The younger officer shifted uncomfortably. “Sir, we...”“You have no evidence,” Alexander interrupted coldly. “No footage. No proof. Just the word of two women who have every reason to want to harm my wife. So tell me, officers, what exactly gives you the authority to drag her out of bed for something you can’t even substantiate?”The older officer cleared his throat again, clearly choosing his words carefully. “This is just procedure, Mr. Blake. If Mrs. Blake cooperates, it will make things easier...”“I don’t think you understand,” Alexander said, taking a slow step forward.The power in his presence was suffocating, his dark eyes cutting into them with an intensity that left no room for argument. “There will be no cooperation because there is no case. If you have a legitimate warrant, you can present it to my lawyers. Until then, this conversation is over.”His words were final, leaving no room for debate.The officers exchanged a glance, both clearly unnerved by the sheer force of
Gerald adjusted the cuffs of his crisp suit, his sharp eyes scanning the well manicured gardens of his estate as his convoy prepared for departure.He exhaled slowly, suppressing the anger that simmered beneath his carefully constructed facade.Marcus’s capture had thrown a wrench in his operations, and now, with Alexander likely moving against him, he needed to reinforce his control before cracks formed in his empire.He stepped out of his grand foyer, the clicking of his polished shoes echoing as he descended the steps toward his awaiting car.His security detail moved like shadows around him, silent, precise, lethal.Their presence was a necessity, now more than ever.“Any new word from the men at the Blake residence?” Gerald asked, sliding into the back seat of his armored vehicle.The door shut with a heavy thud, enclosing him in a bubble of calculated power.One of his top enforcers, sat in the passenger seat ahead of him, his dark eyes meeting Gerald’s in the rearview mirror. “
Gerald’s eyes darkened, but before he could respond, Alexander turned his attention to the rest of the board.“I built this company alongside my father before any of you had a say in its future. I bled for this empire, sacrificed more than any of you could ever understand. And you think I’ll sit back while you try to erase me?” He scoffed. “Think again.”A thick silence followed, the weight of his words pressing against every individual in the room.Then, in a voice sharp as a blade, Alexander added, “Remove me from my position, and I promise you this, you won’t just be dealing with a man in a wheelchair. You’ll be dealing with the one person in this company who knows exactly where all the skeletons are buried.”A flicker of unease passed through a few directors’ expressions.Gerald narrowed his eyes, his fingers tightening around the edge of the table. “Is that a threat?”Alexander’s smirk was slow, deliberate. “No, Uncle. It’s a warning.”For the first time that morning, Gerald had
A little while later, freshly showered and dressed in a comfortable yet stylish ensemble, Sarah made her way downstairs.The scent of fresh coffee filled the air, mingling with the faint aroma of breakfast.She stepped into the grand living area, spotting two of Alexander’s men stationed near the entrance.“Where’s Alexander?” she asked, running a hand through her still damp hair.One of the guards, a tall, broad shouldered man, inclined his head respectfully. “He left for the office earlier this morning, Mrs. Blake.”Sarah blinked. “The office?”“Yes, ma’am. The Blake Group headquarters.”Sarah scoffed, crossing her arms. “And he didn’t bother waking me up?”He hesitated. “Mr. Blake instructed us not to disturb you.”Sarah let out an irritated sigh, throwing her hands up. “Of course he did! That man wears me out to the point of exhaustion and then just sneaks off like some kind of business ninja?”The guards wisely remained silent.Sarah placed a hand on her hip, muttering under her
Meanwhile, as these thoughts consumed him, Liam found himself at a high end bar in downtown Manhattan, whiskey in hand, the low hum of music surrounding him.A brunette with a body that could turn heads slid into the seat next to him, her sultry smile laced with invitation.“Mind if I join you?” she purred, running manicured fingers along the rim of her martini glass.Liam barely glanced at her.He had done this before. Tried to force himself to feel something, anything, for someone else.She placed a hand on his forearm, leaning in slightly.That’s when it happened.The instant wave of disgust that rolled through him.He pulled back as if burned, jaw tightening as he exhaled sharply. “Not interested.”The woman blinked, clearly taken aback by his cold dismissal. But Liam didn’t care.He threw back the rest of his whiskey and signaled for the bill.Enough was enough.He wasn’t going to lie to himself anymore.Sarah Miller,Sarah Blake, was the only woman who had ever made him feel this
Meanwhile, inside the Blake Group's towering skyscraper, the tension in the boardroom was thick enough to cut with a knife.Alexander, seated in his wheelchair, exuded an icy authority that countered Gerald’s smug confidence.They had been going back and forth for nearly an hour, each man refusing to yield an inch.Gerald wanted to strip him of control, to reduce him to a mere figurehead, but Alexander had built too much, fought too hard to let that happen.“You seem very confident in your little schemes, Uncle,” Alexander drawled, his voice deceptively calm, but his steel blue gaze was piercing. “But tell me, when has taking something from me ever ended well for you?”Gerald smirked, adjusting the gold cufflinks on his sleeve. “Confidence is one thing, Alexander. Reality is another.”Alexander let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “Reality?” He leaned forward, his fingers tapping against the mahogany table. “Let’s talk about reality. The reality where you had me shot and still fai
