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“Dahlia…” I exhale roughly. “I fucking love you. But…” My throat works. I cover her hand with mine, anchoring us there. Just that simple press of flesh to flesh. “I don’t know how to do this any other way than owning you—body, mind, heart. Controlling every inch, code and component until you forget who you were before me. I will take you apart, remake you, and never give you back. Do you understand?”
“I understand, Sir.”
“Then take a beat before you jump. One way or another.”
She nods. “Okay. I will.”
God. She makes it sound so simple.
And somehow, impossibly, I believe her.
Because I’ve already given her things I’ve never given anyone—my trust, my pain, my complete Dominance. She’s tasted every bitter part of me and still looks at me like I’m something worth keeping.
And yet she hasn’t said the words. Maybe she’s hedging. Giving herself an out?
Maybe this is just the start of everything falling apart.
Or maybe it’s the moment we build something neither of us planned for.
She leans in and kisses me again. No heat this time. Just warmth and lips on lips. A kind of promise.
I pull her back into my arms, wrapping her tightly against me, and we fall asleep like that.
Tangled.
Surrendered.
Together.
For now.
CHAPTER 19
Dahlia
The quiet of the safehouse is deceptive. It’s the kind that doesn’t lull you—it hums with the climb to a crescendo. Whether it’ll be catastrophic or sublime? I have no fucking idea.
I sit on the floor beside the low table, legs folded, laptop open. The glow from the screen lights up my face.
Dante’s asleep in the other room. Or pretending to be. I can feel the tension in the walls, the way silence sharpens when we’re no longer touching.
I log into the chat server under my old alias. The one that used to make me feel untouchable. Invincible.
I need that tonight.
Three seconds and the screen floods with notifications.
ByteQueen:holy shit
ByteQueen:is that really you??
Zero_Day:you’ve been ghost for weeks!
Ghostfox:you alive or what? We been played?
FangsOut:What happened, Spec? Tell me you didn’t get got by Triple D???!
I bite my lip. The words hit harder than they should.