Semua Bab Cage to Cage: Bab 41 - Bab 50

VEX POVI stand outside Brynn’s door, the hallway light throwing long, patient shadows across the carpet. I pace—one, two, three steps—turn, repeat. Her being alone with Kade sets a slow burn under my skin, a heat that starts behind my ribs and crawls upward until my jaw clenches. I gave my rules; she broke them. It would have been easier if it were a business betrayal, something I could answer with orders and numbers. This isn’t. This is her. And that makes it worse.I tell myself to breathe. I tell myself that rage is pointless. I’ve killed people for less, a fact that should make this easier to dismiss, but it doesn’t.Not with her in my head. Not with the thought of someone else touching her, laughing with her, her name on their lips. The idea of it pins me like a boulder on my chest.I stop by the door and let my knuckles rest against the wood, half-expecting it to be warm from her body heat on the other side. I listen—small sounds: a drawer sliding, the soft scuff of fabric, pe

BRYNN POV I pull myself off the floor, my emotions betraying me. My chest aches, my hands trembling as I steady myself against the wall. I need to pull myself together. I can’t afford to let weakness show, not here, not now. Vex and I are forbidden. If I ever had him fully, I could never be free. Never have peace. His world would consume me whole. Crossing the room, I head to the bar tucked in the corner. My fingers close around the neck of the tequila bottle, the glass cool against my palm. I don’t bother with a glass. I take it straight to the balcony, pushing open the doors to the Tang Garden below. It’s breathtaking—the same sprawling garden from my childhood, painted in soft moonlight. The cherry blossoms dance in the wind, petals spiraling down like pale whispers. I can still see myself here as a little girl, running beneath those trees, chasing petals while my father watched, pride in his eyes, his laughter echoing across the stone paths. I take a long swig from the bott

BRYNN POVVex stands in front of me, tall and impossible. His touch still smolders on my skin; the aftershock of my orgasm aches low and sweet between my legs. He threatens me, voice cold and precise, and yet all I can remember is the weight of his hand, the press of his fingers on my clit, inside me — the first man to reach me like that.“Brynn… are you listening? Most people don’t ignore me when I threaten their life.”“I’m listening. I promise. It won’t happen again.”Something feral and soft flickers in his eyes. “Good girl, Brynn.” When he sees my mind drift, curiosity edges his tone. “What’s going on up there?”I flinch as if struck. “Nothing.” I force the word out and pull myself tighter, readjusting on the bed to hide the tremor still inside me.He studies me, patient and predatory, then crouches until his face is level with mine, like he’s reading the pages of me.“What?” I say, more brittle than I intend.“Nothing — just interesting.” A small, unreadable smile.He stands and

BRYNN POVThe morning air hits me like a sharp, cold jolt in my lungs. Sleep never came. Not after what Vex did to me in my room last night. It replayed over and over again — the way his touch seared through me. He’s been my first in everything so far. Resisting him is getting harder, and that’s why I made my rules. Because I knew the moment he touched me, I’d never want to let go.And then there’s Kade’s kiss — gentle but possessive. I’m stuck in hell, and Vex and Kade are the devils pulling me apart.Now, after all of that, I have to face my brother. To ask him to let me leave until the wedding. I already know it will be intense. He craves control. Just like Vex. Just like Kade. Every man in my life seems to.I finish my run and climb the garden stairs. Vex is watching from the balcony above. There’s no peace. No privacy.Heading back to my room, I grab a towel from the maid, but when I turn, he’s outside my door.“You don’t have to watch,” I say, meeting his eyes. “You could have j

BRYNN POV We pull into the mansion and, for the first time in four days, I can breathe. The air tastes different here — cold and ordered — like it’s been pressed flat by marble and rulebooks. I step into my room. My new cage.Two and a half weeks until the wedding. Two and a half weeks until I become someone’s shield and someone’s promise. I promised myself a plan: play the part, give Vex what he wants for three years, then disappear. It’s simple. It shouldn’t hurt. But the thought does anyway.There’s a drink cart by the fireplace like something out of a hotel I’d never afford. I stare at the bottle until the ache in my chest tells me to stop pretending I’m fine.Fuck it. I grab the tequila, slip out to the balcony and look over the city. I take a long pull, then another. It’s supposed to be just a taste; it becomes a fall I don’t notice until the bed swallows me whole.My eyes are blurring when the door bursts open and Vex is there, all contained storm. He grabs the bottle out of m