Nova's POV
That's not possible. My voice cracks as I stare at the screen. Sienna wouldn't—
She is. Caspian's voice is gentle now. Too gentle. Like he's delivering a fatal diagnosis.
He zooms in on my sister's face. She's rifling through my things with familiar, casual movements. Like she's done this before.
No. Tears burn my eyes. She testified against me, but I thought Julian manipulated her—
She wasn't manipulated. Caspian pulls up text messages. She started sleeping with Julian six months before your engagement ended. She helped plant the evidence that got you arrested.
Each word is a knife to my chest.
My baby sister. The girl I protected our whole lives. Paid for her college. Defended her when Dad called her worthless.
She destroyed me deliberately.
Why? The word comes out broken.
Caspian's hand finds mine, fingers lacing through. The contact grounds me even as my world shatters.
Jealousy. He pulls up messages between Sienna and Julian. Read them.
I don't want to. But I force myself to look.
Nova always gets everything. Perfect job. Perfect man. I'm sick of being the failure.
She won't even know what hit her.
Can't wait to see her face when she loses it all.
A sob tears from my throat. Caspian's arm comes around my shoulders, pulling me against his side.
I'm sorry, he murmurs into my hair. I know what betrayal feels like.
I laugh, but it sounds hysterical. Do you? Has your sister ever tried to kill you?
His body goes rigid against mine.
No. His voice turns rough. My sister loved me. She died protecting me.
The pain in his words cuts through my shock. I look up at him.
This close, I see the grief etched into his features. The guilt. The rage that turned him into this dangerous, isolated man.
What happened? I whisper.
Caspian stares at the monitors for a long moment. Then he stands, moves to the window overlooking the city. Putting distance between us.
I should let him. Should focus on my own betrayal.
But something pulls me to my feet, draws me across the room to stand beside him.
Tell me, I say softly.
His jaw clenches. Then he speaks, voice hollow.
Three years ago, I was twenty-nine. Worth twelve billion dollars. Obsidian Security was unstoppable. He laughs bitterly. I thought I was invincible.
I wait, sensing he needs to tell this story.
My competitor, Nexus Corporation, wanted my encryption technology. Tried to buy Obsidian. I refused. His hands curl into fists. So they sent men to kidnap my sister Aria. Planned to use her as leverage.
My heart aches for him.
She was twenty-two. Brilliant. In medical school. Pain cracks through his cold mask. The kidnappers botched it. Killed her instead. Made it look like a car accident.
Oh my God, I breathe.
I found out the truth two days later. Caspian turns to face me, and the raw grief in his eyes makes my chest hurt. I called in every favor. Used every connection. Within a week, I had proof. Nexus Corporation's CEO personally authorized it.
His eyes are dead. Empty.
What did you do?
I destroyed them. No emotion. Just cold fact. Hacked their systems. Exposed their crimes. Destroyed their stock. Got their executives arrested. Within six months, Nexus Corporation was ash.
I shiver at the ruthless determination in his voice.
And then?
Then I disappeared. He gestures at his fortress. Sold Obsidian. Took my money and built this place. Decided I would never fail to protect someone again.
Understanding dawns. That's why you saved me.
Partly. He moves closer, and suddenly the air between us feels charged. But that's not the whole truth.
What's the whole truth?
His hand reaches up, hovering near my face but not quite touching. Like he's afraid I'll pull away.
When you moved in eight months ago, my security system flagged anomalies. I investigated. His fingers finally make contact—just barely brushing my cheek. The touch sends electricity through me. I found your story. What Julian did. How Sienna betrayed you. How you lost everything but refused to break.
His thumb strokes across my cheekbone, and I forget how to breathe.
I saw strength, he continues, voice dropping lower. Resilience. Brilliance surviving despite the world trying to crush it. His eyes search mine. I saw someone worth protecting. Worth fighting for. Worth—
He stops, jaw clenching.
Worth what? I whisper.
His hand cups my jaw fully now, tilting my face up to his. We're so close I can feel his breath.
Worth risking everything for, he finishes quietly. I decided eight months ago that I would not let you die like Aria did. That I would eliminate every threat. That I would make you mine to protect, mine to defend, mine to
He cuts himself off, but his eyes burn with something that has nothing to do with protection.
