Chapter 40

“She thinks loving me
will cost her everything.
She has no idea
how much I am willing
to lose first.“

Aylin’s POV

My heart didn’t just beat.

It collided against my ribs, against him, and against the whole damned month I forced between us.

One look at him and my lungs forgot their job.

He wasn’t just standing in front of me, he was everywhere. He filled the corridor like it was too small to contain him. The air shifted, it tightened, changed temperature, even.

He looked, God…he looked devastating.

Nathan was never the suit type. His style was more casual, with his sweats, hoodies, dark tees, and leather jackets, effortlessly chaotic and dangerous.

But tonight?

Tonight, he looked like he’d dressed with intention.

A black tailored suit that fit him too perfectly. It didn’t make him look civil, though. It weaponized him. The jacket carved out the breadth of his shoulders, the fabric pulling just slightly across his chest when he leaned closer.

A crisp white shirt beneath it with the first two buttons left undone, the faint edge of his surgery scar peeking from beneath the collar.

I swallowed.

God, he’d never looked more villainous.

He looked nothing like the men downstairs. He didn’t disguise himself. Where they wore charm, he wore danger. Where they ruled boardrooms, he survived battlefields.

His hair, usually intentionally messy like he’d rolled out of bed and straight into trouble, was combed back tonight. It was longer, not by much, but just enough for the back to brush the collar of his jacket. Just enough for me to notice he hadn’t cut it this past month.

His jaw cut sharply beneath the dim lights, darkened slightly with stubble, tension pulsing there. His lips pressed into that familiar line, the one that meant he was barely holding himself back from doing something reckless.

His eyes, though, were darker than I remembered, simmiring, waiting. They dragged over my face slowly, over every edge and nook and cranny, claiming and reclaiming.

And the worst part?

My body reacted to him like this was the first time, like he was some catastrophic force of nature crashing into my carefully crooked life all over again, undoing every fragile thing I’d built in his absence.

Heat bloomed under my skin, and my pulse stuttered violently.

My fingers curled instinctively against the wall behind me, searching for something solid while everything inside me tilted.

He looked…my god, like the devil in a well-pressed suit, a mob prince who’d come to collect what was his, like trouble wrapped in violence and restraint, like…like he was mine.

That was the most dangerous part of all.

“Nathan,” His name caught on my lips, breathing into it.

His hand, which was braced near my head, moved slowly. The back of his finger traced a path down my cheek, almost absentmindedly, as if he were reacquainting himself with something he’d carved into memory. His eyes followed the movement with unnerving focus, studying the way my skin reacted beneath his touch.

His fingers slid under my jaw, pressed right where my pulse betrayed me.

His head tilted slightly, watching the frantic rhythm beneath his thumb almost like it amused him.

His fingers spread over my throat, curling around the skin, not too hard, just enough to tilt my head. The back of my skull pressed harder into the marble, forcing my gaze up to meet his.

“Now, tell me,” His voice, dear lord, did I forget what his voice did to me, “How are we going to rectify this situation?”

“Which…situation?”

“The one where some polished, soon-to-be-dead fucker thought he could put his hands on you.” His grip tightened just a fraction. “The part where you let him.”

“I didn’t let—” My words fractured into a gasp when his hold on my neck tightened, stealing just enough air to make my pulse spike.

“You know how I get when people touch what’s mine, Aylin,” His thumb brushed up and down the side of my neck, his grip still tight, “You know I don’t tolerate men breathing too close to you.”

His face edged closer. His lips hovered near my lips, but didn’t touch yet.

“Did you think that because I gave you a month…you were free of me?”

My breath hitched, and I shook my head before I could stop myself.

“I didn’t give you freedom, princess,” he continued, almost softly. “I gave you distance. There’s a difference.”

His hand slid from my throat to my jaw again, forcing my face toward him. We were so close. His breath brushed my lips, my skin, and I wanted him to kiss me already. I didn’t care for his words or his logic and didn’t want to fight him over them. I wanted him to relieve the ache this past month had carved into my bones.

His eyes dropped to my slightly parted lips, “Looks like I need to remind you who owns you,” he muttered.

I didn’t know where I found the strength, but I shook my head. “You don’t own me.”

A spark lit up his eyes, the corner of his lip tugging upward,  like he lived for my defiance. His thumb dragged slowly across my lower lip, “Let’s see about that.”

I barely registered his words before he pulled back. His other hand wrapped tightly around my wrist, and he tugged me along with him. The next second, I was pushed inside the bathroom, and Nathan followed immediately after, shutting the door behind us and locking it.

My eyes widened, “Nathan, wha—”

I gasped when he whirled me around, the edge of the fancy marble sink digging into my stomach, my palms landing on the cold edge as he took the space behind me. My wide eyes met his in the mirror, “Not in here,” I whispered, slightly bewildered at his intentions.

I straightened myself but could barely move, my back fell against his front as he crowded me, leaning, his palms pressing on the edge of the sink where mine were, “That’s not for you to decide,” He whispered near my ear, before he bit the earlobe. I gasped and tried to move, squirming, only to end up rubbing my back against his hardness. Jesus Christ…

“Nathan, we can’t—” I tried to speak, but he was past making sense. His hand left the sink and fisted the fabric of my dress at my waist, pulling me flush against him, “We can. I can. Your punishment is long overdue, princess.”

His nose traced the line of my neck, his eyelids gliding down as he breathed me in.

“You punished me for a whole fucking month, you walked away from me again, remember?” He muttered lowly, almost bitterly, “You broke your promise and left me alone with my head.” His grip tightened slightly. “You know what that does to me, you know how fucking much it hurts me.”

“I just needed space,” I whispered.

“And I needed you,” he said.

His eyelids lifted, and our eyes met in the mirror. “You should make it up to me now, don’t you think so?”

I wanted to say that I punished myself too, that it hurt me to, but I fought myself not to.

“Let’s…let’s leave here,” I muttered, already teetering, ready to follow him anywhere, to fall back into his crazy, toxic game, because one touch and I was already on edge, my stomach tightening, warmth coiling and pouring down between my legs.

He shook his head. “No, not by a long shot.”

His eyes held mine in the dimly lit mirror, “First, you need to atone for your sins.” His hand traveled from my waist, reached up over the fabric, and cupped my breast, squeezing firmly, his thumb brushing my hardened nipple. I had to stifle my whimper.

“Second,” he said into my neck, pressing deceiving soft kisses down the lines of my throat, “I need to stake a claim before I actually kill that motherfucker for daring to look at you.” His voice hardened before his teeth closed over my skin, and I yelped at the stinging pain, my fingers tightening over the sink.

