VEIL OF OBSESSION

anor, the air growing colder with each step. The stone wall

elt like she was descending into someth

g into Nolan Bl

she asked, her voice b

a heavy metal door at the end of the corri

lick, the loc

s heart

hed open

photographs, and surveillance footage. But what caught Olivia's e

The red string

center he

tened. "What th

haled. "

battling inside her. "You knew

ssion was unr

lse skyrock

e not just a journalist, Olivia." His voice was dangerously sof

ught. "That's

a file from the desk an

ening it. But when she

her parents. Newspaper

d because she had been a

mbled as she re

dent Kills Blackwood

lurred. "No

. "Your parents worked

ision

ident." Nolan's voice dark

ht settled

his?" she

"That's what I've be

flipped through the fil

cture. One that made

ot. A man standing in th

en this im

e from the night N

ched. "Nolan..

voice was a wh

g spun ar

t Nolan, It wasn't ju

s abo

ching her for far longer

ed as she stared at t

from the night Nolan's brother died.

ammered in

coincidence,"

tightened. "

g. "You knew my parents worked for y

e was answ

"How long were you goin

ened. "Until I kn

it sent a shiver

didn't know th

meone e

y were

s stomach. "If my parents were m

there." Nolan's voi

what are we waiting for?

nish, something slammed

breath

his time. The steel

ne wa

ind him as he reached for the gun holstered at his wais

ind me,"

aned under a

where went sil

made Olivia'

n c

the lock bein

omach

p on his gu

r creak

stepped

ath caught i

shadowed beneath a hood. But it wasn't

his hand pointed

d slightly as if considerin

have stayed

ood ra

ew tha

impos

her f

ry drop. Olivia stood in Nolan's office, her heart pounding in sync with the storm outside. The dim glow of a single lamp cast shadows acr

d something that sen

before you ever ste

livia had come here believing she was the hunter, bu

, her fingers clenching into fists. "Before the art

nd measured, his gaze

ch twiste

ression. Nolan Blackwood never hesitated. He was a man of calculated movements, a

. "You were never a stranger to me. Your past and mine were int

ed hard. "M

was confirma

s about their deaths, chasing shadows that never led to anything concrete. And

a mixture of anger and desperation

the edge of his desk. "I know more than you think. But I al

her lips. "That's not

nce was suffocating, a storm barely restrained. He reached out, fingers brushing

is voice silk-laced with steel. "But you don't

is touch was possessive, burning through h

me," she

out warning, he yanked her forward, his mouth crashing against hers in a kiss that was bot

she let him. Because despite the secrets, despite the lies, this was the only place wh

hot against her skin. "You think you're ready for the darkness, Olivia?"

away abruptly, his expression shifti

his desk and pulled out a single, worn envelope. He handed it to

them thick with tension. Her eyes scanned the page i

er blood tu

she whispered, "No...

was from

hree mo

rror twisting inside her.

Not just alive, Olivia." His voice d

been

t in the

or. Olivia's head snapped toward the hallway, but Nolan didn't mov

ugh the darkness. A voice

via

me sent a violent s

frozen in her chest as a fig

piercing blue eyes she saw

fa

s hand...