LOGINADRIAN'S POV“All of them?” I asked, sinking into my chair.“Yes, boss. All of them,” Ted confirmed, his voice tense.“What the fuck is going on?” I growled, leaning forward, my palms flat against the desk.“They think you called it,” Ted said, not meeting my eyes. “My informant at the Monteverros says their youngest son was shot. And they think you called the hit. Somehow, it has all our prints on it.”“What?” I snapped. “How?”“I don’t have more details yet. But—”I raised my hand, cutting Ted off mid-sentence. He stopped talking immediately. I pressed my palms to my face, forcing myself to breathe through the pressure building in my skull.“Shit.”I turned my attention to Steven, my legitimate secretary who stood stiffly beside Ted like he didn’t know where to place his hands.“What was that important info you had for me?”The moment I stepped into VPN, Steven chased after us. Before I’d even arrived, he’d blown up my phone with SOS messages. I was neck-deep in other things and had
KIRA’S POVI read the message for the umpteenth time: a secret in the basement.The basement?What could possibly be waiting for me down there?Was this Adrian’s weird idea of a gift?No. Something told me this wasn’t from Adrian. He didn’t even know I was aware of the super creepy, torture-chamber-of-a-basement. I’d only ever been there once… when I saw him drilling a man like it was nothing.I turned to where the person had come from, my eyes scanning the empty hallway, ears straining, waiting for a maid or one of Adrian's men to pop out and say this was all a prank. A voice in my head probed, " Do people in this house look like they know what a prank is?”Ok, so not a prank!Maybe Adrian had planned something dramatic and romantic and a maid was going to appear any moment now to lead me down to the basement with some cryptic mafia scavenger hunt.But nothing.The hallway, which had been bustling with maids earlier, was now eerily silent.Do I go to the basement?Was this some kind
Kira’s POV“What?” he asked, raising his head, desire still dark in his eyes as a few strands of hair fell into his face, messy and unfairly hot, his lips pink and swollen… courtesy of yours trulyThe corners of his mouth curled slightly as confusion began to settle in his expression.I pulled back slowly, studying him. Then, without saying a word, I pressed a palm to his chest and pushed him backward. He let me, no hesitation, though his eyes roamed over me like he was trying to figure out what the hell I was up to.Here goes nothing.I stepped down from the table.“What is it?” I didn’t respond. Instead, I reached for his hands… his large hands, so big my palm could barely cover four of his fingers—and pulled him toward the chair behind the table. He followed without a word, and when we reached it, I gently pushed him down into the seat.The surprise flickered across his face but vanished just as quickly, replaced by the faintest smirk.The corners of his lips lifted again. “What a
Kira’s POVThe next morning, well, technically the afternoon, I woke up feeling strangely refreshed. Gia and I had talked almost all night, and we both finally fell asleep around midnight. She told me so many things, and honestly, I woke up feeling like a new person. Our conversation made me realize something I’d been ignoring my whole life: I had never truly lived for myself. I was always living for others, constantly caring what people thought of me.But not anymore.In Gia’s words, I was ready to run someone’s life. And that someone, per se, was my husband. I had been waiting for nearly three months for Adrian to let me in. To trust me. To see that I trust him. That I would always be here for him.But, according to Gia, that’s not going to work.Because I let him control me.I let him make all the rules, and apparently, it’s time I take some of that authority back.So today?I am a girl with a plan.And no, it’s not one of my crazy plans. It doesn’t involve trying to bankrupt him
KIRAS POVHe looked taken aback. His hands fidgeted slightly, and his head shifted sideways, but when he lifted his face to face me, his face still held that same emotionless blank expression.Before he could say anything else, I stormed out of the room feeling silly.It was already quite late, and I was sure everyone had gone to bed. The mansion felt eerie, too quiet, too hollow. I didn’t know where to go. I started heading toward my room, but I didn’t want to be alone. I felt like I was trapped in a jungle, surrounded by threats, with no one to trust, no friend, no ally.And so, I headed to Gia’s room.I just needed someone to talk to. Maybe she was the only one who’d understand. As I reached her door, I hesitated, contemplating whether or not to knock. She was probably asleep by now. I sniffled, wiped a tear, and turned to leave, ready to head back to the room Adrian had arranged for me.Adrian.The thought of him swirled in my mind. I knew he didn’t mean to hurt me, not really. I
Kira’s POV“I have arranged for the maids to prepare your former room, you will be staying there,” he said, turning his attention back to the stack of papers in front of him.I stared at him, dumbfounded. “Wait, what?” I asked.“You don't have to pretend kira,” he replied flatly. “Earlier, I noticed your body language when you realized we were going to share a room. So, think of this as me giving you what you want.”“Bullshit,” I cursed, out loud…for what felt like the first time in my life. “I didn’t ask for that. I never said I wanted a separate room.”“It’s done, Kira,” he said with that final tone meant to silence me.“And that’s supposed to shut me up?” I fired back.“No,” he replied lazily, barely glancing at me while his posture remained fixed toward the table.“What do you mean, no?” I asked, stepping forward.“I mean no, i am not shutting you up just giving you what you want,” “You’re not a mind reader, Adrian. You don’t know ‘what I want’ and I’m not letting you kick me out







