[Vivienne]The moment we step inside what seems like an unfinished room of sorts, the rancid smell of this bedraggled place crashes into me from all directions.It’s as if something died in here—and not in a peaceful way.I hear Axel gasp, his hands covering his mouth and nose almost instantly.Suddenly, the car that had felt suffocating earlier now seems better than this disaster of a place.“God, what is this place?” I moan, trying very hard to breathe through the poison.“Shut up!” But Samuel’s obviously in no mood to compromise with whatever he’s trying to achieve here.“Get over there.” He points at a pillar a few feet away from us, the only one that seems to be holding the entire place up. “Here. Take your spawn with you.” He pushes Axel toward me, and I gladly catch him in my arms.Anger pulses through every nerve ending inside me for how he’s been treating my son, but I keep my mouth shut, hoping to gain the upper hand soon enough—so I can finally show him his place.The basta
[Vivienne]“You’re making a huge mistake, Samuel. You have no idea what kind of trouble you’ve invited for yourself!”“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You think I care?” he spits out, the stench of alcohol practically burning my nostrils. He turns back to the road, driving like a madman. It doesn’t help that he’s holding Axel on his lap—one hand on the steering wheel, the other gripping a gun.I’m sitting next to him, and even though I’ve thought of a million ways to snatch that gun out of his hand, I can’t risk Axel’s life. This man has obviously lost his mind, and God knows what he’d do if I tried to fight him right now.“Why are you doing this?” I ask for what feels like the hundredth time since he forced us into his car. “You have nothing to gain.”All he’s doing is inviting a hell of a lot of trouble his way. I’m pretty sure my guards are following us. There’s no way he’s getting away from this unharmed. He’s either going to prison for a very long time… or, God forbid, he’s going to die.H
Before I can say another word, Alexander’s phone rings.He doesn’t ignore it. Doesn’t silence it like a decent man would in the middle of a moment that feels like it could break the Earth in half.No. He checks the screen. And to my absolute disbelief, answers it.“Give me a minute,” he mutters, already stepping aside.I stare after him, jaw clenched, something between rage and disbelief tightening every inch of my body.By the time he returns, all my anger and frustration have simmered down.And from the expression on his face, his have too.Now, he just walks back and shoves the phone into his pocket.“What did she say?” I ask, not even trying to hide the fact that I know whose call it was.“She’s worried about you.”I smile inwardly—or maybe I do that outwardly too—because the look on Alexander’s face changes dramatically.“Don’t tempt me to shove that smug grin off your face!”I shrug. “Well, you can try.”He rolls his eyes, and just like that, we’re back to being two normal peopl
“You told her to get rid of him, didn’t you?” he grits out.The question lands like a slap. Sharp. Meant to sting. Meant to expose.I don’t answer. Can’t.Because that’s not just a question. That’s a fucking landmine.I feel Ben’s small fingers still wrapped around mine, warm and trusting. Undeserved.God, I wish I could say no. I wish I could scream it, throw it in Alexander’s smug face with righteous rage and call him a liar, a manipulative bastard—anything that would shift the weight from my chest.But I can’t.Because once—just once, in the worst version of myself—I did.I put Ben down and drop to my knees so I can be face to face with him.“Why don’t you go ahead and sit in the car? I’ll be right out.”Ben looks at me, eyes searching—like he knows something’s off. Like he’s trying to read between the lines of my face, the way kids do when they’re too young to understand the words but old enough to feel the weight behind them.“You promise?” he asks softly, his voice so small it n
[Caden]“You are kidding, right?”Silence. A long one. The one that says more than what he’s not saying.And that alone is enough for me to tighten my fists. But then I look at Ben and try to calm down the storm that’s now ready to explode inside me. I take a deep, deep breath.“You know what? I don’t have to hear this.”I turn to leave, but Alexander’s men are still standing in front of me, guarding the entrance, weapon drawn.Fuck. Why the hell does he have to make this so difficult?I sigh, frustrated. “You’re not going to make this any easier, are you?”“We need to talk, Caden,” he says, serious. “And until you hear out what I have to say, no one’s leaving.”Fuck. “Can’t we do this some other time? If you haven’t been paying attention, then let me remind you that the woman you work for, that psycho, she abducted my kid. And now my kid needs his rest. He needs to go back to his ‘normal’ life.”“I know,” he says. “And I’m not stopping you. In fact, what I want to talk about explains
[Vivienne]I stare at him for a long minute—maybe longer—because whatever the hell just came out of his mouth didn’t make any sense.My heart drops deep down into my stomach, and my eyes widen as if to make up for my absent verbal reaction.For a second, I have no clue what’s happening. If I’m even breathing or not. If I’m even awake—or if I’ve somehow fallen asleep.Caden was shot?Why the fuck does that make no sense?“You’re lying.” The fact that I just had a word with Alexander and he said nothing like this makes every inch of me want to deny Samuel’s claim. “Because I just talked—”“I’M NOT LYING!” he screams in my face, as if he could scare me into believing.But what actually happens is—I take a step back, realizing he’s probably not telling me the truth.Something seems off about him, too.I might be seeing this man after a very, very long time, but I still remember the chaos he’s capable of. The reasons he left his family. The reasons he never got along with Caden in the firs