All Chapters of My Stepbrother, My Damnation : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Lina’s POVThe tactical van smelled like cheap leather, stale sweat, and pure adrenaline.But I didn't mind. I was shoved into the back corner, squeezed between two massive SWAT guys who looked at me like I was a stray dog they’d accidentally let onboard. Nikolai sat directly across from me. Will his helmet resting on his knee, his thumbs hooked into his ballistic vest. He hadn't said a single word to me since we left the precinct. His green eyes were completely dark, tracking the passing streetlights reflecting through the tiny, reinforced glass window.My heart was doing a violent tap-dance against my ribs.I had a standard-issue vest strapped so tight over my chest I could barely take a full breath, and a Glock heavy against my hip. I shouldn’t have been here. I was a goddamn intern. But Nikolai had pulled the strings, and now, there was no going back.But I wasn't afraid because I had a feeling it'd be worth everything. Riven would finally get what he deserved. He'll pay for—

Lina’s POVMy eyelids felt like they were glued shut with dried blood and crust.When I finally managed to crack them open, the blinding, sterile white fluorescent lights of the hospital ceiling burned straight into my retinas. A groan scraped past my throat, sounding like absolute sandpaper."Oh, thank God! Look who decided to finally join the living!"Olivia’s sharp, frantic voice slammed into my ears. Before I could even blink, her face blurred into view. She looked like shit—bags under her eyes, her mascara completely smeared. But she didn't waste a second before she started scolding the absolute fuck out of me."Are you completely out of your goddamn mind, Adelina?! You're an intern! A fucking desk-monkey intern! Why the hell were you playing superhero at the docks? You took a bullet to the chest! A bullet!""Olivia, shut up, your screeching is giving me a migraine," I muttered, my voice a pathetic wheeze."Don't you dare tell me to shut up!" she fired back, though her eyes w

Lina’s POV"I'm not doing that," I ground out, my teeth clicking together."I'm not fucking doing that, Riven."There was no way in hell I'd listen to him. Not with him standing right there, with his heavy, dark gaze pinning me down like an insect under a microscope.I scrambled backward, dragging my wet gown against the porcelain until my spine slammed into the freezing tile wall at the back of the tub.I wanted distance. I needed space from the sheer, suffocating heat radiating off his massive frame.But the tub felt smaller now, trapping me like a cage.Riven didn't reach for the black remote.He didn't need to.Instead, a slow, insufferable smirk curled the corner of his mouth as he looked down at me.He knew. The bastard could see the furious scarlet creeping up my neck, flooding my cheeks with a humiliating blush."You're a sick, perverted piece of shit," I spat, my voice shaking as I hurled every insult I could think of to erect a wall between us."You're disgusting. A literal p

Riven’s POVI despised Willow West.It wasn't because she'd be my new stepmother. Nah, there was something so fake about her.Now, I watched the bitch stand there on my threshold.As her small, pathetic frame did absolutely nothing to fill out the entryway of my penthouse, I didn't budge a fucking inch.I anchored my weight right in the center of the frame.I'd be damned to allow this snake to slither in.I didn't bother to soften my hard features, and she didn't care.Willow kept her hands folded neatly over her stomach, wearing that fake, saintly smile that made me want to cave her jaw in with a blunt object. Her eyes darted left and right, trying to peer past the broad line of my shoulder to see what was hiding inside my space."I came for my daughter, Riven," I heard her say, her head tilting with a gentle, fragile display.You'd think she actually gave a single shit about Lina."Did you?" I scoffed, my voice raspy while carrying absolutely zero respect. I didn't even take my hand

Lina’s POVI walked through the double glass doors of the precinct.I needed to be here to check the logs and make sure absolutely no one had died during the chaotic ambush at the hospital when Riven dragged me out. My boots clicked against the linoleum, but the usual bustling noise of the bullpen died down the second I crossed the threshold.Every single head turned.The glares I received from the officers at their desks were murderous. I froze under the weight of their resentment, my chest tightening. I didn't expect this. I was the one who took a bullet during the shootout with the Black Reapers. I didn't screw up the operation. For fuck's sake, I threw myself in front of Nikolai. Shouldn't I at least be acknowledged for saving a veteran detective instead of being treated like a pariah?"In my office, Adelina. Now."The chief didn't wait for me to answer, turning on his heel and guiding me straight toward the frosted glass doors of his office.Once the door clicked shut behind me,