“I came here to see you, so imagine how I felt when I stepped inside and found you flirting with yet another version of prince fucking charming.”

“I wasn’t flirting,” I said, biting my lower lip to muffle my moan when he kneaded my breast, and his lips worked wonders on the sensitive skin of my neck.

“I am not so sure about that,” He hummed, his gaze tracing the bite he just left before his eyes met mine in the mirror again, moving from my flushed face, down to my neck, my shoulders, and my chest, “Tell me, were you thinking of me when you wore this breathtaking dress, or was it to impress the…Chase-look-alike wanker downstairs?”

I shot him a glare through the mirror, but couldn’t hold it for too long when he pinched my nipple from over the fabric, triggering an electric zap from my chest deep down to my core.

My eyes fluttered shut. “Nathan—” I meant to snap at him, to tell him to stop, but god help me, it came out like a plea.

“Answer the fucking question, Aylin,” He had gone feral again, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop him. Heck, did I even want to stop him?

“He looks like Mr. perfect, the nice guy that checks every box on your neat little list, the type of man your grandfather wouldn’t push you away from,” His hand released my breast, moving down to my hip, “you always wanted the nice guy, princess, too bad you got the fucking villain.”

“I couldn’t care less about him,” I muttered, my breath unsteady.

“Come again?” There was something predatory in the way he said it as he shoved the skirt of my dress to my waist.

“I don’t care about him, and I wasn’t flirting. I pulled back and walked away the second I felt him get close to me,” I said, glaring at him through the mirror, “Don’t you get it?” My chest rose sharply, “It’s always you on my mind, every day, and every hour.”

Satisfaction lightened the color of his eyes, and hunger flickered beneath it. “So, you were thinking about me when you wore this dress?”

I nodded my head.

“What were you thinking about?”

I shrugged, my cheeks warming up, “If you’d…like it,” I admitted quietly. And what it would feel like for you to rip it off me...I kept that part to myself so as not to give him more ideas.

His lips twitched, and I sucked in a deep breath. His soft, light-hearted smile knocked the air out of me. “I don’t just like it,” He gripped my hip tighter and pulled me further into him, “I fucking love it.”

My lips curved too, helplessly, and I sank into him, “You make everything look beautiful.” He pressed a soft kiss over the bite mark he just left. God, it burned. “How do you do that?”

I stared at us in the mirror, and my heart twisted, sore and full and dangerously certain.

We just looked so painfully different from one another, in every way there is, yet I never saw anything more fitting, like he was some missing piece of a puzzle I didn’t know was unfinished.

Maybe it was the month apart, maybe it was the distance carving clarity into me, maybe it was the way his darkness never tried to dim me, only circle me and guard me.

Whatever it was, standing there, I didn’t see opposites.

I saw inevitability.

He looked like the villain who would burn kingdoms in my name, and I looked like the princess who would let him, stand beside him while everyone else burned.

God, I really loved this idiot…

I was utterly doomed.

Being apart from him only proved to me that horrible, undeniable truth.

Seeing him now should’ve made me furious that he broke the rules, that he stormed into my space like a hurricane, refusing boundaries.

Instead, it made my pulse feel electric, alive, and ecstatic in a slightly unhinged way. Almost as if sanity had never been the point, like I was built for chaos, and he was the only one brave enough to hand it to me.

“Stop looking so goddamn adorable, I am trying to stay mad at you,” He grumbled, shooting me a glare in the mirror.

My smile only widened, the back of my head pressing into his hard chest, my eyelids drooping as his intoxicating scent enveloped me from everywhere, burying itself deep down in my cells, so damn addictive.

“I missed you so much,” I whispered.

His hand tightened at my hip, the fabric of my dress bunching in his fist, “Did the distance hurt you, too?” He asked.

I opened my eyes, craned my neck to look at his handsome face, and nodded, “Yeah, it did.”

“Good, let it hurt.”

My eyebrow raised, and he flashed me a knowing look, “I suffered, you should suffer, too,” He said, like balance demanded it, like this thing between us, in his world, was measured in shared damage.

I shook my head at him, at this beautifully broken human being. “You are such an asshole.”

See, this is why loving him is my imminent doom.

“I want my absence to scar you, so you stop using it as a weapon,” He muttered calmly, in his own unhinged logic. “This is the last goddamn break you get from me. From now on, I am not letting you go, ever.” He stated, like he’d made up his mind and cared less for consequences.

Here I thought a month away would’ve taught him something…I give up.

I sighed in resignation.

He leaned closer, his lips brushing near my temple. “You sold your soul to me the moment you chose me, princess,” he murmured. “There’s no refund policy, no escaping me, better engrave that in your pretty little head.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, and because I love to play with fire and matches, I said, “What if I don’t want to choose you anymore?”

His eyes darkened instantly. “Then you are going to hate me, because I’ll strip that illusion of choice from you and lock you in.”

I shook my head at his logic, the kind that should’ve sent me running, but maybe I was too used to his madness for it to shock me anymore. “Let’s get out of here,” I said, fully aware that grandpa was just downstairs, and if he saw Nathan, the building might actually go up in flames.

“We can do whatever you want, just not…here.”

He shook his head, “No, my patience is gone, wiped clean,” he said flatly. “You stretched it thin, tested it for far too long, so now we do things my way,” He declared, refusing to see common sense.

Before I could come up with a response, his grip on my waist propelled me forward, bending me over the sink’s edge, so quickly I barely registered it till my palms slammed against the chilled marble, breath catching in my throat.

One of Nathan’s hands braced beside mine on the marble, the other delved beneath the fabric of my dress and slipped into my inner thighs. A low sound, half a yelp, half a groan left me as I shot him a wide-eyed look in the mirror, my face flushed crimson, “I am telling you…no.”

His eyebrow raised, “No?” He questioned, humming lowly, his voice vibrating against my skin as his fingers grazed the edge of my undergarments, “Then why did you put on lace panties and come prepared to be fucked?”

He dragged his fingers along the damp fabric, pressing just enough to tease me. My breath stuttered, my hips betraying me with a subtle shift, “If it’s no, then why are you so wet at the prospect of me fucking you raw right in here, with everyone else downstairs?”

His hand left mine, snaking up to cradle the nape of my neck. Fingers tangled in my hair, scraping over my scalp before clenching into a fist around the strands. I gasped when he yanked my head back, forcing my spine to arch.

