The Diversion

Tia’s POVMy hands were shaking so violently I could barely hold the phone to my ear. I stood in the hallway, keeping my voice dropped to an urgent, desperate whisper while Mari stood guard by the kitchen door, watching the garden.The line clicked, and the warm, familiar voice of the woman who had raised me filled my ear.“Hi, Mum,” I breathed out, fighting to keep the sheer panic out of my voice. “Could you please do us a massive favour?”If that man in the garden really was Bryce – the deeply psychotic stalker who had been breaking into my home and leaving unhinged, obsessive messages – then we desperately needed to get my young nephews out of this house immediately.“Anything, love. What do you need?” Mama asked cheerfully.“Well... I can’t go into too much detail on the phone right now, but can you please come over and take the boys to stay with you for a few days?” I asked, my eyes darting nervously toward the front door. “I can’t tell you why, but we need you to be incredibly ca

MIssion Bikini Distraction

Bryce’s POVGod, it had been absolute agony trying to keep my composure while hugging Tiana on the patio.Having my Angel pressed so intimately against my chest, feeling the soft, delicate curve of her waist beneath my hands... it was entirely intoxicating. Just the sweet, floral smell of her dark hair had sent violent, electric tingles shooting straight down my spine. It had taken absolutely every single ounce of my immense, carefully honed restraint not to pull her flush against me and crash my lips down onto hers.I was burning from the inside out. I desperately needed to cool down before I lost control and ruined the entire infiltration.As soon as she had stepped back inside the house, I practically tore my clothes off. I stripped down to my dark boxers, leaving my brother's jacket and jeans discarded on the patio chair, and jumped directly into the freezing water of the outdoor swimming pool.The shock of the cold water hit my skin like thousands of tiny needles, but it did absol

Beer and Betrayal

Tiana’s POVI swam a fast, aggressive length of the pool, the freezing water doing absolutely nothing to cool the frantic, terrified hammering of my heart.That definitely was not Ben.I had seen him watching me from the shadows of the water as I changed. I had felt the heavy, suffocating weight of his gaze burning into my skin. And worst of all, I had seen the unmistakable, thick bulge of his erection pressing against his wet boxers as he hastily pulled himself out of the pool.Ben would absolutely never react to my body like that. We were family. He saw me as a sister. The man sitting on the edge of the pool had looked at me with a dark, consuming, predatory hunger.Mari was right. The monster was already inside the house.I climbed out of the pool, the cold night air biting at my wet skin, and glanced toward the front of the property. Through the gap in the manicured hedges, I saw the familiar headlights of my mama’s car pulling silently up to the curb outside.My chest tightened.

The Guardian Angel

Ben’s POVThe freezing, creeping damp of the derelict warehouse had long since seeped into my bones, but the physical cold was absolutely nothing compared to the icy dread currently suffocating my heart. Greg and I had been sitting in the oppressive darkness for what felt like hours, straining our ears at every distant siren and every settling creak of the rotting roof.Suddenly, the heavy, scraping sound of the outer metal doors being dragged open echoed through the vast building.Greg and I instantly scrambled to our feet, the heavy iron chains snapping taut against our ankles with a deafening, metallic clatter. The deadbolts on the inner door slid back with a loud clack.The heavy door swung open, and the breath was violently punched straight out of my lungs.Bryce walked in, stepping casually into the dim, flickering light of the warehouse. He was still wearing my clothes – my woollen winter jacket, my dark jeans – but that wasn't what made my blood run entirely cold.Slung carele

In Pursuit

Mari’s POV"Cleo, I have to go!" I screamed into the phone, the sheer, blinding panic tearing through my throat.Through the sheer curtains of the front living room window, a sudden movement had caught my eye. I dropped the phone directly onto the kitchen counter, not even bothering to end the frantic call with my friend. I bolted into the hallway, pressing my face against the cold glass of the windowpane.Illuminated by the harsh, orange glow of the streetlights, I saw him.The monster wearing my husband's face.Bryce was stalking down the paved driveway, easily carrying Tiana’s completely limp, unconscious body slung over his broad shoulder. Her long, dark hair hung down his back, brushing against his jacket as he hastily yanked open the passenger door of Ben's car and shoved her unresponsive form roughly inside.No. You are absolutely not taking my sister.A fierce, completely primal surge of protective adrenaline flooded my veins, burning away the remaining shock. I snatched my c

In the Crosshairs

Mari’s POV“Ben?”The single, fragile word slipped past my lips before I could even stop myself.My husband’s head whipped around, his battered, bruised face instantly draining of all colour as his bright blue eyes locked onto mine in the shadows. For a fraction of a second, a wave of profound, overwhelming relief washed over his features – the pure, desperate relief of a man seeing his wife safe.But it was instantaneously replaced by absolute, blinding terror.“Mari! Oh my god, Mari, what are you doing here?” Ben frantically hissed, straining forward against the heavy iron chain that bound his ankle to the rusted pole. “You need to get out! Run! You have to leave right now!”“I am absolutely not leaving without you!” I cried, rushing out from behind the concrete pillar and dropping directly onto my knees on the freezing, filthy floor beside him.I threw my arms around his neck, burying my face in his shoulder. He smelled of damp, sweat, and sheer fear – completely different from the