Chapter 14
The Sterling Industries building rises like a glass and steel monument to legitimate power in the heart of the financial district.
Standing forty-two floors above the chaos of the street, it’s the perfect facade for a criminal empire, corporate respectability hiding the blood-soaked foundation beneath.
I shouldn’t be here. Being with Kieran is one thing, especially when I’m also with four other men. Walking into Kieran Frost’s territory now that so many know I’m alive and want me dead is suicide.
But he sent me a message asking him to come to his office alone. Somehow, even his text seems urgent, almost like a command.
Our being together won’t make many happy… especially not his family.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around his not being who I thought he was.
For so long, he was only the heir to the rival Sterling Syndicate that was responsible for the death of my father.
I know he dropped out of Harvard business school and modernized his family’s criminal enterprises.
Publicly, he’s a legitimate businessman, but privately, he’s ruthless in expanding his territory.
That it was Dom’s family who was responsible for my father’s death… That the Sterlings might not have been involved at all but only opportunistic… It’s still hard to accept that.
The private elevator to the executive floor moves with whisper-quiet efficiency, giving me too much time to think about all the ways this could go wrong.
Kieran’s family has every reason to want me dead.
The Sterling Syndicate built their current power on the ashes of my father’s empire, and my return threatens everything they’ve accomplished in the past five years.
Why meet here? Why not come to my apartment or me to his penthouse?
The elevator opens directly into his penthouse office, and I’m struck immediately by the contrast to Marcus’s.
Where Marcus favors technological sophistication, Kieran’s space screams old money and older power.
Rich mahogany, leather-bound books, oil paintings that probably cost more than most people make in a year.
Even the desk looks like it belongs in a museum.
But it’s the man behind the desk who captures my attention.
Kieran Frost, heir to one of the most powerful criminal dynasties in the city, looks like he hasn’t slept in days.
His usually immaculate platinum hair is disheveled, his expensive shirt wrinkled, and there’s a wild edge in those ice-blue eyes that sets off every alarm bell in my head.
“You came,” he says, rising from his chair with movements that seem carefully controlled, like he’s holding himself together through sheer force of will.
“You said it was important.” I stay near the elevator.
“It is,” he says, moving around the desk with that predatory grace that makes him so dangerous. “My family has just ordered me to destroy you.”
I force myself to remain still, to project calm I don’t feel. “And you’re telling me this because…”
A flash of hurt appears in his eyes. “Come no, Raven. You know I won’t do it.
” He stops just out of arm’s reach, close enough that I can see the exhaustion in his eyes, the stress lines that weren’t there a week ago.
“Destroying you would be the biggest mistake of my life, and I’ve made enough of those already. ”
“That’s touching, but…” I shift slightly, keeping my weight balanced in case I need to move quickly.
“So many different people are telling me various things about the nature of my father’s murder.
For all I know, this is just another manipulation.
Get me alone, isolated, and finish what your family started five years ago. ”
“If I wanted you dead, Raven, you’d never have made it out of that elevator.” His voice is rough with something that sounds almost like pain. “I’ve had dozens of opportunities since you resurfaced. I thought you knew… I thought you understood…”
“I don’t know or understand anything.” I shake my head.
“Is that it, then? You’ve grown tired of me? You made a choice to go down from four men to three? Or have you picked Dom and are going to toss the rest of us aside?”
“I… No, that’s not…” I shake my head. “You and I both know that going up against your family… If you go against their direct order…”
Kieran runs both hands through his hair, destroying what’s left of his careful styling.
“I told you the truth. I’ve wanted you for a long time, and the closer we’ve become…
the more intense my feelings have grown.
I’m not looking for an angle. This isn’t a power play.
I want you. My feelings are genuine, and…
My family are fools. They think you’re a spoiled princess playing at being dangerous.
Someone they want me to manipulate or eliminate without a second thought.
” His laugh is bitter and self-deprecating.
