Page 44 of Forbidden Empire (Sinful Gods #1)

I wanted to make her stay behind, keep her safe, but the idea alone was a loaded gun.

One pull of the trigger and the soft, open Esme I’d finally gotten to see would vanish, maybe for good. She’d walk away and never look back.

I wasn’t willing to take that risk—not with her.

So I kept quiet, letting the tension fester, letting her see how serious this was. We were about to cross a line, and there was no room for mistakes or second thoughts. Our lives were on the line, and that wasn’t something either of us could pretend away.

This was the life I’d chosen. Getting my hands dirty wasn’t an accident—it was survival. You learned fast, or you got buried.

Zeno knew it. Thal, too.

We all had something to gain from this scheme.

Our business would thrive off the bones of Rhea’s empire, splitting her assets between us. But Esme?

All she had was vengeance, that cold, sharp promise lodged in her heart. Was that worth the risk, the danger that could easily swallow her whole?

I wanted to roar at her, grip her shoulders, and shake her until she saw sense, pin her to the bed and leave her there, seething, while I walked away to deal with it myself, only to come back, gather her in my arms, and fuck away all the bitterness until she forgave me.

But I knew none of that would work. No amount of shouting or rough hands could change Esme’s mind. She wouldn’t forgive, not for this.

This was a path she had to walk, pain and all, to reach that jagged place of satisfaction. If I tried to stop her, it would destroy us both.

So I kept it all locked up inside, the words burning my throat.

When the driver finally slowed and the tires crunched off the dirt road, dust swirling in the headlights, relief crashed through me. I wanted it done.

Over. For the first time, the future didn’t look like a threat.

It looked like a fucking promise. I glanced at Esme, unable to offer her one last chance to escape. There was no turning back.

“Esme, you know you can change your mind. It’s not too late.”

Instead of anger flashing in her eyes, she just smiled, something almost gentle about it.

“I’ll be okay, Aidon,” she said. “I promise. You don’t need to worry about me. But thank you for caring.”

I nodded. “Alright then. Let’s do this.”

“Yes. Let’s go. Together. Like we planned.”

I leaned in, crushing my mouth to hers in a hard, hungry kiss before wrenching myself away and reaching for the door.

When all the cars had finally pulled over, we assembled in the shadow of the mountain, the air thick with anticipation. Every man in our group fell silent, waiting.

“We head north,” Ares barked, cutting through the night.

He took command of all three groups, and it was a sight: Thal’s small coalition, dwarfed by Zeno’s army, but together with my own security team. Every man was huge, intimidating, and armed to the teeth—the kind of force that left nothing to chance.

We moved in silence, every step toward Rhea’s compound feeding something wild in my chest. Confidence burned through my veins, hotter than blood, a wildfire swelling as the moon carved silver into the darkness.

Esme kept pace beside me, head high, eyes flashing with a terrible, beautiful certainty. Her mouth was set, unyielding. The only light was the moon, and it made her fierce, almost untouchable.

I had to look away.

I couldn’t let myself slip. Couldn’t falter. Couldn’t drown in the sight of her. Esme, the woman I would destroy worlds for, was caught in the moonlight, surrounded by the storm she embodied. I told myself my job was to protect her, even when she said she didn’t need it.

Even when she looked so fucking gorgeous and unstoppable, striding into danger, all that raw resolve on her face.

And I couldn’t focus on the fact that I’d just called it love. That word. That feeling. Thundering in my chest, a secret I could barely admit to myself.

I shoved it all down, knuckles white on the steering wheel, refusing to let myself glance at Esme and the way her beauty threatened to pull me apart from the inside out. Later, I promised myself.

Later, when the world wasn’t hanging by a thread, I’d let myself drown in her. But right now?

Now I had to focus, keep my pulse steady, my hands sure. Except a vision of her cut through the darkness anyway: sprawled out on my bed, hair wild around her, thighs parted and slick as I drove my cock into her again and again, her moans echoing somewhere deep in my chest.

Fuck. What was she doing to me?

How had she burrowed so deep under my skin, turned my bones to fire and my thoughts to chaos?

I made a vow right then, teeth clenched and jaw aching: if we survived tonight, just barely scraped by, I’d take her out past the city lights tomorrow and fuck her under the moon until I forgot my own name.

But there was no room for that now. Not with so much riding on my back. I shoved the hunger down, locked it tight, and forced every cell in my body to remember what was at stake. I wouldn’t let my weakness cost us everything.

