Chapter FortyMaisieI didn’t know what I was doing.I was still confused, torn between the fear that I was making a huge mistake all over again and the faint hope that maybe this time, it could be different. But those thoughts always seemed to fade whenever that man touched me. It was like there was some inexplicable magic in his touch—something that silenced every contradiction in my head and settled the storm inside me.Or maybe I was just overthinking. Maybe I was worrying for nothing. Maybe he wasn’t as dangerous as I assumed the moment I saw that secret chamber filled with weapons I’d never seen in my life. Maybe I was reading too much into things… just like when I thought he was hiding a gun behind his back when he entered the room. I had frozen in fear, convinced he was about to kill me in cold silence to protect whatever secret he was hiding—when in reality, all he had in his hand was a flower.Just a flower.And I thought it was a gun.Maybe I need to stop overanalyzing. May
Chapter Thirty-nineRafael CarusoI left the room, down the hall, and into the elevator, the weight of what I’d just walked away from pressing against my chest… and my pants. Hell, I could still feel the tension pulsing though every vein in my body, and the taste of her that was still on my tongue… it was intoxicating.By the time I stepped out into the hotel lobby and walked toward the car waiting out front, my mind was still on Maisie. On her taste. Her skin. Her damn lips. Her wetness. I didn’t know whether to curse Ghost for calling when he did or to be grateful.I didn’t know if this was to be called a bad timing or good timing. It was all so mixed up.It could be bad timing… because it stopped what could’ve been the most satisfying night I’d had in years. I looked down at my pants—my arousal was still painfully obvious, the bulge unmistakably visible, the ache refusing to let up, like my body was mocking me for leaving her like that. My body knew what it wanted, and if it were l
Chapter Thirty-eightRafael CarusoMaisie wasn’t always like this.She used to be full of light—happy, even giddy—especially when she saw me. There was always a brightness in her eyes, a softness in her smile that made everything else feel distant.But now… all of that was gone.Her face had lost its usual glow. She looked pale, like she’d just seen a ghost. Her eyes were distant, unfocused, like there were a thousand thoughts crowding her mind, and she couldn’t find her way out of any of them.“Mai,” I murmured, unsure of what to say—or what the hell was making her act this way.“You can talk to me if there’s a problem.”I took a step closer.She stepped back.And that simple motion… it cut deeper than I expected. A sharp pain spread across my chest, fast and cold, like something tearing from the inside.“What’s the problem?” I asked again, softer this time. Almost afraid of the answer.She wouldn’t say a word. Maisie just stood there, frozen, like her own thoughts were suffocating h
Chapter Thirty-sevenRafael CarusoScar’s death wasn’t just what shook me to the core—it was also the realization that I’d been stretching my hands too far to catch the person behind this, while the real enemy had been close to me all along. I hadn’t seen it. It wasn’t just Scar’s death—it was the fact that I was battling a close enemy. And that… that’s the deadliest kind of war.I had to be ten times more careful than I already was. I had to be deliberate with who I trusted—if I even trusted anyone at all. Scar was dead. The one man I could say I trusted with every part of me was gone. And the more I thought about it, the more this entire thing felt like a carefully laid-out plan.They knew I’d become cautious. They knew I’d hesitate to trust anyone after finding out the enemy was within. So they took Scar out.He was the only one I leaned on. Taking him out would force me to look for someone else. And if I wasn’t wrong, there was a black cat among my men. I didn’t know how true that
Chapter Thirty-sixMaisieI just hope he didn’t see me.I hope he hasn’t realized that I saw him inside that room last night. My heart had been pounding ever since. I couldn’t sleep. I kept staring at the ceiling, the scene replaying in my head like a reel on loop. When he came into the room, I was sure he had figured it out. I thought he was going to question me—or worse. A man like him wouldn’t just let it go if he found out I saw that kind of weapon stash in his room. He’d think I’d report him to the cops. That’s one reason I had to keep my mouth shut.But the most important reason was this—I still didn’t know why he was looking for me and my brother. I always had this feeling he wasn’t who he appeared to be. That there was more to him. And now I had confirmation—after seeing that hidden room filled with weapons.I need to find out why he’s looking for us. How he might be connected to my father… or maybe even my uncle.Mr. Caruso didn’t look like someone who could be working for my
Chapter Thirty-sixRafael CarusoBullets still tore through the air like hell’s own thunder. I stayed low, my mind racing through different things all at once. Who the fuck could it be? Who knew the location of this safe house? Only a handful of men. Scar. Me. A few others vetted over the years. Could one of them have sold us out? Or was someone tracking us without our knowledge?As much as scar was the only I could say I trust completely, I still trusted my other men to some extent, and I knew they wouldn’t sell us out just like that. Those men weren’t forced to be here, they wanted to be here. They’ve faced a lot o trails and temptations that could have made anyone go against the group, but they didn’t. They’ve been here for years, they couldn’t have done that.So, who could it be? Who was it that was doing all of these to me? Whoever it was, they were closer than I could ever had imagined and that… that made it even more dangerous. This wasn’t just a war, it was also a test, one I