LOGIN"What are you saying, Stellan?"The words scraped against my dry throat, falling into the heavy, suffocating silence of the master suite like shattered glass. I stared at him, my heart hammering a frantic, agonizing rhythm against my ribs.He didn't move from the doorway. He stood there in his immaculate three-piece suit. The feral, possessive beast was entirely gone, replaced by a ruthless CEO evaluating a catastrophic loss on a spreadsheet."It was a simple logistical question," Stellan replied, his voice a flat, glacial monotone. He stepped fully into the room, but he kept a vast, deliberate physical distance between us. "The legal department has reviewed your aunt's petition. The media circus surrounding this estate is entirely unsustainable. The situation has become untenable.""Untenable?" I repeated, a cold, violent tremor racking my body. I took a hesitant step toward him, my bare feet silent against the hardwood floor. "Stellan, she stood on the steps of the courthouse and li
~ Thea’s POVThe massive hundred-inch television screen was entirely black, but the image of Aunt Caroline’s weeping, perfectly powdered face was permanently burned into the back of my eyelids.I sat perfectly still in the center of Stellan’s massive bed, my knees pulled tightly to my chest. The thick, charcoal duvet was wrapped securely around my shoulders, but I couldn't stop shivering. It wasn't the room's temperature. It was a deep, violently cold tremor vibrating through my bones, born of absolute, paralyzing terror.They wanted to declare me incompetent. They wanted to strip away my fundamental human rights and lock me in a pristine, polite prison where I would never be allowed to make a single choice for myself again.And they were using my love for Stellan as the lock on the cage.On the mahogany nightstand, my cell phone vibrated with the energy of a dying insect. It had been ringing continuously for hours. Maya. Unknown reporters. Legal correspondents. Distant family memb
~ Stellan’s POVThe amber liquid in the tumbler caught the glaring, artificial light of the executive war room before I hurled it with a blind fury.The glass shattered against the far mahogany wall, sending a violent spray of three-thousand-dollar scotch raining down onto the plush carpet.My chest heaved, my breath tearing through my teeth in ragged, uneven pulls as I stared at the massive hundred-inch monitor dominating the room. The broadcast was muted, but the closed captions scrolling across the bottom of the screen were a digital execution....emergency petition with the state of New York. Immediate legal conservatorship... full, unconditional custody of the Mercer estate.Caroline Mercer’s weeping, perfectly powdered face was frozen on the screen. The sheer, unadulterated audacity of her lies was a toxic poison flooding my veins. She had stood on the steps of the Surrogate's Court and weaponized my protection, twisting it into a narrative so vile it made my blood run entirely
~ Thea’s POVI woke up to a house that was completely, terrifyingly quiet.I pushed myself up against the headboard, the charcoal sheets pooling around my waist. The morning light filtered through the heavy velvet curtains, casting long, pale shadows across the hardwood floor. I looked toward the window.I slipped out of bed, my bare feet padding softly against the cold floor, and pulled the curtain back.The sprawling grounds of the limestone estate were empty. The imposing wall of black-clad tactical mercenaries was gone. The armored SUVs that had blockaded the circular driveway had vanished. The main iron gates, which had been sealed shut like a vault just yesterday, were standing wide open.Stellan had kept his word. He had dismissed the army. He had removed the titanium locks.I turned around, leaning my back against the cold glass of the window, and looked at the heavy duffel bag sitting by the velvet armchair exactly where I had dropped it.Yesterday, that bag had represented m
~ Thea’s POVThe interior of the SUV was suffocatingly quiet, the only sound the low, powerful hum of the engine as Graham navigated us away from the media circus and back toward the estate.Thea was asleep.The sheer, catastrophic emotional toll of the morning had completely short-circuited her nervous system. The moment the doors of the vehicle had locked, sealing the flashing cameras and the screaming reporters outside, she had collapsed against my side. Her head rested heavily on my chest, her dark hair spilling over my unbuttoned collar. Her breathing was shallow and uneven.I sat perfectly still, my arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders, staring down at her pale, tear-stained face.My heart, an organ I had spent thirty-five years encasing in impenetrable ice, was tearing itself to shreds in my chest.I was a man who solved problems by dismantling them. I bought companies to gut them. I destroyed my rivals with calculated, ruinous precision. But looking at the dark circles bru
~ Thea's POVThe heavy mahogany doors of the Dean’s suite clicked shut behind me, sealing the suffocating, judgmental silence inside.I stood in the empty hallway for a fraction of a second, my hands trembling violently as the adrenaline that had fueled my terrifying display of Vaughn-level arrogance began to rapidly evaporate. I was tired."Thea!"I jerked my head up. Maya was sprinting down the hallway, her curly hair flying wildly around her face. Liam was right behind her, his expression grim. My tactical security detail instantly shifted, their hands hovering near their holstered weapons, forming a wall between us."Stand down," I commanded the lead guard, my voice cracking slightly. "Let her through."The guards parted just enough for Maya to slip past. She practically threw herself at me, grabbing my shoulders with a frantic, desperate grip. Her brown eyes were wide, bloodshot, and brimming with terrified tears."What happened?" Maya demanded, her chest heaving. "What did they
~ Thea’s POVWe were so close.We almost got caught. That was the red light blaring in my mind, but we never knew there was a hidden compartment, it was packed and we only had little space. The door clicked shut behind us, the moment the other door opened, sealing us in darkness broken only by th
~ Stellan's POVThea and I were like freaks who couldn't get enough of each other.The amount to which we were so addicted to each other was alarming, always seeming to forget who we were, and what we were.But I didn't care.I already had Richard hunting my dreams everytime I cummed deep inside Th
~ Stellan's POVThe numbers on the tablet screen were blurring into meaningless white noise. Profit margins. Q4 projections. The impending acquisition of a tech startup in Silicon Valley that my board had been salivating over for months. Usually, this was my drug. The need for control and expansi
~ Thea's POVI was moody as hell, and Stellan knew it. "Can you handle it?" he asked me, with an amused smile tugging at the corners of his lips.He was challenging me, and I squeezed his length till he groaned, "Are you daring me? Stellan?" It was a warning, and he replied with a rumble of a laug