I was trapped, between him and the sink, bent over, fully at his non-existent mercy. One of his hands was tormenting me still, tracing over the soaked fabric of my panties, the other in my hair, keeping my face close to his. “Tell me now, is it really a no?” He whispered near my ear, his lips brushing the spot just below it, “Or is it you being a brat who gets pleasure in defying me?”

I could see my reflection in the mirror. My face was glowing with heat, my neck flushed scarlet, my eyes glazed with unwanted hunger. God, did I look this aroused and wrecked already?

I locked eyes with him, my heart hammering like a war drum. “No,” I said again.

His lips twitched into a smirk before they descended, pressing a deceptively tender kiss to the curve of my throat, so sweet, so contradictory to everything he was, “You have a safe word, remember it?” He asked.

I nodded my head, my pulse thundering under his mouth.

“Good, use it, and this ends,” he said, “You don’t, then you’re handing me the reins to break you completely.” He added, his voice like fire scorching my bare skin, “I won’t promise to be gentle, princess. I told you before…I warned you, distance doesn’t teach me restraint, it doesn’t tame me, it only breeds hunger.”

His beautiful eyes met mine again. “So, what’s it going to be? Safe word?”

I shook my head, refusing to utter that word, refusing to end this so fast, my body a traitor craving the abyss he offered.

He smiled, ever so satisfied, “God, you are as fucked up in the head as I am, aren’t you?” He said, his thumb moving in circles over my scalp, “You’re just begging for my cock to split you open right here, probably even thrilled at the fact that anyone passing by could hear us.” Holy crap, why am I not ending this? “Bet you even missed my knife, too, my little machiost.”

God, the depraved part of me, the one he’d unearthed and corrupted, did miss it. I shifted my hips with a low whiny sound, aching for his fingers to rub harder, to move deeper. He was agonizingly slow on purpose, toying with me, stoking the inferno without quenching it.

He nudged my legs apart with his knee, “Not yet,” He clicked his tongue, “Answer me first, do I own you or are you still playing games?”

“You don’t,” I heaved out through a strangled breath, and held his burning gaze with mine.

His jaw ticked, “Fine. Have it your way,” He said, a dangerous promise in those words as his fingers hooked the lace aside and, without introductions, thrusted…three fingers inside me at the same time.

A choked sound that resembled a sob tore out of my throat, my body jerking forward, but his fist in my hair yanked me back, pinning me in place. It was painful, so painful, but…but felt like sweet relief. He’d been stimulating every nerve in my body since he pushed me into this room.

“Feel that?” His fingers curled deep to stroke that aching spot inside me. I bit back a moan, my thighs quivering as he pushed in slowly, building the fire without mercy, “That’s you welcoming me home, Aylin. That’s your body knowing who the fuck it belongs to, who owns it, touches it, and brings it pleasure…only me.”

A broken whimper escaped, my nails scraping the sink’s edge to stay upright. If I let go, I’d collapse into the storm he unleashed.

“I’ll kill anyone who dares to look at you, let alone contemplate touching you, am I clear?”

Sick, I thought, I’m so fucking sick. I should be running away. He was clearly threatening to hurt people, but I couldn’t seem to register that at all. I was dripping all over his fingers, clenching around him, rocking my hips with the rhythm, so close to coming apart, so goddamn fast.

One month of deprivation ought to do that to you.

“This is mine,” Thrust. “My fucking property,” Another thrust, deeper, harder. “All of you, every inch of you is mine, Aylin, just like I am all yours, you get that?”

“Y-yeah…” The word fractured into a gasp, my body clenching, so close to a release, but just when I was about to scream, teeth sinking into my lip, chasing that high, he…he withdrew his fingers.

My eyes flew wide, and I glared at him over my shoulder. “What the—”

“You don’t get to come so fast after that stunt you pulled.” His eyebrow raised, “This is your punishment, not a reward…you’re not supposed to enjoy it.”

I swallowed down the frustrated sound that nearly slipped past my throat and glared at him. God, I would just love to scratch that arrogant face of his.

He chuckled lowly, amused, “Tuck your claws, princess, we are only getting started.”

His fist loosened from my hair only to wrap around the nape of my neck, shoving me down against the sink, forcing my spine to arch higher. The marble bit into my hips, so cold against the fever raging through me.

“God, look at you,” he murmured, the praise in his voice rumbled deep down to my heart, “Fucking hell, Aylin, you’re the prettiest thing in this ugly world of mine, do you know that?”

See this, this is how he plays with me…this menace, he dismantles me. He weakens me inch by inch until my defenses crumble and I’m one breath away from begging for him, but no…no, I won’t, not this time. I will fight him tooth and nail.

“You’re a vision alright, bent over, swollen, dripping all over your thighs, aching for me, and you dare say I don’t own every part of you,” He added, getting rid of my panties. I think he tore the fabric apart. I heard it rip, I don’t even know how.

“Now now, what am I going to do with you?” He hummed in thought, like he was planning the end of the world.

“Just do it,” I grumbled,  masking the tremor in my voice with feigned irritation, “Just get it over with fast, wouldn’t be my first disappointment from you,” I added in boredom, poking the monster. I must have a death wish or something. What the hell is wrong with me today?

His grip crushed tighter on my neck, his breath ghosting against my ear as his body leaned and pressed into mine, the rigid bulge of his dick grinding against me, “Disappointed, you say?” He said, his voice lethal, “This bratty little mouth of yours has grown bold in my absence, I think it forgot what it was like to choke on my cock and scream my name, shall I remind it?”

A low groan rumbled from my chest, “Are you going to do it or not?”

“Are you going to beg for it?”

“I won’t beg you.”

“Then, you don’t get my cock until you break properly.”

“Asshole,” I grumbled in annoyance. I wanted to turn around and punch him.

The word barely left me as his hand cracked down on the exposed skin of my ass, so sharp and stinging, the slap blooming into fire that shot straight to my core. I gasped, and just as quickly, his fingers returned, circling my entrance, dipping in shallow, then pulling back.

“You’re going to beg for it, Aylin. You’ll admit that no one but me owns you,” He said, a suppressed groan woven beneath his words. He was tormenting not just me but himself, too, and I really wanted to break his restraint for once.

If only I could make him unravel the way he makes me unravel.

Well, let’s see if I can or…if he’ll break me first. May all the gods be with me.

My pulse hammered in my ears.

“You don’t own me. I am not a property, Nathan,” I shot back, barely holding back my moan as his thumb flicked my clit in feather-light strokes, “I am a person.”