Raven hesitated, her jaw tightening. For a split second, Sarah saw something flicker across her face, pain, regret, something deeper than words could explain.But then, just as quickly, it was gone.“I had my reasons.”Sarah had no idea why, but something about that answer made her trust Raven more than if she had given a rehearsed response.She exhaled slowly, nodding. “Alright, then. Welcome to the chaos that is my life.”Raven’s lips lifted into an almost smirk. “Don’t worry, Mrs. Blake. I specialize in chaos.”Sarah let out a small laugh, shaking her head. “Well, you’ve come to the right place then.”Raven moved swiftly, drove her car around the McLaren into the house and asked Sarah to step down.Stepping around the front of the McLaren, she slid into the driver’s seat with practiced ease.Sarah barely had time to blink before the woman had adjusted the mirrors, opened the passenger seat for her, started the engine, and pulled out onto the road as if she had been driving for her
Sarah reached over and placed a hand on Raven’s arm.“It’s fine,” she murmured.Raven’s fingers flexed against the steering wheel.She clearly didn’t agree, but after a long moment, she gave a short nod.Sarah turned back to the officer, her voice firm. “Alright. We’ll cooperate.”Slowly, she unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the car.Raven followed, her movements precise, controlled. Even though she hadn’t drawn a weapon, there was something about the way she carried herself that made the officers hesitate.As if they knew deep down that they weren’t just dealing with ordinary women.“Your keys,” the second officer said, holding out his hand to Raven.She raised an eyebrow but said nothing, slipping the McLaren’s keys into his palm.Sarah glanced around. There were only two officers present, but she knew better than to think they were alone. More were likely stationed nearby, watching, waiting.Raven stood close, her presence a quiet but undeniable shield.“This is bullshit,”
Sarah stayed curled in Alexander’s arms for a long moment, breathing him in like he was the only tether keeping her from floating away.His hand cradled the back of her head, his chest rising and falling in unsteady waves as if he still couldn’t believe she was real, that she was here.But then her eyes drifted down.Her gaze locked on the white sheets, crumpled and slightly lifted around his lower half.Something tugged at her memory, the shot.The sharp crack of a bullet.The sight of him falling behind her as she ran, screaming his name. Her stomach twisted.She leaned back slightly, her hand moving instinctively to the edge of the blanket, brushing against the thick padding of a cast beneath.Her voice was soft. “You were shot… I remember… I...”Alexander caught her hand gently, pressing it to his lips. “It’s okay. I’m here.”But Sarah’s heart had already begun to race again. “You were limping… and I saw… but I didn’t know it was this bad.” Her eyes darted toward the crutches now
The first thing Sarah registered was the scent of antiseptic, clean, sharp, and nauseating.Then came the ache. Deep in her bones. In her chest. In the marrow of her soul.She stirred, her fingers twitching over crisp hospital sheets as her body shifted ever so slightly, and her mind scrambled to catch up.She wasn’t tied down. She wasn’t cold anymore. She wasn’t in that dark room. That house. That… nightmare.She was safe.Or… something like it.Her eyes fluttered open slowly, lashes damp from tears she hadn’t even known she’d been crying.The ceiling was a sterile white blur. The walls hummed faintly with distant activity, soft footfalls, medical monitors, the low murmur of conversation somewhere outside the door.But none of it mattered.Because he wasn’t there.And without him, none of this felt real.Her lips parted, cracked and dry, and she tried to speak. Tried to push out the name that had lived on the edge of every prayer she'd whispered during captivity.It came out broken a
Alexander turned his head, his eyes bloodshot and glistening. “I’ll be a burden now. She’ll never say it, but I’ll see it in her eyes. Pity. Guilt. I’d rather she hate me than pity me.”“She’s not that kind of woman,” Darius said firmly.A pause. Then Alexander swallowed hard and asked the question that had been clawing at him since the moment the doctor said the word paralysis.“What if she stays… just because she thinks she owes me?”Darius’s brow furrowed. “Then you remind her what you both have been through. Remind her who the hell you are. And what you mean to each other.”Silence again.Then Alexander leaned back against the pillows and stared up at the ceiling. “Gerald got away.”Darius’s expression hardened. “Barely. One of my men put a tracker on his vehicle before he escaped. Victoria got caught in the crossfire. Gerald used her,” Darius replied coldly. “He doesn’t care who dies as long as he gets what he wants.”Alexander’s jaw clenched. “Then we’ll burn every last shadow h
