All Chapters of OWNED IN THE DARK: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

CIARAI froze immediately when I saw Carlista….how do I explain Mathew's presence?For one horrible second, nobody moved.Carlista stood in the doorway wearing a cream blazer and ripped jeans, her chest rising hard like she'd climbed the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Her eyes moved from me to Mathew and then narrowed immediately."What the hell is he doing here?"I opened my mouth.Nothing came out.Mathew, annoyingly calm as always, stepped back from me like he hadn’t just been touching my face two seconds ago."I can explain," I said quickly."Please do." Carlista folded her arms. "Because last time I checked, this man was engaged and you supposedly couldn't stand him.""Still true," I lied instantly.Mathew looked at me.I ignored him."He just..." I scrambled for the first believable excuse my brain could produce. "He helped me with the apartment."Carlista blinked. "Helped you?""Yes."She looked around slowly at the half-unpacked boxes. "You hired Mathew as a moving com

MATHEW"Ciara was in an accident she's presently at..." I hung up immediately. I didn’t remember parking my car. One second I was tearing through the garage entrance, the next I was sprinting toward the wreck like a man who lost his sanity. Her car was a complete mess...front end crumpled against a pillar, driver’s side caved in by whatever bastard had rammed her.“Ciara!” My voice at that moment lost any tone even to my own ears. A security guard tried to block me but I pushed him hard enough that he stumbled back. Two paramedics were already working on her. The driver’s door had been pried open, and there she was, looking lifeless on the seat, blood trickling from a cut on her forehead, airbag dust coating her oversized shirt.My knees hit the concrete floor before I even realized I’d dropped and that there were reporters around but I just didn't care about that at the moment as I grabbed her hand. It was completely lifeless.“She’s pregnant,” I choked out. “About eight, maybe

MATHEWTHREE YEARS LATER What exactly does hell feel like? It's my reality - it's Ciara forgetting our relationship altogether. She graduated from college, had our son Adam, yet remembered nothing of our time as lovers. Carlista tried helping, told her I was the father of her child, and she's dealt with me as a stranger since then... almost treated me like some business project driving me insane every day. I stared into space at my office as I stood facing the window before I heard his excited little voice as he trailed in with Louis. "Mathew...I'm back." I scoffed and smirked as I scooped him up..."You little rascal...you could call me daddy you know?" He scoffed. "No I like calling you Mathew besides aunt Carlista and Uncle Louis says it's fine." "Where's your mom?" "Mama's going on a date today yippee." Everything goes silent as I stare at the exact copy of myself in my son. Louis clears his throat, shifting uncomfortably in the doorway like he’s stepped into a m

MATHEWThe phone call from my investigator was still ringing in my ears when I slammed the device face-down onto my desk."She did what?" Louis asked, crossing his arms as he leaned against the office bookshelf. He had been waiting out the silence, watching the storm gather behind my eyes."She grabbed Murray Bruce by the balls under the table at *L’Aura*, forced him to sign over seventy percent of the Horizon project, slapped him across the face on her way out, and left a hundred-dollar bill on the table," I said, a dark, breathless laugh ripping from my throat. I ran a hand through my hair, pacing the length of the room. "The literal exact copy of what she used to do when someone backed her into a corner. She doesn’t remember me, Louis. She doesn't remember our apartment, our nights, or the fact that I used to hold her while she cried. But her muscle memory? Her corporate instinct? That’s all perfectly intact."Louis let out a low whistle, shaking his head. "Man, Murray’s father is

CIARA“Stupid bastard.”My hands were shaking so violently I could barely hook my bra.Every muscle in my body ached, a deep, radiating heat that served as a brutal reminder of exactly what had happened on my desk just hours ago. The smell of Mathew still clung to my skin, defying the expensive perfume I had desperately sprayed to erase him.I leaned against the marble sink of my private office bathroom, staring at my reflection. My lips were swollen. A faint, red burn from his stubble marred the sensitive skin of my neck.“It meant nothing, I repeated to myself, my teeth grinding together until my jaw throbbed. It was just a physical reaction. Muscle memory. Nothing more.But this was a lie I told myself. For three years, I had kept him at bay with cold stares and legal boundaries, yet the second he touched me with those bloody, bruised hands, my entire defense system had collapsed. I screamed his name. I clung to him like he was the only solid thing in a shifting universe."Damn it!