All Chapters of His Deadly Obsession: Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

CHAPTER 32RAFAEL I stood in the doorway of Cassian’s room longer than I should have.He was asleep on his side, one arm tucked under the pillow, the other resting loosely over the covers. His face looked younger when he wasn’t arguing or performing for cameras. The tension that usually lived between his brows had smoothed out, leaving only the soft line of his mouth and the faint shadow of exhaustion under his eyes. I told myself I was simply confirming he was still breathing after the amount of alcohol he had forced down earlier. That was the only reason I remained there.It was not.The sight of him unsettled something I preferred to keep locked down. I did not like the way his sadness had looked on him earlier. The spoilt, dramatic, exhausting brat had spent the evening falling apart, and for reasons I could not name it had irritated me far more than his usual theatrics ever did. I was used to his noise. I was not used to the quiet version of him that had sat on the bathroom floo

CHAPTER 34RAFAELThe encrypted line lit up that afternoon.I accepted the call the moment Dante’s name appeared, already reaching for my jacket while the screen resolved into the three of them. Their faces were tighter than usual, the kind of tension that only showed when something inside Varynia had gone wrong.“There’s been a breach at the northern archive,” Dante said without greeting. “Two of our senior analysts are missing and a portion of the older security protocols has been accessed. We need you back immediately.”I was already moving through the room, collecting the essentials. “How long have they been gone?”“Sixteen hours,” Kade answered. “We kept it quiet as long as we could, but the trail is cooling. You’re the only one who knows those systems well enough to close this cleanly.”Lucien leaned closer to the camera. “The jet is already on standby. We expect you by tonight.”“Understood.”I ended the call and stood still for a single breath, recalibrating. Leaving Cassian u

CHAPTER 36RAFAELThe secure intelligence facility sat on the northern edge of the city, a low concrete building with no signage and a perimeter that looked ordinary until you noticed the overlapping camera coverage and the reinforced gates. Since I was already in Varynia, I should do this. I arrived alone, parked in the restricted lot, and walked toward the main entrance with the unhurried confidence of someone who had every right to be there. The night air carried the smell of wet asphalt and distant industrial smoke, and the only sound was the soft scrape of my shoes on the pavement as I approached the scanner.The lobby was empty. No duty officer at the desk, no analyst working late, no guard making a half-hearted patrol. I almost smiled to myself as the biometric lock accepted my clearance and the inner door released. Of course the place was deserted. People had learned that my presence rarely meant good news for anyone who lingered, and they had a habit of finding urgent reasons

CHAPTER 38CASSIANI came back to consciousness on a cold concrete floor with my wrists locked in heavy iron cuffs bolted to the wall behind me. My shirt was gone. The air bit at my bare skin. Seven men stood in a loose semicircle in front of me, the same elders who had once decided a child could be carved into a weapon. The oldest of them, the one who had always spoken with the softest voice and the hardest hands, watched me with mild disappointment, as if I had failed a simple test.I gritted my teeth until my jaw ached and forced the familiar words through my mind in a steady loop.Do not feel. Do not show.“You have grown slow,” the head elder said. “Comfortable. The reports from the United States make you look distracted. Machines do not become distracted. Machines do not require reminders.”I lifted my head and met his eyes. “Your intelligence has not improved with age. If you needed a conversation you could have requested one like civilized people. Instead you resort to theat

CHAPTER 40CASSIANThe fundraising portion of the night began with the usual polite applause and the soft clink of glasses. Servers moved between the tables offering champagne and something darker in crystal tumblers. I took a glass without really looking at it and drank while the first speaker listed donation tiers and matching gifts. The liquid sat cool on my tongue and then burned faintly on the way down, but I paid it no attention. Sofia was still beside me, making quiet comments about the foundation’s previous events, and I answered her with half a smile while the room continued its slow, expensive conversation.Ten minutes later the heat started.It rose from my stomach into my chest and then higher, settling behind my face until my skin felt too tight. I set the glass down carefully and tried to draw a full breath. The air in the ballroom suddenly seemed thin. Sofia turned her head and studied me.“Cassian? You okay?”“I’m fine.”“You don’t look fine. Your face is red.”“It’s w