“Yeah, my person,” He said, his voice strained and wrecked, “Why don’t you get that…you’re my fucking person, my one and only, mine,” He added, his fingers plunging just enough to graze my weak spot before vanishing.

Heat built up to an aphrodisiac peak, only to crash into denial.

Sweat beaded at my temples from the sheer control it took not to give in. My breath came uneven, my pulse wild in my throat as he pushed and pulled, toying with me as he pleased. I slammed my palm against the sink. “Fuck…stop it,” I breathed, my voice breaking between anger and need.

Relief felt so close I could taste it, and yet he kept it just out of reach.

“As you wish, my princess,” He said, actually stopping.

I groaned, frustrated beyond reason, “No, not…ugh, I hate you!”

A dark, knowing smile curved his mouth. “No, you don’t, and you can end this torture if you just admit the truth.” His chest rose and fell heavily, but he was stronger than I was, teasing me with his fingers but never fully satisfying me, edging me till I lost my mind.

“Nathan…” I whispered, my voice cracking, so close to begging him. God, no, no, I deserved to win for once.

“Hmm, not enough,” He clicked his tongue, twisting viciously while his thumb ground my clit. The overstimulation hit me like a bolt of lightning. I bucked, my hand slamming to my mouth to muffle my scream or my plea.

My vision blurred, my body coiling tighter, but he sensed it and yanked out at the last second, leaving me empty yet again.

A cry rumbled from my chest, the tears of pleasure prickling my eyes, and I knew one more touch, and I was going to fall apart, begging and bending to his will, so I went for the big guns. I tried to steady myself, but he was everywhere.

My eyes met his depraved, fiery ones in the mirror.

I was so going to regret this, but I said it nevertheless. “If you don’t fuck me right now, I’ll go downstairs and find someone else to do it.”

I was going to eat those words up in a couple of seconds, but they served their purpose and broke him down, giving me a win for once.

I saw the devil consume his eyes, darkening them, unhinged, unguarded, and I barely registered the sound of the zipper, barely felt his fingers wrap my neck from the back, harshly pulling me in, all of my senses got consumed, shattering as he rammed inside me in one go.

My head fell forward from the sudden force of it, coupled with a tortured sound that wasn’t even human.

It has been only a month, but it felt like it was a year…I couldn’t breathe…

“You’ll do what?” He asked, the venom in his quiet voice had me shivering, but my body was all locked up, unable to move around him. He stayed there for a bit, unmoving for a second too long as we breathed, or…tried to at least.

His fingers dug into the skin of my neck, and just when I was slowly adjusting to him, he thrusted all the way inside until I physically jerked, my body slamming forward into the sink, my palms hitting the surface of the mirror.

He did it again, and again, ramming inside me in a ruthless, angry rhythm, fucking me as I asked him to, claiming me, owning every part, and…punishing me. Not going to lie, I might’ve deserved this one.

“I asked you a fucking question,” He groaned, his voice hoarse, dangerous, teetering on the brink of utter madness.

“I didn’t…mean it,” I tried to say in between the moans he forced out of me with every thrust.

“Why is it so fucking hard for you to admit that you’re mine?” Thrust, “Why…when I keep telling you that I am yours, when I tell you that you own me, all of me, that I am nothing without you,” Thrust, “That if my life doesn’t include you, I don’t fucking want it.”

He fisted my hair, gripping tight, pushing so deeply that tears fell down my cheeks, taking my fight along with them, “You’re everything to me, Aylin,” He said it like it was…painful, like that fact might ruin him one day, “I used to hate everything about this life, I used to hate everyone in it, but after you, after you…” He rasped, panting.

He was like a madman, no stopping him, and definitely no reasoning with him.

He drove inside me with a power that was unlike anything before. God, it was never this intense, this harsh, this beautifully painful, and that was saying something, because Nathan had never known how to be anything but overwhelming.

I wanted to ask it, I wanted him to resume it…after me? What happened after me?

I couldn’t speak, though, I couldn’t control myself, and I wished with everything in me that no one would pass us by…god, the horror.

“Nathan…” I moaned, my hand moving back to touch him, trying to ease his pace, “Slow down…I can’t…” My whole body was shaking. If it wasn’t for his arm around my waist, I would’ve crashed down. “I can’t take…this.”

“You can, you always did.”

“This is too much,” I mumbled brokenly, the pain and pleasure blurring into one, erupting a sensation I’ve never experienced before, “It’s…too much.”

“You know what’s too much? You entertaining the idea that some sorry fucker could get his hands on you,” He slid his hand from my hair, my neck, to my jaw, urging my head back, crashing it against his chest, then he dipped his head, biting me again, “Do it, I dare you,” He muttered into my skin, “If you are willing to have blood on your hands, go ahead.”

“Just look at them, and they’ll be dead, and after that, I’ll fuck you on their blood, so let’s hope you’re not squeamish.”

“Oh my…god,” I sobbed the words.

“God won’t save you from me.” He moved his lips, kissing away the tears falling down my cheeks.

“I don’t want him to,” I muttered back.

“Now, that’s my good girl,” he groaned, dark satisfaction in his eyes as he drove in so deep, hitting my sensitive spot over and over, “Are you finally ready to admit the truth?”

“Of course you own me, you asshole,” I cried out, slamming the back of my head against his chest, so very drained, “I am yours, and I want to be yours forever,” I admitted, half moaning, half crying as he stripped me bare of my defenses, “Before you, I hated my life too, you taught me how to be happy again, how to…how to be carefree, how to let go, how to have…hope.”

The tears that pricked my eyes weren’t those of pleasure. They were something else, and Nathan slowed his pace, allowing me to breathe, “I never had hope before. I used to think this disease would kill me, but because of you, I feel like I could…like I could fight it, like I could win.”

“You will,” He said, so certain, his voice so different, more tender and assuring.

I blinked the tears away, looking at him as he pulled me into him, his arm wrapping around my center. The darkness cleared from his eyes, and something else entirely took place, something that looked so much like that L-word he was so terrified of saying out loud.

I shot him a glare, my lips curving into a small pout, “I hate you, you made me cry during sex, that’s so lame,” I mumbled, sniffling.

He chuckled softly, burying his face in the crook of my neck, kissing the bite again and again.

“Dog,” I grumbled, playfully elbowing him.

He kissed it again, chuckling, “Tsk, wolf.”

My lips twitched, but my smile faltered, my eyelids fell down when he picked up the pace, thrusting into me again, but it was less ruthless, slower, but just so damn devastating.

“What are you doing to me, Aylin?” he whispered, his voice rough against my skin. He lifted his face from my neck only to bury it in my hair, inhaling like he needed the scent of me to stay sane. “Control was all I had…how do you strip it from me so easily?”

