The clinic room was silent, broken only by the echo of a tiny heart beating strong and clear on the monitor. Max didn’t move. His warm fingers wrapped around Lev’s like they were something sacred."Do you hear it?" she whispered, eyes shining."Yes," he said, his voice breaking with tenderness. "Like the world finally makes sense."Lev didn’t cry, but her eyes spoke for her. Max leaned in and kissed her forehead. There was something different about him now. He wasn’t just the protective brother or the heir to a broken family. He was... a man building something new.When they walked out, Max reached out his hand—not to help her walk, but as a symbol."Come live with me. Today. Not as a guest. Not as a ‘let’s see what happens.’ I want this to be our home. The first of many."Lev looked at him in silence. Then nodded."Yes. I want to start over... with you."And in that white hallway, surrounded by the scent of disinfectant and hope, Max held her like he was holding his destiny.Amalia c
The sound of hurried footsteps interrupted the calm of the morning. Amalia was in the kitchen, pouring herself a coffee, when she heard the front door slam open. For a second, her body tensed. Old instincts. But then a familiar, sharp, trembling voice screamed her name."Amalia!"The cup fell to the floor. She didn’t care. She ran.And at the end of the hallway, like pulled from a lost dream, June and Kari were there. With backpacks, messy hair, eyes full of tears. Alive. They were alive.Amalia didn’t think. She hugged them both with a sob caught in her chest, as if time was rewinding."I thought you were dead," she whispered, voice breaking. "I looked for you. I mourned you.""We thought you wouldn’t make it out of that house either," June replied, her laugh mixing with tears. "But look at you. Look at who you are now."Kari didn’t speak. She just held onto Amalia as if she were afraid to let go and lose her again.The scene was silent, intimate, sacred. And when Lev arrived, her be
The silence was different.It wasn’t the tense silence of waiting before a shot, nor the emptiness that follows a loss. It was the kind of calm that isn’t sought but found.The kind of silence that smells like clean sheets, warm skin, and synchronized breathing.Amalia woke up without a jolt.The light coming through the windows was golden and soft, as if even the sun knew it was no longer time to run. To her left, Dax slept with one arm under her waist, breathing against her neck. To her right, Maddox. His brow relaxed, eyes closed, his chest rising and falling slowly. The battle lines that once crossed his face were now just faint memories.For the first time in weeks, her heart wasn’t beating with urgency.For the first time, she didn’t feel like she had to choose, fight, or escape.Just... exist.Amalia allowed herself a few minutes there, in that triangle of bodies, warmth, and belonging. Her mind replayed everything that had happened. The losses, the wounds, the betrayals. And y
I woke up before dawn.Not because of a nightmare, but because of the absence of one.The city still slept under a soft mist, as if the violence had been trapped in another dimension... one where it no longer had power over us.Dax was breathing calmly beside me.Maddox wasn’t there, but his coat hung on my chair.And that was enough.It was his way of saying, "I’m close.""Don’t run yet."I got up in silence, walked down the hallway as if I still expected to find bodies on the floor, doors slammed open, alarms going off.But no.Just stillness.And a quiet that made me feel guilty.On the balcony, the air was fresh, almost foreign to everything we had lived through.Lev was moving around inside the apartment, making breakfast.I saw her kiss Max on the cheek while he tried to act like he wasn’t melting inside.It was sweet.And it scared me.Because if love was a possibility again… then we would once again have something to lose."Amalia," Draven’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.H
Dawn brought no hope. Only smoke.The streets were still burning when Amalia stepped off the helicopter. The final operation had been a success, but not without cost. Bodies. Ruins. Tension. The Council had fallen... but peace didn’t feel like victory.Amalia walked through the remains of what had once been a nerve center of corrupt power. The government building—once a symbol of covert domination—now had walls riddled with bullet holes and glass shattered on the ground like the tears of a defeated giant."It's done," said Maddox beside her, his voice deep, restrained, as if he still didn’t know how to release the mix of rage and relief.She didn’t answer. She just moved forward, boots over rubble, with a soul torn to pieces.Dax emerged through the smoke, his arm bandaged, wearing a crooked smile."Still in one piece, Cusack?"Amalia looked at him with a weariness that reached her bones. But when she hugged him, her body broke inside."I almost didn’t come back to you," she whispered
The silence before the attack was more deafening than any bullet.The agreed meeting point was an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of Las Vegas, the last strategic location before the launch of "Project Phoenix." The lights were off, the power cut. But everyone knew it was just the calm before the disaster.Maddox was at the front, dressed entirely in black, his gray gaze like steel. No one spoke as he gave the final orders, as if his mere presence was enough to keep the structure standing."We enter from three fronts," he said in a low, firm voice. "Dax, you and two men flank the north side. Max, you take the south wing with Lev and the reinforcements. Amalia, you're with me."She nodded without protest. This time, there was no room for discussion. She knew her place was by Maddox’s side."And if something goes wrong," added Max, eyes fixed on Maddox, "we end this by force. No mercy."Dax loaded his weapon and gave Amalia a look filled with more than just protection. It was deter
The streets of Las Vegas were quieter than usual. A heavy tension hung in the air, as if the city itself were holding its breath before an imminent explosion. From the top floor of the new hideout, Maddox watched the horizon. The glow of the signs barely competed with the fire burning in his gaze.Amalia leaned against the doorframe, watching him in silence."You're overthinking," she murmured, approaching."That's what we do before war," he replied without turning. "We think, predict... or die.""But this time, you're not alone," she whispered, standing beside him.Maddox turned slowly, and his intense gray eyes locked onto hers. There was accumulated exhaustion in them, but also determination. The night before with her and Dax had marked a silent shift in their dynamic. An unspoken agreement. A commitment without promises."And I won't be," he finally said.Amalia nodded and wrapped her arms around his waist, seeking an anchor in his chest. He held her and kissed the top of her head
Returning to Las Vegas wasn’t a quiet homecoming. It was like walking across a field of still-smoldering ashes, where every step left a mark of what they had lived through, of what they had burned to get there.The city welcomed them with its dazzling lights, as indifferent as ever to the wars brewing in its shadows. But this time, they weren’t fugitives. This time, they returned as survivors... and something more."How much has changed since we left?" Amalia asked from the backseat, her eyes fixed on the skyscrapers glowing in the distance."Nothing," Dax replied from the passenger seat. "And at the same time, everything."Max drove with his usual precision, but there was a softer edge to his expression—especially every time Lev, sitting beside him, gave him a long, quiet look. She didn’t say much, but her fingers found his with a new familiarity, as if they had finally allowed themselves to be close without fear.Maddox said nothing. He sat next to Amalia, as imposing as ever, his g
The clock read 12:17 a.m.The city breathed in silence, unaware that something was about to shatter. In the shadows of dawn, the Dangellos were already on the move. No one slept that night.In an underground room of the Cosmopolita Hotel, the operations table displayed a detailed hologram of the building. Dax leaned over the projected map, marking the entry points with a red laser."The Phoenix Project has their men on three levels: basement, west gallery, and the rooftop," he explained. "I suspect they've also installed signal jammers in the central elevator. If we don’t act tonight, we’ll lose the advantage."Max, arms crossed, shot a quick glance at Maddox."Ready for entry?"Maddox nodded. His silhouette, imposing under the dark coat, radiated authority. Everything about him screamed precision and danger."I want full control in less than five minutes. If we fail, they’ll be on us before dawn."Amalia, wearing headphones, was scanning the encrypted transmissions intercepted by the