MasukJulian was still sitting against the wall, his phone clutched in his hand, when the doors at the end of the hallway burst open.Leo practically unraveled into the space. His suit jacket must’ve been discarded on the way here, and his shirt was wrinkled, the top buttons torn open as if he had been suffocating on his way up the elevator.Julian stood up slowly, his joints stiff, his back scraping against the drywall.Leo’s eyes locked onto him. He took three long, staggered steps forward, his boots skidding slightly on the floor before his hands slammed into Julian’s shoulders. He gripped the fabric of Julian’s jacket so hard his knuckles turned white.“Where is he?” Leo’s voice was too loud for the quiet ward, rough and frantic. “Julian, where the fuck is he?”“He’s still in there,” Julian said, keeping his voice low, his hands coming up to steady Leo’s forearms. “They haven’t changed the light on the door yet. Sit down, Leo.”“I’m not sitting down!” Leo shoved Julian back a fraction,
Julian paced the length of the hallway outside the emergency room, his boots squeaking softly against the floor. Every few steps, he clawed his bloodied fingers across his face and through his tangled hair, staining his skin with drying rust. He forced sharp, ragged breaths into his lungs and huffed them out, his chest heaving as though the l weight of the fear hanging over him might cause him to pass out right there on the floor.How long had it been since his older brother had been rushed through those double doors? Antonio had arrived drenched in his own blood, with wounds punched into the most delicate, fatal areas of his body.An hour?Two hours?Julian had completely lost count. Time had lost all meaning the second the first gunshot echoed in the cathedral.Their father had already come and gone, his face cold and unreadable stone before he left to manage the immediate retaliation. His sisters hadn't even been allowed to leave the estate; the family was too terrified that th
The swell of the music rose, bouncing off the walls of the cathedral as the doors swung open. Miranda stepped into view, beginning her walk down the aisle.Antonio stood at the edge of the altar, his posture straight, though his nerves were firing in a dozen different directions at once.His palms were damp against his sides. But as he forced himself to stare at the approaching bride in her white gown, his mind fractured, replacing her image.He imagined it was Leo walking up those steps toward him instead.How would that look? he wondered, desperation gripping his chest.Would we ever actually get married?Would we need to keep what we have a secret for the rest of our lives?Antonio gave a shake of his head, forcing the daydream away. He needed to focus on surviving the next ten minutes before he could even dare to think about a future with Leo. But for a fleeting moment, the thought had been beautiful, and it left a faint, ghost of a smile lingering on his lips.The oblivious gue
“You’re late.”That was the first thing Antonio said to Julian the moment Julian walked into his groom suite. Anyone with an eye could see the nervous energy rolling off Antonio in waves. He was pacing the room like a trapped animal as he fiddled with the buttons of his shirt, his fingers shaking so much that he couldn’t even properly fix his shirt.There was no need to be prim and proper, he thought to himself. Not when the wedding would begin and end with a roar of chaos.“You should be happy I even came to this shit show.” Julian stepped in front of his brother, causing Antonio to halt his pacing.Then he began buttoning his shirt for him. “Are you that nervous?” Julian asked.Antonio nodded; there was no need to pretend otherwise. “I just don’t want anyone to be caught up in this mess. Especially our sisters.”“Which is why I’ve made sure they don’t make it to the church in time,” Julian assured his brother as he finished the last button and stepped back.Julian went to stand b
Julian groaned as he woke to heat and a tow curling sensation.His mind was still a haze, his eyes still heavy from sleep and exhaustion. The room was now soaked in darkness, only illuminated softly by the estate’s security lights. Julian tried to move but he felt a weight pin him down, as though his shoulders were trapped between something.Something…He moved his hands blindly.There were limbs—soft, smooth limbs.Julian inhaled a long breath and a familiar scent hit his nostrils. This was a scent he had grown accustomed to.And at that moment, sleep vanished from his eyes.Lena was on him. Her face was turned towards his toes and her ass to his face. Her tongue trailed the crown of his cock in slow, circular motion.Her movement was clumsy at first, but when she realized that he had woken up, she became more steady, taking him down to the back of her throat.“Fuck…” Julian groaned again, his toes curling in ecstasy as his hands fell to her waist, gripping tightly.What was going o
“What. The. Hell. Are. You. Guilty. Of?”Julian’s chest rose on a deep, shaky breath, but he didn’t utter a word. He just kept his eyes locked onto Leo’s, his body rigid against the marble edge of the kitchen counter. The silence between them stretched, suffocating and carrying the weight of the dread.“Is this about the wedding?” Leo muttered, his voice dropping an octave as he stepped even closer, his shadow falling over Julian.Julian didn't blink, forcing his facial features to smooth out into a mask of pure indifference. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”“It’s about the wedding, isn’t it?” Leo pushed, his eyes narrowing as he scanned Julian’s guarded expression. “What are you people planning to do?”“Leo—”“What the fuck is your brother planning to do?!” Leo demanded, his composure starting to crack. He grabbed the edge of the counter on either side of Julian, trapping him. “Is this why he explicitly told me I couldn’t attend? Because he’s planning to do something danger
Lena woke up with tears and a splitting headache.For hours, she’d cried and cried and cried until she decided that crying would not save her marriage. So she decided that perhaps having a conversation with Julian would change his mind. Perhaps if she begged enough, perhaps if she offered him more
Years ago, before the marriage, before the arrangement, before she tucked herself into Julian’s quiet house and learned to want less, Lena used to party.It was how she processed things: a loud room, a dark dance floor, a glass in her hand. It wasn’t elegant and she knew it. But it worked. Tonight
“Hello, this is the assistant of Pedro King. I saw that you had put up an article stating that Mr. Julian Black was out with his wife. As his associates, we are unaware of any such information. Might I know if you have any other details about the woman in question?”“Pedro King?” The reporter asked
Lena heard the front door open just as she was setting her phone down.She didn’t move from where she sat curled in the corner of the living room sofa, her legs tucked beneath her, the glow of the television casting pale light across the room. She had been waiting for two hours, maybe even longer.