He hit that spot again, over and over. I couldn’t suppress my moans any longer; my body was drained, aching for a release.

“I planned to come here, to see you, to act like a fucking gentleman, convince you to stop this long break and let us get back together,” He pressed a kiss to the crown of my head, softer than anything else he’d done tonight. “This,” he rasped, “was definitely not the plan.”

I refrained from telling him that I preferred this version more, that sometimes I want him to take me, to lock me on a faraway island where only he and I would exist. That, when I imagine a life without him in it, the world feels muted, like color drained from a painting.

I didn’t tell him that he had become my axis, that everything tilted toward him without my permission.

Because admitting that would mean admitting something far more frightening, that if he ever disappeared, this entire world would feel like exile.

“Nathan, don’t…don’t stop, please,” I whimpered, pushing back into him as everything blurred together, the sound of skin against skin, his body on mine, his words, his heartbeat thundering agaisnt my own, it was all too much, and I felt myself climb up higher and higher, my eyes rolling back, my back arching as the most exquisite orgasm hit me, crashing all over me, tingling in every nerve, making my legs tremble.

I released noises that I used to think people faked in movies, but god, I had no control, the waves crashed and crashed, relentless, my body clenching tight. It felt endless, like this pleasure would go on forever, “Oh my god, Nathan…fuck, I love you.”

Well, that did it. That stopped the pleasure, snapping it out of me in a blink. The peak shattered far too quickly, yanking me back to brutal clarity.

Fuck.

What did I just say? Again? Why…just why?

I blame it on the high…on the torture he subjected my weak body to.

“Jesus fucking christ,” He hissed under his breath, almost painfully, as he drove into me with one wrenching final thrust, and warmth spilled inside of me, so much I felt like I might come apart all over again.

If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve said my words were the ones that pushed him over the edge.

Then, as fast as it happened, he tensed up, as if he was just knocked back to reality and realized what he did. I saw the terror climb into his eyes as he withdrew from me. I rested my hand over his, “I am still on the pill,” I murmured softly, already understanding where his mind had spiraled, “I am tracking with the doctor my hormones and all, everything is okay,” I added.

After that pregnancy scare, I had been meticulous, careful to the point of obsession. I couldn’t risk it again, and judging by the way his shoulders dropped in quiet relief, neither could he.

Now, let’s wind back to a few seconds ago, did I…did I really say those words out loud…again? Do I have no sense of self-respect, like at all?

Heat flooded my face, and I felt like I might burst.

I prayed he wouldn’t comment on it. God, I wanted the floor beneath me to crack open and swallow me whole.

Before I could dissolve completely into embarrassment, Nathan adjusted himself and stepped away. He grabbed a few paper towels, ran water over them, and returned. His hand curled over my arm, so gently as he guided me toward the high marble counter along the side, some fancy decoration.

“Sit,” he murmured as he eased me back until the back of my thighs touched the cool edge. I didn’t want to open my mouth, so I obeyed, sitting down, wincing as the marble bit cold against my sore, overheated skin, even from above the fabric.

Nathan lowered himself next to me, one knee pressed to the tiled floor, the other bent, steadying himself as he gently parted my legs and cleaned up the mess he made between my thighs, the damp paper towels cool against skin still burning from him.

I bit the inside of my cheek to not make a noise every time he brushed so close.

When he finished, he stood slowly, discarding the towels in the trash. I slid off the counter and adjusted my dress, grateful my panties were somehow still intact enough as I slipped them back on. I stepped toward the mirror, washed up before I picked up another napkin, dabbing under my eyes and cheeks, erasing the traces of tears. Thank god for waterproof mascara.

I tried to fix my hair, running my fingers through it, trying to restore some dignity, when…

My eyes widened. Holy crap. I nearly lost it when I noticed how obvious the bite mark looked, accompanied by red hickeys all over the side of my neck. Jesus Christ, he did those on purpose, didn’t he?

My hand flew to my neck, and I whirled around just as he stepped up beside me. I glared at him. His lips twitched, ever so satisfied, like I was his art piece.

“Seriously?” I muttered, turning back to the mirror, pulling my hair forward to try and cover the damage.

“Told you,” he said lazily. “You take all of my control.”

His gaze met mine in the reflection, and he winked, “Not my fault.”

How could I love him, really?

Ugh, I didn’t even want to think about that. I just wanted to leave this place and not see him for a while so I could forget the nonsense my mouth had spilled earlier.

I tried to adjust my appearence but nothing worked. I don’t know if it was just me, but I looked like I’ve just had sex, really good sex, by the way.

Nathan moved back into his preferred position behind me, like that space was carved out just for him. His arm wrapped around my waist, his palm flattening over my stomach before pulling me back into his chest.

He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my shoulder.

“Let’s go downstairs,” He murmured.

My eyebrows pulled closer, and I turned around to face him, “By let’s, you mean I go downstairs, find an excuse to leave, and meet you outside, right?”

He shook his head, “No, we’re going downstairs, back to the party, together,” He said, like it was so normal, “I am parched, I bet you are, too.” He winked, “We need a drink.”

“Wha…no,” I said, stepping back, “Grandpa is downstairs, he can’t see us together, not…like this.”

The calm drained from his face almost instantly.

“What did you think, Aylin?” He grated out, “I’d fuck you in the bathroom and send you back down all alone?”

The implication of his words made me glare at him harder.

“I’m telling you I’ll go down first, I’ll tell Grandpa I’m tired and want to leave, and then we’ll meet outside and get out of here together.” I tried to explain it, but he was a goddamn idiot who didn’t understand reason.

He shook his head, and I wanted to hit him again.

“We can’t, Nathan, listen to me,” I stressed out, “Grandpa doesn’t know that we’re…still together. I need to talk to him about all of this first and convince him. If we just show up like this, I’ll be hurting him, and I really don’t want to.”

“I don’t care,” he said back.

My frustration spiked. “Why don’t you ever listen to reason?”

He stepped closer, towering and unbothered, “Because reason doesn’t apply here.” He said, “We’re going downstairs together. That’s final.”

His hand closed around my arm, “I’m not some secret you get to hide. We’re not in fucking high school,” he added, already unlocking the bathroom door. He stepped out, dragging me with him like this decision had already been made.

I dug my heels into the floor and pulled back. “Nathan!”

He didn’t slow.

“I said I don’t want to hurt Grandpa,” I shot out, “That’s all. I don’t care about anyone else.”

