Lahat ng Kabanata ng Velvet Chains: Kabanata 61 - Kabanata 70

 The moon hung low in the horizon, and it gave the city an eerie light. Eros City, with its neon lights and endless hum, was a world unto itself—one that Valerio dominated with ruthless effectiveness. But tonight, the cold of control felt like a suffocation around him.Sera sat by the window, her eyes gazing out into the city, but her mind was not nearly so distant. Valerio's presence in the room was magnetic, tangible, even when he said nothing. The space between them pulsed with a force that was electric and dangerous.It was weeks since they'd shared any real intimacy. Oh, yes, there had been moments—hot, breathless moments—but the tension beneath it all had never been so thick. Neither of them spoke of the past. Neither of them spoke of the weight of the unspoken.Tonight, it felt heavier."Do you ever wonder," Sera's voice cut through the silence, soft but unmistakable, "if we're just running in circles?"Valerio

Penthouse silence was shattered like crystal broken by a hammer. Alarms hadn't blared, and guards hadn't been alerted. Whoever had breached Valerio's security mesh had done so without activating the most sophisticated surveillance system in Eros City.Sera stood on the opposite side of the panic room door, her ear pressed against the cold metal. Each beat of her heart was met with the boom of fear pounding in her chest. She wasn't afraid for herself. She was afraid for *him*.Valerio had changed. She'd felt it in his touch, seen it in his gaze. The man who'd dominated the underworld with ruthless efficiency had eased in ways she alone was privy to. That made him strong—but vulnerable.A gentle knock shook her."It's me," came Valerio's filtered but unmistakably even voice. "Open up."She hesitated for a moment before she keyed the code and placed her hand to the biometric reader. The door opened with a soft hiss.Valerio stepped inside, weapon low and still at the ready. He closed the

Eros City never rested. But tonight, it drew a breath.Sera was propped up against the wall-to-wall window of Valerio's penthouse, watching the sea of lights below her. Her face hovered vaguely against the glass, a ghost of the girl she used to be. Valerio sat in front of her, still as stone, speechless, a panther sprung waiting for night.The silence between them was no longer oppressive with distrust or uncertainty. It was a breath. A gasp. The harbinger of a storm they both knew would erupt.Valerio shattered the silence finally. "I need to show you something."She turned, brows raised. "Now?"He nodded and stood, moving across to the other side of the room. He pushed on a wall panel and the panel clicked open to reveal a state-of-the-art black safe. With code and fingerprint, the door opened to reveal a velvet-lined box.Valerio opened it.Inside its depths was a necklace.Not just any necklace. This one was tiny, silver and black diamonds, but the pendant hanging from it made her

 The old Thorne mansion stood as a forgotten presence on the fringes of Eros City. Time had not been kind. Ivy choked the once gracious facade, and shattered windows glared like vacant eyes into the night. The gate screamed open on a metallic shriek as Valerio drove them through, headlights clawing across ruined stone and weeds that clawed their way up the entry steps.Sera sat stiffly in the passenger seat, her fists tight in her lap. "You grew up here?"Valerio didn't look at her. "I survived here. That's all."It smelled of dust and secrets inside. The grand chandelier above the foyer sagged, its crystals dirty. Sera ran her fingers along the peeling wallpaper as Valerio led her through halls that echoed with too much silence.He finally stopped before a wooden door. He pushed it open to reveal a study. Unlike the rest of the house, it was intact against rot. The desk was clean, papers piled neatly. Books lined the shelves, each spine as s

 The sun rose blood-red over the ruined estate, staining the skeletal remains of Valerio's childhood house in fire and gold. The smoke from the last battle still lingered in the air, curling like specters through the broken windows. Sera waited in the silence that followed, her pistol loose at her side, ears still ringing from the gunfire.Valerio crouched next to the body of the man who'd named his father."He's making a grab," Valerio growled, to himself more than anything else. "He waited so long to allow me to establish everything. so he could then attempt to steal it away." Sera stepped forward. "Then he's mistaken."He gazed up at her. There was pride in his eyes, but something more. Sadness. Grief. Not for the man he'd thought of as a father—but for what he'd lost because of him. His mother. His innocence. His peace."This house," Valerio said, standing slowly and surveying the wreckage, "was built on blood. It alway