Chapter 7 - SAFE HAVEN
That night, Vincent came to my room.
The house was on total lockdown. Snipers on the roof. Guards at every door. I was sitting on the edge of my bed, staring at the wall, shivering despite the heavy blanket wrapped around my shoulders.
He didn't knock. He stepped inside, closing the door softly behind him. He had changed out of his ruined suit, wearing only a black t-shirt and dark slacks, the holster at his hip a stark reminder of our reality.
"She's safe," he said softly, sitting next to me on the edge of the mattress. "I have six men outside her door. No one will ever touch her, Nora."
"Grant won't stop," I whispered, tears spilling over my cheeks. "He's lost his mind. He's so deep in with Kingsley, he has no way out but through us."
Vincent reached out, his large, calloused hand gently wiping a tear from my jaw. His touch was electric, sending a shiver down my spine that had nothing to do with fear. "I told you once, I am not a man who lets what is his be taken from him."
"I'm not yours, Vincent," I breathed, though my heart was pounding against my ribs.
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"Aren't you?" His voice was a dark velvet hum. He leaned in, the scent of gunpowder, rain, and expensive cologne surrounding me. "You saved my empire, Nora. You looked the devil in the eye and corrected his paperwork. You and Lily... you are the only light in this godforsaken world I live in."
When he kissed me, it wasn't gentle. It was consuming, desperate, and fierce, a release of all the terror and adrenaline of the day. I kissed him back, my hands twisting into his shirt, pulling him closer, anchoring myself to the only man strong enough to keep the monsters at bay.