He stopped abruptly and turned around.

“It really fucking amuses me, you know,” He said, his tone harsh, glaring back at me, “You admit everything you just did in there….and then you run back to fucking Charles the first chance you get.” His jaw flexed, “Even though he keeps trying to kill me.”

Before I could even process that, he stepped closer.

“I hurt your family, and I get punished for it. Fine. I can live with that,” He said, “But they hurt me…and you still take their side, so care to explain that?”

I shook my head quickly. “No, he didn’t, he promised me he wouldn’t hurt you unless you did something first. He wouldn’t hurt you. I know that,” I stressed out. “Grandpa doesn’t break his promises to me. He never has.”

Nathan let out a humorless breath. “If only you had that much faith in me for once in your life,” he muttered, stepping back like my words had physically shoved him.

“He wouldn’t hurt you, Nathan,” I insisted. “He promised me—”

“Then, who were the two guys who attacked me last night?” His eyebrow raised, “If you think I am lying, then ask Natalie on your next session, she was with me when it happened.”

My stomach dropped, and I shook my head automatically, refusing it.

Grandpa wouldn’t, maybe he did before, but not after he promised me, he wouldn’t, right?

My throat tightened when a certain memory resurfaced. The text from the other day…

I am starting to think it might be time to get rid of him for real, don’t you think so?

That was a clear threat directed at Nathan. At that moment, I didn’t believe it. The person behind the notes and the text messages never got close, never attempted anything physical, all the warnings and threats, he never came after me, but would he…would he go after Nathan?

My jaw tightened. I won’t let him. I might’ve stayed silent when those threats were directed at me, but if that creep dares to touch Nathan again, I’d find him and kill him. My own thoughts startled me…Jesus, when did I become like this?

I edged closer, my hand reaching for Nathan’s, curling over it, “Nathan, let me talk to him and meet me outside, please. There is a lot we need to talk about.”

His eyes searched my face. He almost accepted, but because he was Nathan, he shook his head, “We’ll go down and face your grandfather together,” He said, “If you go down without me, it means you’re choosing him again.”

“There is no choosing!” I shot out, “He is my family, Nathan. I can’t choose between you and him. Why can’t you see that?”

“But you chose him,” He said, bitterly, “You chose to stay with him and kicked me out, did you forget?”

One thing about Nathan I’m more certain of now is that when you hurt him, he doesn’t let you outlive it. When you burn him, he doesn’t stop till he burns you back tenfold. He once told me mercy was a concept he didn’t understand. I thought he was exaggerating, but I think it’s true.

Forgiveness isn’t something he is accustomed to.

He wasn’t going to listen to me, but I wasn’t going to hurt Grandpa like this either. He didn’t deserve me doing this to him.

“I’m going downstairs,” I said, my voice steady and final. “I’ll talk to him, and I’ll meet you outside in five minutes. That’s all I need.”

I let go of his hand, ignored the fire burning in his eyes, walked past him, and down the stairs.

When I reached Grandpa, he let go of the man beside him and stepped closer.

“Hey, I was looking for you,” he said, his brows knitting together.

God. How long was I upstairs?

I tucked my hair over my shoulder, angling it carefully to hide the horror on my skin.

“Uh, actually, I don’t feel so good,” I mumbled, hating to lie to him, but I had a ticking bomb just upstairs that I needed to take care of. “My stomach’s aching a little. I think I should head home.”

Concern etched between his brows, and he brought his hand to my arm, rubbing at it soothingly, “Is it bad? Should we go to the doctor?”

“No, no,” I said quickly. I shook my head, then froze when my hair slipped and nearly exposed my neck. I adjusted it fast. “I just need to lie down, that’s all. I’ll be fine.”

He nodded slowly, studying me.

“You know what,” he sighed, glancing around, “I’m kind of tired too. Eli can handle the rest. Let’s go back home together,” he added, already moving to talk with Eli. Shit. Shit. That’s not what I planned.

My heart started pounding as I scanned the room, searching for Nathan. I found him halfway down the stairs, his eyes on me and only me, his movements unhurried, controlled, like he’d already decided how this would play out.

My stomach dropped.

My eyes flickered between him and Grandpa.

If Grandpa turned around now, he’d see him.

My breath caught because Nathan looked like he was walking straight toward me.

I widened my eyes and shook my head.

‘No.’ I mouthed it, but he didn’t stop.

My eyebrows pulled together, panic rising sharply in my chest.

‘Nathan, please,’ I mouthed again.

The thought of them clashing here, now, in front of everyone, tightened something in my ribs. It would hurt them both. Grandpa would feel betrayed that I lied to him, and Nathan would think I am choosing my family over him.

These two were the most important people in my life; I didn’t want to choose, I didn’t want to lose one to keep the other.

The mere thought of it made my vision blur.

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes before I could stop them. How could I fix this now? Why do they have to make it so damn difficult?

Nathan slowed, just slightly. He was still too far to touch, but close enough now to see my face clearly. He faltered, his brows pulled together.

I brushed my fingers under my eyes quickly, sniffling lowly. His jaw ticked. The fire in his eyes didn’t disappear, but it dimmed.

His gaze flickered to the shine in my eyes…then to Grandpa’s back…then back to me.

For a long second, I watched the war happen inside him.

His shoulders lowered a fraction, and a low sigh parted his lips. He flashed me a knowing look, finally listening to me. He tapped his finger over his watch, and I nodded quickly, relief spreading in my chest.

He stepped aside just as Grandpa returned, completely unaware of how close a storm had come to breaking over his head.

“Come on, let’s go,” Grandpa urged gently, draping my coat over my shoulders.

I forced a steady breath, picked up my purse, and walked with him toward the door. As we walked to the car, I pulled out my phone and typed quickly, hoping this won’t make Nathan spiral further.

Grandpa is leaving with me, too. Once we get home, I’ll try to sneak out. Where do you want us to meet?

⊹˚₊‧────────────‧₊˚⊹

Nathan’s POV

Princess:
We just arrived. Should I go to your place?
Or we can meet at my apartment?
Nathan?

Princess:
Are you not texting me back on purpose?
Why aren’t you picking up? *glaring emoji*

I leaned against the tree and scrolled through the thread she’d sent over the last two hours while I was…occupied. After that first text that she was leaving with the old man, I got angry again, and since she can’t be the outlet for that anger, I found another more convenient outlet.

I brought my hand and wiped at the blood at the corner of my lips. He wasn’t an easy one, but I am certain he learned his lesson.

Princess:
Did you change your mind?
Are you mad at me again?

