The moment had arrived, the tension in the air thick enough to choke. Marcus Kane had waited for the perfect opportunity, and tonight it had come. While Damien’s focus had been consumed by protecting Bella, Marcus struck, seizing her brother Ethan. The news came to Damien in a flurry of panicked messages: Ethan had been taken, locked away somewhere unknown, and his captors made it brutally clear—if Damien wanted his brother alive, he would have to make a choice.
Damien’s blood ran cold, a storm of rage and obsession threatening to tear through him. His mind raced, visions of Bella’s trembling face and Ethan’s fury-filled eyes colliding violently with each other. His hand clenched around the phone so tightly it ached. The heat of desire mixed with the instinct to protect, every nerve screa
