Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 141 - Chapitre 150

— Xander —The balcony doors were already open when I stepped out.Salt carried on the wind, sharp and clean, nothing like the cities I ruled. The island stretched beneath the estate in dark layer filled with jagged rock, sparse palms bending to the night, the sea endlessly moving like it had never learned obedience. Lights from the lower terraces glowed dim and controlled, my men stationed where they always were. Silent and watching.She stood at the railing like she didn’t belong to anything behind her.Avelyn wore one of the dresses the maids had chosen, linen, pale and deceptively soft. The wind played with the hem, tugged strands of her hair loose. She didn’t turn when she sensed me. She’d learned by now that pretending I wasn’t there didn’t make me disappear. But I could see she tried to, during the conversation she didn’t want to have and how awkward it made her feel afterwards. But I didn’t care about that, something else was bothering me. Her neck was still wrapped in the

~ Avelyn ~I woke up to voices.Not loud or panicked, just… present. The kind of voices that didn’t belong to dreams or memories, which meant I was being summoned into consciousness against my will.My eyes opened, one eye catching a glimpse of white curtains. Sunlight already spilling through them like it had somewhere important to be. Of course it did. Everything in this house moved on schedule except me.A soft knock followed, then the door opened before I answered.“Good morning, miss.”I closed my eye again, because this had to be a dream. It wasn’t morning. It was barely morning-adjacent. And I had nowhere to be, nothing to do. No obligations other than existing quietly in a place I didn’t ask to be.“I’m sleeping,” I muttered into the pillow.“We’ve prepared breakfast.”That didn’t help their case. I sighed, rolled onto my back, and stared at the ceiling for a moment longer than necessary. The truth was, I hadn’t slept well anyway. My body was tired, but my mind had been doing

~ Avelyn ~I remained frozen as a ripple moved through the crowd, and I could feel the weight of a hundred pairs of eyes pressing down on me, all eager to witness the moment this “mother” arrived. I clenched my fists, forcing the numbness I’d practiced all morning to stay in place.The woman approached, slow and deliberate. Not frail in the slightest, there was a sharpness in her step, the kind that made every inch of the room instinctively acknowledge her authority. Her gown was understated but terrifyingly elegant, a soft gray with faint silver threads catching the light just enough to demand attention. No jewelry, no gaudy embellishments because frankly speaking, she didn’t need them. The room itself seemed to shift as she walked, and I could feel every whispered conversation dulling as the focus moved to her. Her eyes, pale gray and calculating, locked on Xander, and I instinctively held my breath and stood stiff enough to be present but invisible. With my hand still wrapped ar

— Xander —The silence stretched long enough to become deliberate.I broke it.“Is Albania lacking women?”My voice was even, calmer than the storm unleashed. The kind of calm men learned to fear too late.A few of the Dons shifted in their seats. Someone’s translator hesitated, eyes flicking up before forcing the words out anyway. Any sensible man would have smelled the danger in my tone, felt the temperature drop in the room and backed away slowly.Gjarpri was not sensible.He smiled.“But she isn’t just any woman,” he said, spreading his hands as if explaining something obvious. “She is yours. And it has always been my wish to drink from the same cup as you.”For a split second, the room forgot how to breathe.I saw it then, the Roman Capo’s hand shooting out, gripping Kyle’s fist before it could move. Kyle’s jaw was clenched so tightly I thought his teeth might crack. Veins stood out on his temple, his neck. Rage, barely contained.And that was when something ugly curled in my che

~ Avelyn ~I didn’t panic, at least I tried not to. This time around, I tried to use my brain. Let logic lead so I asked after catching my breath. “Did I do something wrong?”As far as I know, I’ve been on my best behavior tonight so I couldn’t think of a reason for this sudden desire to devour me upstairs when the party was still clearly going on downstairs. And just right after his engagement announcement!The hunger in his eyes didn’t reduce as he spoke, “As a matter of fact, you did”.“What?” I blurted, and he went on. “It’s your fault I got engaged tonight.”Do my ears deceive me? I could be blamed for a ton of things but this wasn’t one of them! This shouldn’t even be on the list in the first place. For Christ sake they’ve literally been betrothed to each other, I couldn’t have been involved even if I tried. “Xander, you’ve had a lot to drink. This is obviously a ruse.” I said, choosing the safest route because that’s what it had to be. And I even got bold enough to try and w