Semua Bab Tangled With The Other Brother: Bab 301 - Bab 310

Elena's Point Of ViewThe heavy brass key ring, slick with my own nervous sweat, pressed cold and sharp against my palm. I gathered the voluminous skirts of the sea-foam green gown in my left hand, pulling the expensive silk high above my ankles so it wouldn't whisper against the flagstones as I sprinted through the darkened wing of the estate.Every footstep felt too loud, every breath too ragged, as if the very walls might betray me. My heart pounded so violently I feared it might give me away before my feet ever did. Think, Elena. Remember. My mind flashed back to four hours ago, right after Lillian had dressed me. I had leaned against the heavy oak dresser, pressing a hand to my forehead, making sure my breathing sounded ragged and faint, rehearsing the lie until it felt almost true. I had practiced the tremor in my voice in the mirror, hating how easily deception came to me now, how quickly I had learned to wear fear like a costume. "Lillian?" I had asked, letting my voice cra

Elena's Point Of View"Don't tell me..." Graham breathed, his voice barely audible now, terrifyingly cold, each word measured like a blade being drawn slowly from its sheath. "...you love him?" The words hung in the subterranean air like a poison mist, dense and suffocating, seeping into every crevice of the vault until I could taste them on my tongue. My entire body went rigid against the damp, weeping limestone wall.The violent thrashing, the desperate kicking, the clawing at the guards' iron wrists… it all stopped instantly. It was as if every drop of air had been sucked straight out of the vault, leaving only a dark, crushing vacuum behind, a silence so absolute it felt like the room itself was holding its breath alongside me.Even the guards seemed to sense it, their grips loosening fractionally, as though Graham's question had frozen everyone in the chamber into a single held moment. Somewhere in the shadows behind him, I heard one of them shift his weight, the leather of his

Elena's Point Of ViewA sharp, involuntary gasp tore out of my throat, my eyes widening into dinner plates as I stared at Graham's sickening smirk. Cold sweat slicked the back of my neck, and my pulse hammered so violently I could feel it in my ears.Every instinct in my body screamed at me to run, yet my legs had turned to stone beneath me, rooted to the damp floor as though the vault itself had reached up to hold me in place. My mind flailed for some escape route, some plan, but found only static, only the roaring silence of pure terror. "What... what do you mean by that, Graham?!" I stammered frantically, my heels digging uselessly into the damp concrete as I tried to press myself even flatter against the weeping limestone wall, as though the stone itself might swallow me whole and spare me from whatever came next.The chill radiating off the wall seeped through the thin fabric of my dress, but it was nothing compared to the ice spreading through my veins. I could smell the mildew

Elena's Point Of View"Wait... really?" I blurted out, my voice cracking right in the middle as the SUV tore around another dark cliffside bend. "His grandfather is right here in Italy?!" "He flew in three days ago," Liam said, his eyes flicking to the rearview mirror as he checked on the second car carrying the rest of Jaxx's rescued men behind us. "The second Jaxx went dark and missed the check-in window, the old man boarded his private jet. He's been setting up a safehouse and mobilizing half of Europe's off-grid network ever since." I barely heard the end of his sentence because Jaxx let out a low, ragged groan in my lap. "Jaxx? Jaxx, hey, look at me," I pleaded, pressing my palm flat against the bloodied tear in his leather jacket, trying desperately to hold the pressure where his ribs were bruised and torn. My other hand tangled into his dark, messy hair, brushing wet strands away from his sweaty forehead. "Stay with me, okay? Don't you dare close your eyes. You hear me? We'r

Elena's Point Of ViewI pulled back sharply, my palms pressing against his chest to create just enough space so I could stare down into his dark eyes. A deep, frustrated frown carved into my forehead, my eyebrows pulling together as a hundred unspoken fears churned in my chest. I searched his face, half expecting him to flinch or look away, but he only gazed back at me with that infuriating calm, as if nothing in the world could touch him. It was maddening, that composure of his, as though he existed on some separate plane where fear simply couldn't reach him. Jaxx's relaxed expression instantly shifted, his eyes widening with a touch of alarm. His hand smoothed over my waist, and his voice dropped low. "What is it, princess? Are you in pain? Is it your arm?" "Why did you put your life at risk, Jaxx?!" I demanded, the sheer, agonizing frustration bursting out of me all over again. The image of him pinned under Graham's guards on that filthy concrete floor flashed behind my eyes, ma