The Glass Legacy

The Midnight Breach

The storm that had followed them from Tokyo finally broke over Manhattan, rattling the reinforced, floor-to-ceiling glass of the penthouse guest suite.

Aria couldn't sleep.

She was drowning in the massive, impossibly soft king-sized bed, tangled in silk sheets that smelled faintly of Leo’s intoxicating bergamot cologne. The digital clock on the nightstand read 3:00 AM.

Every time she closed her eyes, her mind plunged back into the dark. She didn't dream of Silas Sterling or the virus. She dreamed of the Vanguard. She saw the cold, unfeeling faces of the syndicate handlers who had raised her after her aunt Elena's death, telling her she was nothing but a weapon. A ghost.

A loud crack of thunder shook the room, and Aria bolted upright with a sharp gasp, her heart hammering violently against her ribs. She was entirely drenched in a cold sweat, her hands gripping the silk sheets like a lifeline.

"Breathe, Aria."

The deep, gravelly voice came from the shadows near the adjoining door.

Aria jumped, her emerald eyes snapping to the darkness. Leo stepped into the dim light of the city bleeding through the windows. He hadn't slept either. He was wearing low-slung black sweatpants and nothing else, his massive, heavily muscled chest and corded abdomen entirely bare. In the shadows, the faint, silvery scars crisscrossing his ribs were visible—proof that the Ice Prince had fought his own brutal wars.

"I told you not to sneak up on me," Aria breathed, trying to steady her racing pulse, though the sight of his towering, half-naked frame in her bedroom was short-circuiting her brain all over again.

"I didn't sneak. You were trapped in a nightmare," Leo replied softly. He walked toward the bed with slow, deliberate steps. "You were calling out."

Aria dropped her gaze, a flush of humiliation burning her cheeks. She was supposed to be a hardened, untouchable rogue hacker. Instead, she was trembling in her enemy's bed. "I'm fine. You can go back to sleep, Thorne."

"You are shaking, Aria," Leo stated, entirely ignoring her command.

He reached the edge of the mattress and didn't hesitate. The mattress dipped heavily under his massive weight as he climbed into the bed with her.

"What are you doing?" Aria gasped, her eyes widening as he invaded her space.

"Protecting my investment," Leo murmured, though the raw, burning intensity in his ice-blue eyes told a completely different story.

Before she could scramble away, Leo reached out, his large hands gripping her waist. He pulled her effortlessly across the mattress and flush against his chest. Aria let out a sharp breath as her cheek hit the solid, burning heat of his bare pectoral muscle.

"Leo, don't—" she started to protest, her hands coming up to push against his chest.

"Stop fighting me, Aria," he commanded gently. He wrapped one massive arm entirely around her waist, completely caging her against him, while his other hand came up to tangle deeply in her messy raven hair. He pressed her head to his chest, right over his heart. "Just listen."

Aria froze. Beneath her ear, Leo's heartbeat wasn't the slow, calculated rhythm of a cold CEO. It was heavy, fast, and entirely frantic.

He was just as affected by her as she was by him.

"The Vanguard is dead," Leo whispered, his deep voice vibrating through his chest and wrapping around her like a physical shield. "The handlers who hurt you are gone. You are in my tower. In my bed. And I swear to you, no one is ever going to touch you in the dark again."

The absolute, unyielding certainty in his voice completely shattered the last of her defenses. Aria’s hands, which had been pushing against his chest, slowly relaxed. Her fingers curled into the fabric of his sweatpants, and for the first time in her entire life, she surrendered.

She let out a ragged sigh and melted completely into his embrace, her body slotting perfectly against his massive frame.

Leo’s jaw feathered. The feeling of her yielding to him sent a surge of pure, territorial fire through his veins. He tightened his grip on her waist, pulling her even closer, and buried his face in her dark hair. He inhaled the sweet, vanilla scent of her shampoo, closing his eyes as a profound, terrifying realization clicked into place.

He wasn't just keeping her here to fix a virus. He was keeping her. Period.

They didn't speak for the rest of the night. As the storm raged outside, the Ice Prince held his phantom hacker in the dark, entirely consumed by the woman he was supposed to destroy.