I don’t believe in coincidences.
A woman like Sienna doesn’t just crash into my life by accident.
Not when she’s this composed.
This calm.
This fucking unshaken after almost dying.
I stand in my study, watching the city lights bleed into the darkness beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.
A glass of bourbon sits untouched on my desk.
My mind, however, is far from idle.
Sienna.
She’s a question mark I don’t like.
A loose thread in a world where I keep everything tightly woven.
I’ve had my men dig into her—what little they could find.
A name.
A history that barely exists.
No known family.
No criminal records.
No footprints.
And yet… she walks and talks like a woman who’s seen too much.
Like someone who understands power.
Like someone who’s played this game before.
A soft knock at the door pulls me from my thoughts.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Matteo steps inside without waiting for permission.
He never waits.
My oldest friend.
My deadliest enforcer.
“She’s awake?” he asks, though he already knows the answer.
I nod.
“Not just awake. Comfortable.”
Matteo leans against the doorframe, crossing his arms.
“That bother you?”
I don’t answer immediately.
It’s not bothering me.
It’s intriguing me.
A normal person—someone weak—would’ve woken up panicked.
Begging.
Crying.
Asking why they weren’t dead.
Sienna didn’t.
She opened her eyes, saw me, and smiled.
Smiled.
Matteo whistles low.
“You think she’s lying?”
“I think she’s dangerous.”
He raises a brow.
“Dangerous or a problem?”
“Same thing.”
A pause. The silence stretches between us before he finally sighs.
“Want me to get rid of her?”
The answer should be yes.
It’s the easiest solution.
The smartest.
No loose ends.
No lingering questions.
But…
I rub a hand over my jaw, feeling the ghost of her voice in my head.
I believe fate is a dangerous thing.
“Not yet.”
Matteo’s eyes sharpen. He knows me too well.
“Not yet,” he repeats, like he’s tasting the words. “That means you’re keeping her?”
“It means,” I say, draining my bourbon in one smooth swallow, “that I want to see what she does next.”
Because if Sienna thinks she can just walk into my world and remain a mystery?
She’s in for a rude fucking awakening.
Author’s Note:
He should’ve said yes.
Matteo offered him the easy out. But Cassian never picks easy—he picks calculated risk.
Let’s see how long he can hold the pieces before the board flips.