All Chapters of SHATTERED AND TEMPTED: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

FREYA POVThe first thing I felt was the smell—the stinging scent of bleach and cold air that only exists in one place.Hospital.I opened my eyes slowly, and my head felt like it was about to split into two. The white ceiling was blurry, and every time I tried to focus, the room tilted. I wanted to just sink back into the dark, but then I heard it.A voice. Low, cold, and vibrating with a kind of authority that made the hair on my arms stand up.I managed to turn my head just an inch. Steve was standing by the window, his back turned to me. He looked huge against the clinical white of the room, his shoulders tight, his phone pressed to his ear."I don't care what he says," Steve hissed into the phone. His voice was a lethal whisper, the kind that promised blood. "Keep him there. If he tries to move, break his other leg. I’ll deal with the cleanup when I’m done here."He paused, listening to whoever was on the other

FREYA POVI rolled onto my side, pulling the duvet up to my chin. My eyes were still glued to the door, even after he had disappeared, and I found myself smiling.I know. It was a stupid smile. I couldn’t help it, and I definitely couldn't explain it. And fuck, it was about him—Steve.I was practically losing my mind over his behavior. The way he’d carried me, dimmed the lights, adjusted my pillows... it really hit that "baby girl" princess treatment side of me I didn't even know I had. I felt like something precious that needed to be guarded, not something broken that needed to be hidden.I didn't know when I finally drifted off, but the sleep was deep—the kind of heavy, dreamless sleep my body had been begging for.When I woke up, the room was still dark, but I felt a weight against my side. Something warm. I stiffened for a second, my heart jumping into my throat, before I felt that small, familiar leg wrapped over mine.

FREYA POV“It’s just a dream,” I keep murmuring just to steady my heartbeat.“God.”I sat up abruptly on the couch, still breathing heavily. I pressed my palm flat against my chest like I could force my heart to slow down. It was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat, in my ears, even in the tips of my fingers. I had to look around to make sure I knew where I was.Never in my life have I had a vivid dream that felt so real. I remembered before I fell asleep, my head was still mumbling over what Diana said about Steve:“He kills…”And after she left, I came to the living room and sat on the couch while I kept looking at the front door, expecting Steve to walk inside. At that moment, I knew my mind and soul couldn’t get what Diana said out of my head, and I just wanted to see him.But God knows how, I can’t even remember when I fell asleep and woke up to such a dream.

FREYA POVI stared at Diana, my chest tight. "Mourn?"The word felt heavy, like a stone dropped into a deep well. I searched her face for a crack, a sign that she was messing with me, but her expression was just... flat. Cold. I even let out a small, half-strangled sound—not a laugh, but like a mournful grunt of my own because none of this made any damn sense.Was this part of his "other business"? "Is it about that?" I asked, my voice cracking. "The stuff you said last night? The killing?"Diana didn’t answer. She just gave me this slow, heavy nod that made my skin crawl. It wasn't a "he's at a meeting" nod.I swallowed hard, my throat feeling like I’d been eating glass. I wanted to shake her. I wanted to scream at her to stop talking in riddles and just tell me if the man I was sleeping under the same roof with was a grieving widower or a cold-blooded executioner.But just as I was about to lose it, Nana’s voice came from behind us, cutting through the tension like a blunt knife.“

FREYA POV“Stupid me.” I smirk, removing Steve’s hand from my neck.Yes, the stupid one is me.I’m stupid in a way that I always allow my body to control my brain.I know Steve could make me melt with a single look, not to talk of touch.But I should have thought twice. The Steve here is not that same Steve. Steve here is shattered. He looks broken.Funny I didn’t notice that on time.I straightened my back and looked at him. I could tell he was confused; he noticed the way my mood switched, the heat in the room suddenly turning into something else. I looked at him closely. Funny. He still had that hard fighter's frame, but his eyes were different.“Freya,” he called.“I’m sorry,” I said.He pulled away a bit, his hand dropping to his side. He looked into my eyes with total confusion, his jaw tight.I keep looking straight at him. I see the way his eyes are red around the edges, like he hasn’t slept properly. I look past him into the living room. There are empty beer bottles standing