Semua Bab OWING THE DEVIL: Bab 21 - Bab 29

MATILDA’S POVThe noise of the den didn’t feel the same when we walked back in.It was still loud. Still alive. Music humming low under conversations, glasses clinking, boots dragging across concrete floors. But there was something underneath it now. Something quieter. Sharper. Like everyone knew something had just happened… and no one was saying it out loud.Blossom walked beside me, but slower this time.Not her usual bounce. Not her easy glow.Just… smaller.I didn’t touch her. I didn’t know if she wanted that. Didn’t know if I even had the right. So I stayed close instead, guiding her toward the bar like that alone could hold her together.The bartender looked up the second we approached. Her normally hard face dissolved into concern immediately she saw Blossom “Hey,” she said softly, already reaching for a glass. “Sit.”Blossom didn’t argue. She slipped onto one of the stools, fingers curling lightly around the edge like she needed something solid.A glass of water was placed in

MATILDA'S POVThe question hung in the air between us like smoke."Who are you, Gideon Vale?"The city glowed behind him through the floor-to-ceiling windows, painting silver lines across the sharp lines of his suit. For a second, I thought he hadn’t heard me. Then his fingers tightened around the neck of the bottle—just slightly. A tiny movement, but I noticed.His eyes lifted to mine, and something cold settled over his face."Who do you think I am?"The answer caught me off guard. Not because of what he said, but because he had answered at all.I shrugged, trying to ignore the strange feeling crawling through my chest. “I don’t know.”A humorless laugh escaped him. “That’s the first intelligent thing you’ve said all week.”I rolled my eyes. “There he is.”His gaze sharpened. “There who is?”“The insufferable asshole version of you.”Something flickered in his eyes. Not quite amusement, but close enough to make my pulse stutter.The bottle touched his lips again. “Trust me, Matilda.

CHAPTER 25MATILDA’S POVFour days.Four days, ninety-six hours, and not a single black car had idled at the end of my street. No heavy boots had kicked open my front door. No cryptic, two-word texts had lit up my phone in the middle of the night.Nothing.I lay flat on my back, staring up at the white plaster of my bedroom ceiling, the silence in the house heavy and unbroken. Part of me—the rational, sane part—had fully expected the biker gang to storm back into my life. I had prepared myself for Gideon to drag me out of bed, to throw another impossible contract in my face, to remind me of the debt.But he hadn’t.Gideon Vale had meant every single word he said in that garage. The deal was off. I was free. My house was safe, my mom was safe, and I was completely, utterly erased from his world.I should have been celebrating. I should have been popping champagne.Instead, a strange, hollow weight sat right in the center of my chest.I rolled onto my side, staring at the empty space on

CHAPTER 27MATILDA’S POV“That photograph…” Blossom’s voice was barely a whisper, floating in the dim light of the car’s dashboard. “You touched an open wound, Matilda. A wound he was nowhere near ready to deal with. That’s why he shut down.”She turned her body in the seat, her eyes locking onto mine with an earnest, desperate intensity.“I think you’re the only person who can undo this.”I stared at her, my mouth dropping open in sheer, unadulterated shock. “What?”“I know it sounds crazy, but—”“Are you out of your mind?” I interrupted, my hands flying up as I let out a harsh, disbelieving laugh. “Do you hear how completely ridiculous what you’re asking of me is? You want me to go back in there? You want me to walk into his lair and force him to face his demons?”“I just need you to provoke a reaction!” Blossom pleaded, leaning forward, her hands gripping the steering wheel. “He’s suffocating all of us with this ice! If you can just get him to snap—”“You want me to be the living s

CHAPTER 29MATILDA’S POVThe security guard behind the marble desk in the lobby didn’t even have a chance to reach for his phone.When I pushed through the heavy glass doors, he blinked at me in bleary-eyed confusion, his mouth opening to recite whatever corporate script he had been trained on. But before he could get a word out, I held up a hand, gave him a sharp, utterly unbothered nod, and strode straight toward the private executive elevators at the back of the atrium.I swiped the keycard Gideon had given me weeks ago—the one he had forgotten to revoke when he threw me out of his garage—and the metal doors slid open with a soft, quiet chime.I stepped inside. The doors slid shut, sealing me into the mirrored car as it surged upward, floor by floor, into the dark tower.My reflection stared back at me in the glass. Pale. Dark circles under my eyes from a night without sleep. Jeans and a simple black sweater underneath my leather jacket. I looked nothing like the polished, controll