Knowing the criminal code was the only thing stopping me from ending this tour in the bloodiest way possible. No one had ever tested my patience and control the way Estelle did. Yet, I found a way to stop myself from killing her. Me and my brain agreed to treat her like a lunatic who didn't truly know what she was saying and doing. As I uploaded new settings into my system, I was finally able to ignore her rambling about how she would soon become the owner of this company and focus on leading her through the important elements of our project.“And I believe this is it.” I forced myself to smile, stopping by the elevators. “I've shown you everything there is to see about the Happy App.”She wagged her finger “no” and chuckled. “I need one more thing. I need all access codes so that my specialists can test whether we can make some improvements.”The tame I'd made to block my rage cracked into pieces. My hands curled into tight fists as I stepped closer and locked my eyes on hers. “That'
KILLIANI slumped in the chair in Gunner's office and dragged my hand over my face. “A lot of rumors and nothing solid,” I mused, glancing at Gunner and his two men, who had just entered the room, placing the latest reports on the desk.“You should get some sleep,” Gunner said, walking over to me and patting my shoulder. “We will check the rest of the leads ourselves.”“I wanted to have at least one concrete piece of information before I return home,” I told him. “But this? It's just more and more frustrating.”Gunner narrowed his eyes at me, then snapped his fingers, telling his men to leave the room. Once the door closed behind them, he turned to me. “Mind telling me what's going on? Your thoughts are clearly elsewhere, and this ‘frustration’ has nothing to do with the interrogations.”I pinched the bridge of my nose. “I'm not sure you want to hear about my… relationship problems.”He chuckled, grabbing a chair and sitting in front of me. “Always happy to hear you out. As a once-mar
Three hours after Farid Talpur had left, I still couldn't regain my composure. Thousands of questions ran through my head as I began to recall everything I could remember from that time. As a twelve-year-old, I wasn't involved in company matters, but I remembered that on the day of the accident, my father stayed at home. He'd spent hours on the phone, cursing and shouting at whoever had been on the other side of the line. Was it possible that my aunt's and uncle's deaths hadn't been an accident but a well-orchestrated assassination? Could my father be the one behind it?My body was still tense as I returned to the penthouse. I wanted to see Josie. At some point, she had become my anchor, my remedy, my balance, and right now, I needed her more than ever. I realized how selfish I was. I hadn't talked to her since our fight, and I should have apologized first, but right now, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her senseless was all I could think about.“Josie?” I called out as I ente
JOSIEI wished I could say that the insane amount of alcohol I had drunk the night before had helped me find a solution to all my problems. It hadn't. After the moment of blissful ignorance, the hangover came with a vengeance, and if it hadn't been for Aaron's magical potion—something with a lot of turmeric and ginger—I wouldn't have crawled out of bed until noon.“I hate Estelle,” Ashley grumbled before slurping her Americano.“I hate her too,” I mumbled, wondering how my coffee would taste if I added mint chocolate ice cream to it. Then I stopped wondering and added a spoonful of ice cream to my cup, hoping that sugar dopamine and caffeine would help me restore my energy.Ashley watched me as I tasted my mixture. Then she shrugged, grabbed a spoon, and added ice cream to her coffee too. She took a sip and sighed. “Best breakfast I could think of right now.”I breathed out a laugh. “You say it now. We'll probably regret it later.”Ashley gave me a look. “Do I look like I care?”I shoo
I felt just like that day when Killian's friends poured a bucket of ice cubes over my head. Only this time, it was my heart that felt the hit the most. Killian's embrace began to burn my skin. I pressed my hands to his chest, trying to push him away and free myself, but he shifted his arms around me, pulling me close again.“Josie, please… Let me finish,” he said softly. “I don't want to leave you. I don't want to hurt you…”“Then... what do you mean?” I choked out.He breathed out slowly, dipping his head and hiding his face in the crook of my neck. “I'm a bastard for starting our conversation like this... but there's no time left.” He kissed his way up to my jaw before raising his eyes to mine. “We need to hide our relationship for a while. We need to officially break up. That's the only way I can force my father to lower his guard. Then I will do whatever I can to stop the merger.”My brows knitted. “So... what was this?” I pointed at our naked bodies. “A goodbye sex?”He tilted hi
KILLIANI kept reminding myself that I was doing the right thing. I was keeping her safe. I kept her off the radar. So why did everything about that false breakup feel wrong?It felt even worse when I returned to my penthouse. This apartment had never felt more empty than now after she had left. Her scent weakened by the second, and my chest tightened at the thought she wouldn't be here for the next few weeks or more.My hands curled into tight fists. I hated this situation. I wished I could say my father and Yan Hao could go fuck themselves, but acting this way would have been utterly reckless. If my father had ordered to kill, or at least scare, Farid Talpur just because he had heard a part of his conversation with Yan Hao, I didn't want to think about what would have happened to Josie if someone had decided her presence threatened the merger. I would have never risked finding out.I knew that Josie didn't want this, I hated forcing her to pretend. Nothing about it seemed fair, and
“You are an idiot.” Tony glared at me as he refilled our whiskey glasses. “The Killian I know would have never done what you did.” He clicked his tongue before sitting on the sofa in my study.“And what did I do that is so unlike me?” I snatched my glass from the coffee table and took a decent drink.Tony frowned. “You are playing someone else's game! You're not attacking, you play in defense! Furthermore, you've taken a few steps back and given them the field!”My brows rose. “Seriously? You're the one talking about attack and defense?”“You know damn well what I mean,” he grunted, rolling his eyes. “You care about Josie, so why are you pushing her away… again?”I gave him a look. “I'm not pushing her away. I'm protecting her.”He gave me a thin-lipped smile. “I believe she sees breaking up differently.”“It's not a real breakup,” I argued.“But she had to move out, and you cannot see officially each other. That's pretty much like a REAL breakup,” he reasoned.I ground my teeth. “I k
JOSIEI crawled out of bed and stumbled toward the row of wall-to-ceiling windows overlooking the East River. The view from my bedroom was stunning, and so was my entire new apartment, but I couldn't find even a sliver of excitement within me.Sighing deeply, I pressed my hands to the window and blankly stared at the Manhattan skyscrapers. I instantly wished I could be on the other side of the river instead of here, where I felt as if I were exiled. A few months ago, if I'd been given such an apartment, it would have been like winning the lottery. Right now, I couldn't care less about where I lived. I only wanted Killian to be there with me.Letting out another sigh, I moved away from the window, grabbed a few clothes, and started preparing for work. I debated whether or not I should apply any makeup, but the dark circles under my eyes told me I should.“Don't crawl into your shell. Don't crawl into your shell. Don't crawl into your shell…” I kept repeating my mantra as I stared at my