LOGINXAVIER'S POVThe car had become my prison for the past hour. I had driven through every street, every alley, every corner of the city that Ian might have vanished into. He wasn't at the lounge. The club had no sign of him. The sex club… the one we both knew existed but never spoke about, had also been searched. The organization house he had in New York was locked up tight, no sign of life, no indication that anyone had been there in hours.He was nowhere to be found.I grabbed my phone from the passenger seat and dialed his number again. It rang once, twice, three times, then went to voicemail. The robotic voice instructed me to leave a message, but I didn't. I couldn't. What was there to say that I hadn't already said in the countless calls I had made over the past hour?"Come on, Ian," I muttered, throwing the phone onto the seat beside me. "Where the hell are you?"Suddenly, after minutes of thinking long and hard… It hit me.I pressed my foot harder on the accelerator, the engine
XAVIER'S POV I felt the words hang in the air, heavy and ridiculous. It took everything in me, every ounce of self-control I possessed, not to let out a loud, derisive laugh.The silence that followed was so absolute, so profound, that you could have heard a pin drop on the thick Persian carpet.Then Aria burst out laughing beside me.The sound was sharp and unexpected, cutting through the silence like a knife. All heads turned to her, staring as if she had suddenly lost her mind. But I knew exactly what was going through her head. I could practically feel the amusement radiating off her."What's so funny?" Isabella demanded, her face flushing with indignation. "I'm finally giving this family what you couldn't do for years, and you have the guts to laugh? Aren't you ashamed of yourself?"I felt my amusement curdle into something colder. My gaze locked on Isabella, and I let my voice drop low. "I guess those fingers are all healed by now. Because if they weren't, you wouldn't dare tal
XAVIER'S POVThe moment I stepped into my father's study, the weight of the room settled on my shoulders like a familiar burden. The scent of old leather and aged whiskey hung in the air, mingling with the tension that seemed to permeate every corner of this house. I had been here a thousand times, but it never felt like home. Not anymore.Victor, Dean, Sebastian, Allison, and Isabella were already seated around the massive oak table, their postures varying degrees of rigid and uncomfortable. Victor's glare met me the instant I walked through the door, his eyes burning with a hatred that had only intensified over the past month. He turned his face away as if the very sight of me was offensive.It had been this way since Ian's attack. Every time Victor looked at me, his eyes filled with so much venom that I could practically feel it radiating off him. But each time I glanced down at Allison's mutilated fingers, the jagged edges where bone and sinew had been exposed before the doctors h
DEAN'S POVThe house was quiet as I made my way toward the kitchen. The familiar creak of the floorboards beneath my feet was the only sound breaking the silence. I had been in my study for hours, going over old reports and planning the next phase of my operation, and my throat was dry, my body craving the cool relief of water.But the moment I stepped through the kitchen doorway, I stopped dead in my tracks.Isabella stood at the stove, her back to me, with a spatula in her hand as she stirred something in a large pot. The smell of garlic and tomatoes filled the air, and for a moment, I simply watched her, a warmth spreading through my chest that I refused to acknowledge.Then my brain caught up with my eyes, and I rushed forward."What are you doing?" I demanded, gently taking the spatula from her hand. "You shouldn't be doing things like this in your condition."Isabella groaned, rolling her eyes. "Dean, I'm pregnant, not sick. I can cook a simple meal without collapsing."I turned
ARIA'S POVI sat in the hard plastic chair beside Reed's hospital bed, a bowl of ice cream balanced precariously on my lap. The coldness seeped through the fabric of my jeans, but I barely noticed. My spoon moved mechanically, lifting bite after bite to my lips without any real enjoyment.Reed was propped up against the pillows, his face still bearing the faded remnants of bruises from the accident. But his eyes were sharp, studying me with an intensity that made me uncomfortable."Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice rough but steady.I swallowed down my ice cream, the sweetness cloying on my tongue. "Why do you think something is wrong?"Reed gestured at me with a wave of his hand. "Your hair is messy, you have no makeup on, and you have a bowl of ice cream on your legs." He raised an eyebrow. "Something is definitely wrong with you."My spoon paused mid-air, hovering between the bowl and my mouth. I stared at him, genuinely surprised. "Are you sure you don't have a girlfriend?"
XAVIER'S POVThe door to Ian's office swung open, and before I could register what was happening, a fist connected with the side of my face. The impact sent me stumbling sideways, my hands flying up to my jaw as pain exploded across my cheekbone."What the fuck, Ian?" I cursed, my voice muffled by my palm. I straightened, glaring at my brother through narrowed eyes. "What is wrong with you?"Ian took a deep breath, his chest rising and falling with the effort of controlling his temper. He shook out his hand, flexing his fingers. "That," he said, his voice dangerously calm, "is for making Ria cry."I blinked, the anger momentarily replaced by confusion. "What? You also thought I was cheating on her? I would never…""I know," Ian cut me off, his expression softening slightly. "I know you didn't. You're too whipped for that."I stared at him, my jaw dropping. "You knew who she was? How?"Ian raised a brow, crossing his arms. “It's simple. I did my research.”I felt a surge of fresh ange
XAVIER’S POV“Pick up. Ian, please… pick up.”I paced across my office, my phone pressed tightly to my ear as the call rang endlessly.He had to know.He had to know that child wasn’t Dean’s before he did something reckless. Before he turned this entire situation into something bloody and irreversi
ARIA’S POV The loud crash from outside my door woke me from a deep sleep, making my heart leap into my throat.I groaned, blinking against the early morning light filtering through the curtains.“Isn’t it too early to piss people off?” I muttered under my breath.Dragging myself out of bed, I shuf
ARIA’S POV “Hello, Aria, what’s up?”“I can’t reach him.” I paced back and forth across the living room, dragging my fingers through my hair for what felt like the hundredth time. “Zara, it’s almost midnight and he’s not picking my calls.”The silence of the penthouse pressed in on me, heavy and s
ARIA’S POV“I want a divorce.”Those were the first words that fell from my husband’s lips the moment I showed him the video… a proof of his balls deep in another woman's cunt.There was no apology, no remorse, not even an attempt to lie or give an excuse. Just those four words that are cold enough







