fractured and wrong. She stood there for too long, trying to replay the nun's last look – the warning in her eyes, the weight in her voice – when she felt the air tighten again.

at first. Just looked at her. Smiled slightly. Like he was looking at a chess piece that had wan

. Then walked past her like he hadn't just detonated everything she'd built. She didn't turn around. She didn't chase him. Her entire body

ll did he know she was pregnant? Her hand drifted to her stomach, still flat, still hers. But no longer hidden. She scrambled to find the burner phone she kept beneath the floorboard, powered it on with shaking fingers, and hit Isa's code. The line picked up f

our face the day you walked into the Velvet Room. That wine you poured? That wasn't just a moment. It was protocol. You were the test." Catalina's mouth dried out. "A test?" "To see if Lucien would fall. To see if he'd betray the

ants you erased. And the baby too." She gripped the edge of the dresser, stood slowly, heart thudding like a scream inside h

-

o one interrupted the devil's family when they argued. Valentina didn't see it start. But she heard the aftermath. Doors slamming. Glass shattering. A single shout. Then silence. She left her room sl

reached out, touched his wrist, and he let her; then he took her hand, and without a word, he led her back into his room. Lucien kissed her like he was trying to climb inside her body, to disappear into her skin and drown in whatever wasn't haunted. His hands we

floor. No sweetness. No softness. Just need. Raw and unforgiving and full of questions they didn't dare speak. When she came, she bit his shoulder, leaving a mark that would bruise for days. When he finished, he collapsed beside her,

-

she passed them on the way to the terrace, they nodded. Not because she was a mistress. But because she was something else now. Lucien Torres had taken control of the empire. The word was

to end him. He didn't know she carried a child that wasn't part of the plan. And yet, she couldn't stop shaking when he touched her. She couldn't stop craving the man