Not Esme. Not any of us.

And she was my weakness. Everyone knew it by now.

Rhea had figured it out even before I’d admitted it to myself, and she’d twisted the knife without hesitation, the way only someone like her could.

She wouldn’t hold back tonight, either. Not even for a second.

That was why I wouldn’t let Esme leave my side. If she slipped too far, Rhea would snatch her up in a heartbeat, and this time, she wouldn’t settle for a warning shot. She’d finish what she'd started. Maybe worse.

The thought made me flinch, muscles tightening. I forced it away, dragging in a breath, shaking my head as though I could rattle the anxiety loose. Couldn’t afford that now. Couldn’t risk it, not with everything on the line.

Not with her on the line.

Fuck. The only thing I loved.

Love. Love. Love.

The word pounded through me, an endless echo every time my boot hit the dirt. Step after step, the word drove itself deeper into my chest, into my bones, until I half-expected the others to hear it, especially Esme.

She glanced over, breath brushing my arm. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” My answer was rough, unsteady. I tipped my head back, eyes fixed on the moon, letting its cold light flood over me and spill into the cracks.

If tonight were the night I died, this wouldn’t be the worst way to go. My best men stood beside me. My pride remained intact. Hands steady, heart ready to spill whatever blood was necessary.

For her.

If I had to die tonight, it wouldn’t be so bad with Esme beside me. It would be alright, whatever happened. In fact, I could almost believe it would be perfect. But I wasn’t about to die, not tonight, not here, not like this.

That fate belonged to Rhea now. Poor Rhea. She’d sealed her fate ages ago, and there was no walking it back. No one fucked me over as hard as she had and lived to gloat about it.

Honestly, she had to know her time was almost up. She had to feel it every time she looked over her shoulder. It almost made me laugh, the thought of her believing she could be the first to take me down without paying the price.

No.

Tonight, Rhea was done for. And I couldn’t lie, I was almost giddy at the thought of being the one to end it for her.

The compound slid into sight as we rounded the edge of the rocky bluff. It sprawled behind chain link fencing, barbed wire curling along the top, every inch washed in glaring white from the oversized floodlights that cut through the darkness and made the shadows scatter.

My pulse thrummed, half anticipation, half something sweeter, and I could almost taste the coming surrender on my tongue.

“Looks like a fucking prison,” Zenos bit out.

“Looks like a fucking good place to destroy our enemy, if you ask me,” I shot back.

The rage I’d been carrying for Rhea had been simmering just beneath my skin, threatening to crack me open. Now, knowing she was just beyond that wall, I let it flood through me, let it burn hot and wild and hungry.

“Everything looks peaceful,” Ares observed, as if he didn’t trust the calm.

“Calm before the fucking storm,” I muttered.

My eyes swept the compound, memorizing every inch, every shadow, every threat.

Ares shifted, straightening his spine, his presence suddenly all leader. With two fingers, he pointed into the darkness ahead.

“North side. Compound’s got a massive gate. Main entrance. Security booth with one guard. He’s loaded for war, and the booth’s got eyes all over it, straight from the security hub inside. One button, and he can call in a shitload of backup. If he spots us, we’re fucked.”

“So, we make sure that doesn’t happen,” Esme said.

Zenos shot her a glare, still pissed she was here at all, but I ignored it.

“Exactly,” Ares replied, not missing a beat. “We do it by coming up behind him. I’ll handle it alone. Less noise, less chance of tipping him off. Once he’s down, we move in. Cameras will still see us, but my guy inside will keep security distracted. Timing is everything.”

Ares checked his watch, every movement crisp, sure. Then he nodded once.

“We’re right on time.” He pulled out his phone, thumb moving with quick precision, and sent the alert to our man inside.

We’d finally managed to sneak someone into Rhea’s operation, a spy who’d survived when so many before him had not.

He’d gone in undercover, smooth in his interview as a new guard, and she’d hired him without a second thought. His presence was everything; the mission hinged on him.

“You got this,” I said to Ares, locking eyes with him and letting the silent message settle between us before he turned and sprinted off.

No goodbyes, no hesitation, just the pure, electric trust of brothers in arms.

In the darkness, we watched him move. He zigzagged through the shadows, limbs taut and low, silent as a predator closing in.

My heart hammered in my chest so loud it was all I could hear. I couldn’t look away. Every muscle in my body was wired and waiting, my gaze flickering between Ares and the guard, my finger ready on the trigger if things went sideways.