Mine to what? My voice is barely audible.
Keep. The word is rough. Raw. Mine to keep, Nova. Not just safe. Just... mine.
The possessive intensity should terrify me. Instead, heat pools low in my belly.
That's obsession, I manage.
Yes. His other hand finds my waist, pulling me fractionally closer. But you're not running.
He's right. I should be. Should pull away from this dangerous, broken man who's admitted to stalking me.
But his hands are gentle despite his strength, and his eyes hold the same desperate loneliness I see in the mirror, and eighteen months of isolation makes me crave this contact like oxygen.
I don't know what I'm doing, I whisper.
Neither do I. His forehead drops to rest against mine. I've been alone for three years, Nova. Cold. Dead inside. And then you moved in below me, and—
Alarms explode across his screens.
Caspian jerks back, the moment shattered. He's at his computers in seconds.
What now? I wrap my arms around myself, missing his warmth.
They're moving. He types frantically. Volkov's men. They're not waiting.
On screen, tactical teams rush into the building. Not careful anymore. Just fast and brutal.
How long? Fear cuts through everything else.
Twenty minutes. Caspian pulls weapons from his safe with practiced efficiency. Maybe less.
We need to run—
There's nowhere to run! For the first time, his voice rises. Real fear in it. They have every exit covered.
Panic claws at my throat. So we're trapped?
Yes. He loads guns, his hands steady despite the fear in his eyes. But I've fought worse odds.
Have you fought thirty trained killers alone?
Caspian turns, and the fierce determination in his expression steals my breath.
I've done terrible things, Nova. Violent things. I'm not a good man. He crosses to me in three strides, grabs my shoulders. But I am the man who will burn this entire building down before I let them touch you.
The fervor in his voice, the possessive fire in his eyes—it should scare me.
Instead, it makes me feel safer than I have in eighteen months.
I believe you, I whisper.
Something blazes in his expression. His hands slide from my shoulders to cup my face.
When this is over he starts.
Every light dies.
Total darkness swallows us.
I gasp. Caspian's arms wrap around me instantly, pulling me flush against his body.
Don't move, he breathes in my ear, and even now, his voice sends shivers through me.
Red emergency lights flicker on. Pulsing. Ominous.
On his screens, a new camera feed appears.
Not from outside.
From inside the penthouse.
A camera Caspian didn't install.
Text scrolls across the screen:
Hello, Mr. Mercer. Did you think you were the only one with cameras? We've been inside your fortress for weeks. Planting. Watching. Waiting. And now, we're coming for what's ours. Surrender the girl in five minutes, or we detonate the explosives. Your choice. Tick tock.
Caspian's face goes white.
Explosives? I whisper against his chest. Where?
He pulls up schematics with shaking hands—the first time I've seen him lose composure.
Six points marked in red throughout the penthouse. Under floorboards. Behind walls. In ventilation shafts.
Enough to bring down the entire floor.
They've been inside my home, Caspian says, voice hollow. Inside my safe place. Planning this while I
A countdown appears on screen.
4:47... 4:46... 4:45...
His arms tighten around me. Nova, listen to me very carefully.
I look up at him. His eyes burn with desperate intensity.
I'm going to get you out of here, he says. Whatever it takes. Whatever I have to do. You survive this. Do you understand?
Caspian
Promise me. His grip borders on painful. Promise me you'll survive.
Understanding crashes over me. No. No, you're not sacrificing yourself
I've been dead for three years. His hand tangles in my hair. But you, you're alive. Brilliant. You deserve to live.
Not without
His mouth crashes onto mine.
The kiss is desperate, fierce, claiming. His lips move against mine with barely restrained hunger, and I kiss him back just as desperately, my hands fisting in his shirt.
He tastes like danger and salvation, and when his tongue sweeps into my mouth, I forget how to think.
Forget we're about to die.
Forget everything except the way he's kissing me like I'm oxygen and he's been drowning.
He pulls back, both of us breathing hard.
I decided eight months ago you were mine, he says roughly. And I protect what's mine.
The screen flashes: 3:12... 3:11... 3:10...