All Chapters of Off-Side Love With My Best Friend's Brother : Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

WrenThe silence that followed the dial tone was suffocating. My hands were shaking so violently I dropped the phone onto the marble island, the glass screen clattering against the stone. Theo’s terrified, breathless voice echoed in my ears, repeating like a death sentence.“Wren? Wren, don’t come! Please, they—”"We have fifty-two minutes," Ross said, his voice instantly dropping into a terrifyingly cold, clinical register. The frantic detective was gone; in his place stood a tactical operator. He snatched his phone, typing furiously. "Ryan, I need the blueprints for the north pier shipyard. Now. Every entrance, every blind spot, every structural vulnerability.""On it," Ryan whispered, his fingers flying across his keyboard as code and satellite imagery began cascading down his screens.Dani hadn’t moved. He stood completely still, staring at the blank phone screen, his breathing shallow. The sheer wave of lethal fury radiating off him was palpable. When he finally looked up at Ross

WrenThe world dissolved into a chaotic blur of flashing red and blue lights as paramedics flooded the warehouse. Strong hands gripped my shoulders, forcefully pulling me away from Dani’s unmoving body. I fought them, screaming, kicking, my fingernails digging into the turnout gear of a medic who was only trying to do his job."Let me go! Dani! Please!" My voice was a shredded, unrecognizable rasp."Ma'am, you need to step back and let us work!" a paramedic yelled, pinning me back as two others dropped a trauma jump-kit beside Dani.They tore off the rest of his blood-soaked shirt. I watched, paralyzed by terror, as a female medic pressed a manual resuscitator bag over his mouth, while the other began heavy, rhythmic chest compressions. The sickening sound of his ribs flexing under the pressure made me vomit onto the gravel.Ross stood a few feet away, entirely frozen. He wasn’t looking at the medics. He was staring at the gaping wound in his brother’s chest. The blood pooling on the

WrenThe penthouse felt less like a fortress and more like a pressure cooker waiting to blow.By mid-morning, the rain had stopped, leaving behind a dull, grey fog that blanketed the city skyline. Downstairs, security was on high alert, but inside the glass walls, the real threat wasn't an assassin, it was the toxic, suffocating silence hanging between us.I stood at the kitchen island, staring down at a mug of dark coffee I had no intention of drinking. My chest burned with a dull, hollow ache that had persisted ever since Dani and I agreed that the kiss in the warehouse was "pure adrenaline." A total accident of terror. A temporary lapse in sanity.I had asked for that boundary. I had practically built the wall myself. So why did I feel like I was choking on the rubble?"The precinct confirmed two of Julian’s men are in custody," Ross said, breaking the silence as he walked out of the private office.His voice was terrifyingly flat. I turned to look at him, expecting the sharp, hype

WrenI didn’t cry. I refused to give him that power over me.Instead, I stood in the dark hallway outside Danny’s bedroom, my fists clenched so tightly that my fingernails cut into my palms. Through the slight crack in his door, Chloe’s breathless giggle sounded again. It was a soft, coy sound that made my stomach twist into a hard, painful knot. Then came the low, quiet rumble of Danny’s voice answering her.I turned around on my heel and walked silently down the hall to my room. I closed the door behind me, letting the lock click into place, and stood in the darkness with my back pressed against the wood.My heart was beating like a trapped bird inside my ribs. Anger, hurt, and a sharp, bitter jealousy burned through my chest all at once.Just a few hours ago, I had been standing on the windy pier with Ross. I had felt safe. I had let myself laugh, forgetting the danger, forgetting the threat hanging over my life. Ross had looked at me like I was the only person in the world, and he

WrenThe elevator ride down to the subterranean parking garage was dead silent.Five minutes. That was all Ryan said we had before Julian’s men breached the building.The air inside the elevator was thick and suffocating. Ross stood near the control panel, his hand resting on the grip of the pistol tucked into his jacket. Dani stood right beside me, his broad body positioned like a human shield between me and the doors.Every time the floor numbers ticked down—18, 17, 16—I could feel the heat radiating off Dani’s shoulder. An hour ago, I would have leaned into that heat. I would have taken comfort in his presence.Now, I took a small step back, pressing my shoulders flat against the cold metal wall of the elevator.Dani felt the movement. He didn't turn his head, but his jaw tightened, a sharp muscle flexing in his cheek. He knew why I was backing away. I wasn't scared of the men coming for us, I was putting distance between him and me and he knew it.Ding.The elevator doors slid ope