جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 50

Aria’s POVI kissed Kyle goodbye at his apartment door, lingering maybe longer than necessary. His hand cupped my face, thumb brushing my cheek, and for a moment I considered canceling everything and just staying.But I couldn’t. The Bellamy Awards were in three days and I still didn’t have a dress.“Where are you going?” Kyle asked, his hand sliding down to my neck.“Dress shopping. The awards ceremony is Saturday and I’ve been putting it off.”His eyes darkened slightly. “Want company?”“No, it’s okay. You have that meeting, remember? The merger thing?”He’d mentioned it this morning. Something important. “I can reschedule.”“Kyle, don’t be ridiculous. It’s just dress shopping. I’ll be a few hours max.” I kissed him again. “I’ll text you when I’m done.”He hesitated. Then nodded. “Okay. Be safe.”“It’s a boutique in SoHo, not a war zone.”“Still.” He pulled me close one more time. “Text me when you get there. And when you leave.”“You’re so overprotective,” I said, but I was smili

Aria’s POVMy head throbbed where they’d hit me.I could feel dried blood in my hairline, sticky and congealed. More blood had dripped down my temple, down my neck, staining the collar of my shirt dark.The chair beneath me was metal and cold. My wrists were bound behind me with rope that bit into my skin. My ankles tied to the chair legs.Duct tape covered my mouth.But my eyes were open.And I was staring at the man across the room with absolutely lethal focus.He was average. Unremarkable. The kind of face you’d forget five minutes after seeing it. Mid-thirties maybe. Wearing jeans and a black hoodie. Pacing near the door, checking his phone every few minutes.Amateur.I’d been watching him for the past hour. Waiting for the fool to make just one mistake.He was sloppy. Left the door unlocked when he went to check the outer room. Kept his phone in his back pocket where I could see the outline. Had a knife on his belt but wore it on the wrong side for a quick draw.Not a professio

Jason’s POVI sat in my office with a cigarette between my fingers, watching smoke curl toward the ceiling.The sun was setting outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. Friday evening. Most of the building had emptied hours ago but I was still here. I had nowhere else to be. Or rather I had no where I wanted to be, everything felt too boring these days. My phone buzzed on the desk. It was a credit card alert.I picked it up. Glanced at the notification.Violet had spent eight thousand dollars at Bergdorf Goodman.I stared at the number.Eight thousand dollars. On what? Shoes? Dresses? Bags she’d use once and forget about? Well I didn’t particularly care. If it made her happy Then why not.I took a drag from the cigarette.Set the phone back down.Thought about Aria.Aria who’d never spent money like that. Who’d been careful with every purchase even though she was secretly a fucking billionaire. Who’d worn the same winter coat for two years because she said it was still good. Who’d gr

Kyle’s POVI stood outside Aria’s hospital room door for a full minute before opening it.Lucien’s words from last night kept echoing in my head. You want to see her fear. You want to watch her realize what you really are.I pushed the thoughts away and put on the mask. Then I opened the door.Aria was sitting up in bed with her left arm in a cast. Her face sass bruised where my fist had left a mark that spread from her cheekbone to her jaw in shades of purple and yellow. Her lip was split.I’d done that. I didn’t like causing her that kind of pain. On her beautiful face, I expected her to fear me when we met but instead when I opened the door she smiled at me brightly“Kyle.” Her voice was rough but full of relief.I walked toward her slowly pushing my shock aside. “Aria, I…” She lunged forward before I could finish. And threw her good arm around my neck and pulled me into a hug so tight it knocked the breath out of me.“I’m so sorry,” she said against my chest. “I’m so sorry you

Klein's first act as Guardian was to establish a proper base of operations. The Council provided a facility on the outskirts of the city...large enough for training, research, and housing a small team, but isolated enough for privacy.Mara took to organizing the space immediately, her systematic mind turning chaos into order. She set up a command center with monitoring equipment linked to Dr. Castellan's dimensional tracking network, designated training areas for different power types, and even a small library for ancient texts Klein had begun collecting."You're scary efficient at this," Klein observed, watching his sister coordinate contractors and tech specialists."Someone has to be," Mara replied, checking items off a digital list. "You're busy being broody and mysterious in the corner. Very Guardian-like, by the way. Very dramatic."Klein snorted. "I'm not being dramatic. I'm thinking.""Dramatically," Mara said with a grin.Despite the teasing, Klein was genuinely thinking.