Princess:
Okay wow.
You’re definitely doing this on purpose.
I hate you sometimes, you know.

I felt that muscle in my chest clench and tighten, recalling the other cursed word she admitted earlier tonight. Fuck, she killed me then, split me wide open. I pretended that I didn’t hear it, ignored it even, but it unraveled me wholly, to the point that I craved her lips to utter it again, and again.

If only my messed-up brain didn’t associate love with loss, I would’ve branded it so deep into her bones.

Princess:
If you’re ignoring me, just say that.
I can handle it.
By handle, I mean I’m keying your car.

I chuckled at this crazy girl of mine as she spiraled ever so beautifully.

Princess:
Are you alive?
Did someone kidnap you?
Because if they did, may all the gods be with them

Princess:
If you’re dead, I will literally kill you.

Princess:
If you don’t answer in the next 30 seconds, I’m blocking you.

Princess:
You have 15 seconds left…

Princess:
Okay wow.
So this is how it ends for us.
Asshole.
I’m going to sleep because these pills make me tired and drowsy.
You better have answered me when I wake up.

My lips twitched as I locked the phone and slipped it into my pocket, tilting my head up toward the balcony connected to the room she was staying in. Texting her back suddenly felt…lazy.

No. I had a better idea, something along the lines of kidnapping her once and for all.

I moved quietly, circling to the darker side of the mansion, avoiding the security alarms dear old Charles planted, almost as if he anticipated I’d come sneaking into her room like this. My hands found the grooves in the brick. I pulled myself up without effort, my feet settling into balance like they’d done this a hundred times before.

The railing scraped beneath my palms as I swung myself over and landed on the balcony with barely a sound.

I straightened slowly, scanning behind me, then around.

The door was slightly ajar. A slow smile curved my mouth, almost like my princess knew I’d come for her.

I slid the door open just enough to slip inside. The bedside lamp was still on, casting a warm, dim glow over the room, and there she was…curled slightly on her side, golden hair spilling over the pillow, one arm tucked beneath her cheek like she’d surrendered mid-spiral.

My chest tightened. She looked so small, so soft, and peaceful. The world doesn’t deserve her. I don’t either, but I am selfish like that.

I closed the balcony door quietly behind me and stepped closer to the bed, my steps silent against the carpet.

She had kicked the blanket halfway down, exposing the soft curve of her shoulders. There was a faint crease between her brows even in sleep, like she was still thinking and worrying.

I reached out and brushed my knuckles lightly over her cheek.

She stirred a little, her lips parting just slightly, deep in her beauty sleep.

I sat on the edge of her bed, studying her face like it was something sacred and forbidden at the same time. My fingers moved to her hair, brushing it gently away from her neck.

The mark I’d left earlier bloomed faintly against her skin, and a quiet, possessive satisfaction settled in my chest.

I leaned closer and pressed my lips over the spot. She murmured something incoherent, shifting closer.

“Nathan…” she hummed softly, her eyelids lifting for a second before falling again. Her hand reached out blindly, searching for me.

I caught it before it could fall back to the mattress and curled my fingers around hers. “Yeah,” I whispered, bringing her knuckles to my mouth. “It’s me.”

Her lips curved into a sleepy smile, relief softening her entire face. Her lashes fluttered lazily as she shifted closer, pressing into me, “Hmm,” she murmured in satisfaction, nuzzling into my chest.

A tiny frown creased her forehead, and she tapped the pillow beside her. “Sleep,” she mumbled, already drifting again.

My eyebrows pulled closer, and I reached for her neck, checking her pulse. It was so calm, rhythmic, and peaceful, so I was sure she wasn’t lost in her head. Malcolm did say the pills were so heavy and could make her drowsy.

She seemed to be half asleep and not fully here.

Her fingers curled into my white shirt, fisting the fabric as she tugged weakly. “Come on…sleep,” she whined softly, all energy drained. “In my dreams, you always listen to me, come on.”

I chuckled softly and lowered my head to the pillow, taking the spot next to her. Her lips curved up, so happy, and she snuggled into me, her hazy, sleepy gaze the most beautiful thing in this world. She rested her hand over my face, her fingers fluttering over my cheek, “I like dream-Nathan more sometimes,” She whisppered.

I chuckled quietly, so I was dream Nathan now, cool.

“Why?” I asked.

Her fingers moved from my cheek to my nose and down to the curve of my lips, so unaware, actually believing this to be a dream, “Dream Nathan is more gentle, he listens to me and doesn’t fight me on everything.”

I wrapped my arm around her waist, my palm settling at the small of her back, pulling her flush against me.

Her lips formed a tiny pout. “But I like real-life Nathan too,” she added sleepily. “He’s just so…infuriating.”

“Is he now?” I asked, enjoying this more than I should’ve. It felt like she’d tell me everything in this hazy state.

“Uh-huh, he is so stubborn, insane, and not…gentle, he hurts me sometimes.”

A crease cut across my forehead, fuck, “You should kick his ass when he does.”

She nodded again, so innocent it nearly killed me. “I do, sometimes.”

“That’s my girl,” I whispered, brushing her hair back and tucking it behind her ear.

Her smile widened on instinct, like I’d given her the best praise ever.

“What?” I asked.

“I like it,” She muttered.

“Like what?”

“When you call me…your girl, or a good girl,” She muttered, so unfiltered, “Or when you call me beautiful…do you really think I am beautiful?”

I mirrored her smile, “You asking that makes me feel like I’ve failed to show you what you do to me,” I muttered. “You are the most exquisite thing on the face of this earth, princess.”

A pink flush bloomed across her sweet face. “Told you, I like dream Nathan more.”

I huffed a quiet laugh. “Real Nathan thinks you’re extremely beautiful, too.”

She nodded, “He does, but then he says something equally annoying and makes me forget the praise,” She added in sleepy annoyance, whining about me to me.

“I am starting to hate the real Nathan, too, now,” I grumbled, annoyed at the way she drew me in her subconscious mind.

Her eyes widened in sleepy protest. She reached up and brushed the side of my hair back gently, shaking her head, “No, no, don’t hate him, he is still my favorite person, but he is a menace, what can we do…” She sighed in resignation, like she’d already surrendered her fate to me.

I was gonna eat her up if she kept saying things like this with this sleepy, adorable voice.

She kept smoothing my hair back, and somewhere between her fingers and her warmth, I forgot why I’d climbed her balcony in the first place. Lying next to her like this was the closest thing to peace I’d had in a month.

