"Ari! Ari, answer me!" Xavier screamed into the air Twenty minutes of agonizing, silent dread passed. Just as Xavier was about to veer toward the northern ridge, he caught a flicker—a faint, rhythmic pulse of light reflecting off the canopy of low-hanging leaves. He stopped dead, his breath hitching. He didn't hesitate. He broke into a sprint, his boots pounding against the earth. "Ari!" he roared, his voice cracking with hope. At the bottom of the sinkhole, Ari’s eyes widened as the beam of light swept near the edge of the pit. She clutched her phone, her thumb shaking, and waved it frantically. "Xavier! I’m here! I’m down here!" Xavier skidded to a halt at the edge of the sinkhole, his flashlight beam dropping into the darkness. When it landed on her, he let out a sound that was half-sob, half-laugh. "Ari! Stay still! Don't move, I’m right here." Seeing his face—that sharp, handsome silhouette framed by the stars—broke the dam. Ari burst into tears, her body shaking with the su

The atmosphere in the subterranean boardroom of the Andja organization was suffocating, thick with the scent of expensive cigars and the sharp tang of unease. Xavier sat at the head of the dark oak table, his usual composure replaced by a simmering intensity. He wasn't the besotted man who had shared a quiet dinner in bed just hours ago,he was the head of the most feared underworld syndicate, and he was currently bleeding out resources. "The last attack on Bella Vendetta cost us three shipments and twice as many men," one of his captains stated, slamming a dossier onto the table. "If we don't rebuild before Gabrielle or Leonardo mobilize their next strike, our territory will be nothing more than a graveyard." Peter leaned forward, his face tight. "It’s not just the violence, sir. The drug distribution is slowing. Our buyers are spooked by the instability. They’re starting to look toward other syndicates." Xavier exhaled a long, steady breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose. The weig

"You want to make love to you right here?" he asked, unable to control the electric feeling surging through him. "No." She shook her head, which made him narrow his eyes, wondering what she meant. "I want you to fuck me." She whispered it like a secret, like a sin. "There is a difference." That was it. Something shifted in his gaze — something dark and hungry that he had clearly been keeping on a tight leash. His lips crashed into hers, fierce and unrestrained, and she felt the impact of it everywhere. The kiss stole her breath. It was rough and demanding, the kind of kiss that didn't ask — it took. Before she could gather a single coherent thought, he had lifted her clean off the table. She gasped against his mouth, and then she was sitting on his thigh, her dress riding up, and she could feel him — the hard, unmistakable evidence of exactly how much he wanted her — pressing against her through the fabric of his trousers. The contact made her hips roll forward instinctively, chasi

"Sir, with all due respect, that can't be right,” Peter’s voice crackled through the phone. Even through the speaker, the tremor of hesitation was evident, "Ari? The woman who’s been living in your house, the woman you’ve been... that’s the most random thing to even imagine. It's a random tattoo, sir. It has to be." Xavier’s eyes remained fixed on the bedroom door, his jaw set like granite. The slight challenge from Peter didn't even register as insubordination; he was too far gone in his own tunnel vision to care about the tone. "Whether or not you believe it,I need you to get to the root first until whatever comes out of it is undeniable. Find me a DNA sample. The old doctor who handled Alessandro’s medical files for years—he’s the only one who would have stored biological matter. Get it. Now." "Understood, sir," Peter replied instantly, his voice snapping back into the discipline. "I will contact the Doctor and have the lab prepped for a priority match. I'll call you the moment I

After a long terrifying day,Ari finally stumbled into her apartment. She didn't turn on the lights, letting the street lamps cast weak patterns on the floor. In the kitchen, she reached deep into the fridge for a cold can of hard cider, needing something stronger. Once she grabbed the drink,she returned to the living room and sank onto the floor, she opened the can, the hiss loud in the silence. As she took a burning gulp, the liquid settled her nausea but did nothing for the cold dread. Fueled by a need to understand the monster she'd fallen for, she opened her laptop and typed Xavier Stewart into the search bar. The results were a sterile monument to corporate success, with nothing about his second lifestyle. “He really did so well to erase the information about himself from the internet” she mumbled to herself as she stretched. Then she tried again, typing Alessia, his late wife. The search yielded hundreds of results and she was ready to check them all, but one profile ima