The sterile beep of Alexander’s heart monitor filled the hospital room like a metronome, steady and soft. The worst had passed, so the doctors said. He had survived the bullets, the blood loss, the surgery. He had defied death.But outside the room, just as Darius turned to check on Sarah again, something in her expression shifted.Relief.That was the first thing he saw.A full bodied, all consuming relief that weakened her spine, dulled her eyes, and uncoiled every taut muscle that had kept her upright through pain, fear, and heartbreak.Then she crumpled.“Sarah...!” Darius lunged forward and caught her just before her knees slammed into the polished floor.Her body was limp in his arms, barely conscious, her breathing shallow and unsteady. Her bloodied hands slipped against his shirt as he pulled her close, his voice sharp and commanding as he yelled over his shoulder, “Get a doctor! Now!”Within seconds, nurses flooded the corridor. A gurney was wheeled over, and Darius laid her d
The woman he’d secretly crushed on since the first night he saved her bleeding and defiant.“Holy shit,” he muttered.But she was already in the driver’s seat.The moment her fingers wrapped around the wheel, she changed. Her spine straightened. Her breath slowed. The fear didn’t vanish, but it sharpened, fused into her bones like steel.And when her foot hit the gas, the tires screamed their fury into the night.The SUV became a blur under her hands.Trees melted past them. Headlights glared like ghosts. The world narrowed to instinct and motion.Sarah didn’t flinch when they nearly sideswiped a truck. She didn’t panic when the back tires fishtailed across loose gravel. She was in it.. back.Back to the part of herself she’d buried when she married into the Blake family.Back to Sparrow.“Hang on,” she said under her breath, glancing at Alexander in the mirror, his head resting in Darius’s lap as the man tried to stop the bleeding.“He’s fading,” Darius warned. “We’ve got fifteen min
The air turned electric as Darius’s boots pounded the forest floor, his rifle cradled tight against his shoulder. His men moved ahead of him like shadows, silent, fast, lethal.Their coordinated breaths were drowned out by the distant echoes of gunfire erupting from the estate.Alexander was still fighting.He was alive.But for how long?“Alpha to all units,” Darius growled into his earpiece, “entry on my mark. Hostile count is high. Primary objective, get Alexander out alive. Secondary level anyone who tries to stop us.”“Copy that,” came a chorus of calm, battle hardened voices.Behind him, the night swallowed his words.But not all of it.He turned briefly, his sharp gaze locking onto Sarah, who stood beside the black SUV Darius had arrived in. Her body trembled, her eyes red from tears, but she had not collapsed.She hadn’t fallen apart.And that, Darius admired deeply.“Can you drive?” he asked, voice hard but not unkind.Sarah blinked, startled. “What?”“If this goes south, we’
SarahShe sat on the floor, trembling hands curled around a piece of porcelain, a broken teacup she’d stashed away after a “servant” delivered tea hours ago.The sharp edge glittered in her shaking grip.She was pale.Her lips cracked from dehydration. Her dress hung off her like it didn’t belong to her anymore. Her eyes were void. Empty.As if she was no longer here.“Just one cut,” she whispered to herself. “Just one cut and I’ll see him again.”She looked up, eyes glassy, smile fragile, as if she could see someone standing in front of her already.“Alexander,” she breathed to the ghost in her mind. “I’m sorry I didn’t wait. I couldn’t. I’m just... so tired…”She raised the shard to her wrist.And a hand caught her.Real. Warm. Strong.Her eyes widened in horror and disbelief. “No…”She turned, and for a heartbeat, she didn’t believe it.But he was there.Kneeling before her.Alexander.His chest heaving from the run. Dirt on his clothes. Gun holstered at his side. Eyes red, wild, b
Alexander hadn’t slept.He couldn’t.His mind was a storm of fury, grief, and determination, all tightly leashed beneath the sharp cut of his suit and the red ring around his eyes that hadn’t dulled since Sarah was taken.The private jet cut across the clouds like a missile, Darius seated across from him, tablet in hand, phone to his ear, speaking in rapid fire to his tech team.“She’s still alive,” Alexander muttered under his breath. Not to Darius. Not even to himself. To the universe. As if daring it to prove him wrong. “She has to be.”Darius finally looked up. “We caught a break. One of Gerald’s men paid a contact to move a chopper from that warehouse. The payment route was unusual, and we traced it to a shell company under a different alias… all leading to one place.”He tapped on the screen and turned it to Alexander.An isolated property on the southern coast. Hills. Forest. A private airstrip nearby. No neighbors for miles.Gerald’s new hideout.“You think he’s keeping her th
Alexander pulled at the collar of his coat, suffocating from the weight of regret.When she had insisted he save Raven, he thought he was doing the right thing.He believed that was what Sarah would want. But now, the decision clawed at his chest like poison.He imagined her now, alone, terrified, thinking he was dead. Thinking he’d abandoned her.And that killed him.With trembling fingers, he grabbed his phone and called the only man he trusted in a crisis this dire.“Pick up,” he growled.The line clicked.“Darius,” Alexander said, his voice steely. “They took her. Gerald, he has her. He flew her out in a chopper. I need you to mobilize everything. I don’t care what you’re doing, who you’re with, drop it. Get me a flight path. Scramble every contact you have in surveillance, air traffic, satellites, everything.”Darius’s voice was sharp, ready. “On it.”“And send a second team. Heavy artillery. No questions. I want Gerald hunted down like the rat he is.”“Consider it done.”Alexand