The Cold Billionaire and The Broken Doll

awled, thick

he wooden floor, cold as bone. The room was quiet, but her mind was not. Every cr

The bars were gone, yes, but the fear r

s clenched

nce during the long, suffocating ride. Not even when he handed her the documents that proved her stolen life could be stitched

pped down

't wipe

l, then anothe

t like glass, silent, shaking, t

want Javier's carefully measured

nted Damon Archer to bleed the way she had

ked over to the small window and looked down at the alley. A c

uldn't sleep. She wouldn't. Her limbs

t from t

cold. Light spilled under the

hesi

he needed space. Time to think. Or maybe just to remember wh

the kitche

n the stove and a knife block stood beside it. Jessica's ey

pulled one of the knives free. Cold steel, sha

a knife. She was sixteen, hands trembling, fear crawling through her. Damon had

ce looked different now. Older. Hollowed but there wa

we

ape this life now that she was out of Damon's sight, she

at Jessica?" Javier's vo

heavier than she remembered ,heavier with consequence, not steel. She turned slowly, grip

am I

he difference anymore. Every move felt like borrowed instinct. Every breath, stolen

n't me.

ned into action. But what now? Her mind screamed for a plan, an exit, anything

," she said, her vo

ws brushing his face. He looked tired. Less like the dev

licked to

t to kill m

ion hung

him, her grip tigh

d. "But I'd

le

n not because he asked,

much happening right now, and I

nto the kettle. He moved like a soldier c

t tea?"

ur solution to trauma? Herbal r

ched. "No. But

atching him move. She didn't know why she was still h

avier hadn't as

en her a

e eve

e stared at it for a long time before fin

her closely, as if searching for the real

et." he said. "Damon

ooked up.

ed. "On your hands, maybe mine. I n

a. It was bitter and

d," she said. "I care ab

ust a pimp or a trafficker. He's connected.

s chest

He had too much reach, too much control. She'd seen men in suits wit

. "Where did you get your f

nspoken truths. Then, with a weary sigh, he looked aw

to be pa

sion hit l

breath cau

d security. I kept people in. I kept

I wasn't r

d abruptly,

re one

was worse because I knew it

egs wouldn't obey not with the way his eyes pinned her in pla

our hero either. I don't save people. I ju

k, a sick feeling

u Javier?". Her voic

uld ki

said. "But

ight because some dark

Javier had broken too but unlike

g, Jessica collapsed

ust isn't somethin

o," he said. "But

again. The kettle

y spoke. "I wa

eyes. "Then I