“I’ve given my family just about everything they asked for me and more, but the one thing I want…
the one woman I want… I want you to know I’m willing to give it all up. ”
“Kieran—”
“My grandfather called a family meeting three hours ago,” he continues. “Full council, all the old guard present. The topic was simple: the Blackwood problem and how to solve it permanently.”
A chill runs down my spine despite the warmth of his office. “And their solution?”
“Elimination. Swift, decisive, and public enough to send a message to anyone else who might consider challenging our territory.” His jaw tightens.
“They have doubts about my handling it so they’ve already contracted the Volkov brothers for the job.
Professional assassins, very expensive, very thorough. ”
“When?”
“Tomorrow night. They know about your regular training schedule at the gym and the routes you take home. They’ve been watching you since you resurfaced.
” Kieran moves closer. “Raven, they’re not planning to make this quick.
They want you to suffer first, to send a message about what happens to people who challenge the Sterling Syndicate. ”
The details are delivered with clinical precision, but I can hear the underlying current of rage in his voice. He’s furious about his family’s decision.
“So what’s your angle?” I ask, even though I already know the answer. “What do you get out of warning me?”
“The chance to make a choice that’s mine instead of theirs.
” He’s close enough now that I can see the gold flecks in his ice-blue eyes, the way his hands are trembling slightly with suppressed emotion.
“For twenty-seven years, I’ve been the perfect heir, the obedient son, the strategic asset they could deploy however they saw fit.
But this…” He reaches out, his fingers ghosting along my cheek with surprising gentleness.
“This is the first time I’ve wanted something more than I want their approval. ”
The touch sends electricity through me. For so long, I hated Kieran Frost. He’s been my enemy, my rival, the heir to the empire partially built on my father’s grave.
But he’s none of that, and he hasn’t been for some time now, and this only cements the hold he has over me.
His kissing me is one thing, and words are sometimes only words, but actions are forever, and this choice of his, his willingness to pick me over his family, says all I need to know about who Kieran Frost truly is.
“What are you proposing?” I whisper.
“That we stop pretending this is just about revenge and territory and ancient grudges.” His other hand comes up to frame my face, holding me with surprising reverence. “That we acknowledge what’s been building between us since the moment you walked back into this city.”
“And what’s that?”
“Something that could either destroy us both or save us from becoming the monsters our families expect us to be.” His forehead comes to rest against mine, and I can feel his breath against my lips.
“I’m tired of being a part of the Sterling Syndicate, Raven.
I want to find out what it feels like to be just… Kieran. With you.”
The vulnerability in his voice breaks something loose in my chest. This is Kieran Frost without the armor of family name and inherited power, without the careful calculations and strategic manipulations.
This is just a man who’s tired of living his life according to other people’s expectations and willing to risk everything for the chance to choose his own path.
“This is insane,” I breathe, but I don’t pull away. “Your family will disown you. This is the ultimate betrayal for both of us. We’ll have enemies on all sides.”
“I know.” His thumb traces along my lower lip, and I have to suppress a shiver. “But I’d rather face that with you than spend the rest of my life wondering what we could have been.”
I’m not sure who kisses who, but I hold him close, and he responds with a growl of approval that rumbles through his chest.
Kieran kisses with complete focus, devastating efficiency, and an intensity that leaves me breathless. His hands tangle in my hair, angling my head to give him better access, and I can taste the desperation on his lips, the need to claim something real in a world built on lies and manipulation.
“Stay,” he says, his voice rough with want and something deeper. “Tonight. Let me show you what it could be like if we stop fighting this.”
“Kieran…” I start to voice all the rational objections, all the reasons this is impossible.
“I know it’s complicated,” he cuts me off, his hands still framing my face like he’s afraid I’ll disappear if he lets go.
“I know we have a dozen different reasons to hate each other, to see each other as enemies, but, Raven, when I’m with you, I remember what it feels like to want something for myself instead of just accepting what’s been decided for me. ”
The raw honesty in his voice undoes me completely. “What about the Volkov brothers? The threat to my life?”