glass. The ice clinked against crystal, the sound sharp in the silence.He believed them. Of
I was already on my knees. What more did he want?I pressed my palms together, the one still pinned under his boot scraping against concrete. I bowed my head low until my forehead nearly touched the floor.He laughed again and finally lifted his foot.I grabbed the bread before he could change his m







