บททั้งหมดของ TRAPPED BETWEEN HIM AND WANT: บทที่ 51 - บทที่ 60

Summer’s POVThe morning came with a sharp chill, the kind that slipped under your skin and woke every nerve in your body. Dew clung to the grass outside the training courtyard, the sun still low, painting the world in pale gold.For the first time since everything happened, since the ambush, since the photograph, since that confession that still lingered in the corners of my mind, I felt ready to do something instead of just waiting for danger to find us again.Alexander said he would train me himself this time.Not just with basic defense, but with weapons.---The courtyard had been transformed overnight.Targets were set along the stone wall, some wooden dummies, others metal silhouettes. On the long table beside them lay an array of weapons I’d only seen in movies, tactical knives, short daggers, throwing blades, and even a set of sleek black kunai that gleamed under the morning light.Mom stood on the sidelines wearing oversized sunglasses, a cup of coffee in one hand and her ph

Summer’s POVThe morning after the photograph incident, the house was drenched in tension. Even the wind outside seemed to hesitate before brushing through the courtyard trees. The Valmere estate was alive, not with warmth, but with watchfulness. Guards patrolled every corner, drones buzzed over the property line, and the once-silent halls now hummed with subtle fear.I didn’t sleep much. Every sound made me flinch, the creak of the wood, the hum of the refrigerator, even the faint footsteps outside my door. I kept replaying that photo in my head: You look just like your mother before she begged.Why that message? Why now?By dawn, I went downstairs only to see Alexander dressed in his usual black suit, hair slicked back, and his jaw set hard. The look he wore meant one thing: business, and not the kind with coffee and polite smiles.Mom was at the dining table, sipping tea with visible irritation. “I still don’t understand why you need to go now, Alexander,” she said sharply. “After

Summer’s POVThe morning light crept slowly through the high glass windows of the room, golden, quiet, and deceptively serene. It painted the halls in a soft glow that didn’t belong in a house built for war. The scent of coffee mingled with the faint trace of gun oil, blending warmth and danger in equal measure.I sat at the long oak dining table, my hands wrapped around a steaming cup of tea I hadn’t touched. My reflection stared back at me from the dark surface, tired eyes, tousled hair, a heart that hadn’t stopped pounding since last night’s attack.Lucien was already awake, sitting across from me, his messy hair sticking up in every direction. He looked exhausted but calm, scrolling through files on his tablet like nothing could shake him.Mom moved around the kitchen island, still in her satin robe, her movements surprisingly graceful for someone who could assemble a sniper rifle faster than anyone I’d ever met.And then there was Alexander.He sat near the head of the table, elb

Summer’s POV“Stay close. Don’t look anyone in the eye for too long.”“Why?” I whispered.He didn’t hesitate. “Because in this room, eye contact is a contract.”Lucien let out a humorless laugh. “Contracts, threats, declarations of war… take your pick.”Mom, however, smiled sweetly like she was entering a brunch rather than a den of killers.“Relax, sweetheart. They won’t attack immediately. Not in front of the Council.”I stared at her. “That does not make me feel any better.”“Good,” she replied brightly. “Stay alert.”The ballroom unfolded before us, massive, shimmering, and suffocating. Golden chandeliers dripped light like molten stars, and the polished marble floors reflected gowns and suits worth more than some countries’ budgets.Everywhere I looked, men and women stood in elegant clusters, each wearing the same thing:Power. Danger. A smile sharpened like a blade.House Crests embroidered in fabric.Guard dogs disguised as bodyguards.Champagne that tasted like poison.Laught

Summer’s POVThe heat of the explosion still burned in my lungs, my ears ringing with shards of glass and screams. Smoke clawed at my eyes, stinging them, turning everything into gray chaos. I tried to move, to find Alexander, but before I could take a step, a rough hand grabbed my wrist, twisting it painfully.“Got her!” a harsh voice barked, and I realized I was no longer running, I was being dragged.My legs kicked, my fists flailed, but they were too strong. Every strike I landed against their arms barely caused them to flinch. These men, Montalban men were like shadows made of iron. Even when I landed a punch to the jaw of one, he barely staggered, only letting out a grunt of annoyance.Panic and fury collided in my chest. I won’t die here. Not like this. Not without him.Another figure stepped from the smoke, tall, commanding… and my blood ran cold. Irvine. Her presence was like a blade pressed against my spine. The way she moved, confident, cold, deadly, made my training feel c