She was smiling still, gazing at me like I was everything right in her world, “You’re so handsome,” She muttered, making me chuckle again at her antics.

She brushed my cheek so gently, “You have such a pretty face.”

Her words shouldn’t have killed my smile, but they did. My jaw tightened as something pulled and pushed at my skull, clawing, begging to be released for once, but I repressed it. Repress, repress…

I lifted my hand and gently wrapped my fingers around her wrist, easing her touch away from my face. “Don’t…say that.”

Her brows pinched together. “Why?”

I shook my head, my chest fucking tight all of a sudden, “Just don’t.”

She nodded her head, not prodding for more. Her gaze dropped to my chest instead, fingers drifting to my collar, absently playing with the buttons of my shirt.

“Nathan,” She muttered, “I am kind of mad at you, by the way.”

“Why is that?” I whispered, trying to pull myself back into the moment and shake off the sudden darkness that clawed behind my eyes.

She looked up at me, lips forming a small pout. “You didn’t kiss me.”

My brows drew together. “I did.”

She shook her head slowly and lifted her hand again, brushing her fingertips softly over my lips. “No, not…here,” She whispered sadly, “Tonight felt like…like when you and I first met, when it was just physical. You used to not kiss me back then, either…you’d always turn me around and just do it, like you couldn’t handle to look at my face.”

“That’s not it…”

“It feels like it,” she murmured, and fuck, I would’ve torn down buildings to erase that look in her eyes, “I don’t want us to go back to that, promise me we won’t. It took so much time for you to open up to me, to even…to take off your clothes or have sex face to face…it’s almost like you don’t trust me at all.”

I edged closer, my forehead brushing hers, “Of course I trust you, even when you keep hurting me, I still do, but this is…different.”

“How so?” she asked, “It’s like the second I get a bit more control than you, you immediately snap,” She added, her brows tugging closer. “Why is having so much control during sex so important to you?”

My jaw tightened. Why the fuck was she asking all of this now?

“I have my reasons,” I said.

“Will you tell me these reasons?”

I shook my head, “No.”

Her frown deepened, “You sound like real Nathan now,” she grumbled with a huff, “Also, also…you never even let me get on top, not even for once, your loss though, it would be so pleasurable, you’re missing out, just saying,” She added, her sleepy, hazy state letting loose of all of her filters.

I stayed silent, maybe her mind would get lost down another path and change the fucking subject. She kept silent too, for a very long moment, just gazing at me with cloudy green eyes before she edged closer and pecked my lips softly.

“Tell real Nathan to kiss me properly when I wake up, okay?”

Something inside my chest cracked open quietly, and I smiled, faintly, “I will.”

Her eyelids fluttered closed, the last of her energy slipping away. She snuggled into me, humming faintly against my chest, her fingers curling into my shirt.

I wrapped my arm tighter around her, pulling her closer, pressing my lips into her hair.

The plan to whisk her away from here, to drag her into my chaos and make the world deal with it, faded.

I had a better plan now, safer, one where she wouldn’t wake up resenting me.

With her steady pulse beneath my palm and her warmth pressed along my side, sleep finally claimed me, too.

When I woke up, we were still tangled exactly the same way, like neither of us had dared to move. Her jasmine scent lingered everywhere, on the pillow, over my clothes, and deep in my lungs, wiring them up.

I blinked away the last of the haze and lifted my hand to check the time. Six thirty…early enough.

Slowly and carefully, I disentangled myself from her. My sleepyhead princess let out a soft protest, her head burrowing deeper into the pillow, utterly unaware of the world. I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her temple, brushing my thumb along her cheek before pulling the blanket up and tucking it gently beneath her neck.

She sighed, so peaceful.

I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled out my phone, texting Adam. I filled him in on the new plan, leaving no detail out.

When I finished, I glanced back at her once more before I moved toward the balcony.

I slipped outside and climbed down just as carefully as I had come up, the cold biting at my skin as I descended. Snow drifted down in slow, lazy flakes, brushing against my face as my shoes pressed into the frozen grass.

I looked up at the balcony once more, then scanned the perimeter, noticing a few guards by the entrance. Hmm, good.

My gaze dropped to the thin wire stretched along the side of the yard, connected to the alarm system.

I exhaled slowly. Well, anything for my princess.

I stepped on the wire, and not a second later, the alarms tore through the early morning silence.

Ah, music.

I moved fast, slipping into the shadows before Aylin could come out and spot me. I repositioned near the gate just as the guards scrambled like ants whose hill had been kicked.

The main door flew open, and dear old Charles stepped out, confusion flashing across his face as he scanned his surroundings before it hardened into authority. He barked orders while his men scattered in every direction.

My eyes flickered upward, and right on cue, Aylin stepped onto the balcony, her hair slightly messy, still wrapped in sleep and haziness. She rubbed at her eyes slowly, looking so soft and tender, like some angel.

God, she was an angel indeed, one I’ll kidnap into my hell.

For half a second, I almost regretted this, almost.

She scanned the yard, so very confused. Then she disappeared back inside, probably heading downstairs.

I had to be quick.

The guards were searching everywhere except where I actually was. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Trying to get caught isn’t as easy as it looks.

I bent down, grabbed a rock, and stepped out from behind the bushes just enough to make myself visible, hurling it at one of the men. It hit him square in the shoulder. He startled, spinning around, his eyes locking onto me.

I smiled and winked, “Come and get me,” I said.

His expression shifted from confusion to rage in half a second. He barked something to the others and sprinted toward me. Perfect. I took off, running past the gate and making sure to widen the distance from the house. I couldn’t risk Aylin seeing me get caught. That would ruin my plan.

Footsteps multiplied behind me, maybe three or four men. Once I was sure we were far enough from the house, I stopped abruptly and turned around.

They nearly crashed into each other.

Two of them raised their guns instantly, aiming at my chest, slightly thrown by the fact that I wasn’t running anymore.

“You guys must consider yourselves very lucky,” I said calmly. “People don’t usually get the pleasure of catching me.”

Their confusion deepened.

I slowly lifted my hands in surrender and winked, “I’m all yours.”

My first instinct wasn’t this.

My first instinct was to climb back up, grab Aylin, and disappear with her before anyone could blink.

But for once…I listened to Nikolas.

I fought my instinct.

Now it’s time to show Aylin her granddaddy’s real face.

⊹˚₊‧──────────────────‧₊˚⊹

Author’s note:

Hey!

This was a long chapter, hope you enjoyed it! 😉

Nathan would just not quit being so damn manipulative, this menace, let’s see if his plan will work this time xD

See ya soon 🩶