جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 20

"The Numbers for last month are terrible." Mr mogan said sternly. "The stock prices are fluctuating, we need to do something about it." I felt like I was wasting my time listening to the old fools that occupied this room. All of them were present at the meeting for selfish reasons. I’d grown used to all of it over the years. Meetings like this weren’t supposed to shake me anymore they were just about numbers, strategies, men in expensive suits pretending they weren’t sharpening knives behind their smiles. It was the same old game of dominance, and I had perfected the art of playing it. But this one was different. From the moment I walked into the glass-walled conference hall of a downtown hotel, something felt…off. The air was thicker than usual, heavier, as if warning me that every step I took was sinking deeper into quicksand. Ethan hadn’t come with me. Of course he hadn’t. I’d insisted he stay behind, brushed him off with that confident little smirk of mine, as if I

The chains bit deeper the longer I sat in that chair. My wrists were rubbed raw, skin splitting where the zip ties had already carved their marks. My head throbbed from the repeated blows, a dull drumbeat that refused to quiet no matter how long I pressed my eyes shut. I refused to be weak. "you think you're doing yourself good by resisting." The boss said,"Just sign the papers lets end this quickly." I scoffed which earned me a punch to my side. "fucking hell." "you better be ready to sign the damn papers I get back. And he was gone. I don't know how I endured it all but I did even though It felt like the pain would kill me. I had to stay strong,I had to be strong. That’s what I told myself every time they hit me or shove the paper under my nose for me to sign. I know I would not really lose much even after handing over my shares of my father's company to whoever it was that wanted it. But i refuse to give it anyways. I was tired. God, I was soo tired. The warehouse was col

Alex finally fell asleep.His breathing evened out and the faint tension in his jaw eased. He looked like hell,bruises and cuts on him. he looked exhausted. but he was alive. That was what mattered. I stood by the monitors, watching the flickering feeds of the woods outside. My men had successfully subdued the last of the attackers. The feed on the lower left corner caught my attention,two of my guys were dragging a man into one of the SUVs. One of the kidnappers where was caught, alive.“Good,” I muttered under my breath.The phone on the desk vibrated once. I answered quietly, keeping my voice low. “Pierce.”“We’ve secured one of them, should we proceed to make him talk.” the voice on the other end said.“Don’t push him yet,” I replied. “I’ll handle it personally.”“Yes, sir.”The line went dead. I dropped the phone back onto the table, running a hand down my face. My head was pounding from too many hours without rest, but I couldn’t stop. Not yet.Behind me, the sound of sheets ru

I woke up feeling much better than the previous day. I couldn't believe he actually came for me, It felt like something from the movies.'You're awake.' Ethan said and handed me a cup of coffee. 'Drink this.'I took it without any form of arguement.I hadn’t seen much blood before.But the faint smear on Ethan’s sleeve was enough to twist something in my gut.He didn’t say a word when he came back.I didn’t bother to ask him about it.The silence between us said enough.After gave me the cup of coffee,He walked over to the wall, pressed something I hadn’t noticed before, and a section of it slid open to reveal a sleek satellite phone. Of course he had one.Because apparently Ethan Pierce was part mystery, part miracle, and part walking question mark.He turned away from me as he dialed, voice lowering. “It’s me. Yeah. It’s done. One of them’s down. The rest, not yet.”A pause. His jaw clenched.“No, he’s fine. I wouldn’t be calling if he wasn’t.”It took me a moment to realize he was

For the first time in a long while, I could hear myself think, and that was rarely a good thing. Alex was still asleep when I got up. I cleaned him up and gave him some painkillers after our little session, earlier.His head rested against my pillow, one arm tucked under it, his breathing slow and steady. I should’ve felt relief that he was safe. Instead, I felt restless. which was not a good thing. I scrubbed my palm over my face, trying to shove away the images from last night. The man’s eyes before he died, how good it felt to see him bleed from the cut I made and angry it ended quickly. I couldn’t let Alex see that part of me. He is a tough nut to crack but I wasn't sure he could handle it. He stirred a little, mumbling something under his breath before turning to the side. I smiled despite myself. “You’ll be my undoing, I swear,” I muttered quietly and kissed his head. I stepped out of the bedroom, grabbing my jacket from the chair and checking the monitors on the wall. No mo