a P

word: "Confirmed." My heart hammered

w. Every second I

still carefully rolled, went in first. It was the only tangi

graved with our initials. I hesitated, then ripped it off, tossing it into th

anger. Pale, eyes shadowed, but with a new, st

dropped me near the port, a place bustling with

dark suit, blending seamlessly with the shadows of the docks.

adrenaline. This w

, which I had reactivated just for this, buzzed

s cutting his "trip" sho

wer" button. A part of me, the old, foolish Anya, wa

he one forged in be

met my gaze, his expression unreadab

dropped the phone into the

nce, then swallowed by the depths. M

nt car alarm wailed in the distance. His car?

t cleansing. I leaned against the railing, w

the freedom felt

ranean," the contact said, his voice breaking the

t balm on my wounded soul. A tr

ces I couldn't quite remember, voices

s and bone-deep exhaustion. I slept little, haunted by vivid dr

nse of purpose. I was building a

island, it was twilight. The air was

face etched with a mixture of hope and trepidatio

leaped. C

r me, as if searching for something lost.

ars finally welling i

inst his chest. It was a familiar embrace, one I re

e finally home," he whis

ted deep within me, f

elf as Jace Nolan.

my brother. He was my real fiancé, the one I had b

t a heritage database. It was my family' s ow

holding me at arm's length, his ey

opean dynasty. He told me about the betroth

ulation. It was a bond of history, of fam

the clandestine lover, felt impossibly di

a Garza. I was Anya Nola