Ryan’s POV
I took the empty glass from Serena’s hand, my eyes lingering on the small trace of milk clinging to her upper lip. Without thinking, I reached out and gently brushed it away with my thumb.
She froze at my touch, her breath catching. Before she could protest, I leaned in and captured her lips with mine, tasting the sweetness of the warm milk still lingering there.
I carefully set the glass on the nightstand without breaking our kiss, my body rembering exactly how perfectly she fit against .
My hand cradled the back of her head, fingers threading through her soft hair as I gradually eased her down onto the bed beneath .
The air around us thickened with desire, the familiar heat building between us like it always did. When Serena finally ca to her senses, she pushed against my chest, creating just enough space to speak.
"What are you doing?" Her voice was breathless, eyes wide.
I couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped as I gentled my movents, tracing my fingers along her jawline. God, I’d missed this—missed her—more than I wanted to admit.
We lay tangled together for several minutes, just holding each other, before finally pulling apart. Her cheeks were flushed a delicious pink, her eyes sparkling in the dim light of the bedroom.
She looked absolutely irresistible, and my body responded accordingly, heat pooling in my lower abdon.
But I wouldn’t push further—not tonight, not with everything going on. Her safety ca first.
"Let’s get so sleep," she murmured, pushing gently against my chest again, though she made no real effort to escape my arms.
"Alright, sleep," I agreed, pulling her closer instead of letting go. To my surprise, she didn’t fight it, just nestled against with a soft sigh.
We fell asleep like that, wrapped in each other’s arms, and I slept better than I had in months.
The next afternoon, my team brought news they’d tracked Derek to an underground casino. I imdiately assembled a group to go after him, leaving Serena safely at the mansion under heavy security.
When we burst into the dimly lit gambling den, Derek was in the middle of a hot streak, stacks of chips piled in front of him.
His luck ran out the mont he spotted —he bolted for a window, disappearing into the maze of back alleys behind the building.
I knew these streets, though. Cutting through a narrow passage, I managed to corner him against a brick wall in a dead-end alleyway.
"Nowhere left to run?" I said, barely winded despite wearing a full suit.
With a few quick moves, I had his arms pinned behind his back, face pressed against the rough brick.
"Mr. Blackwood, please," he whimpered, struggling uselessly. "I swear I’ll never bother Miss Serena again, I promise—"
"Shut up," I snapped, reaching for my phone to call in my team. That’s when I felt soone behind .
I spun just in ti to avoid a blow, but in that split second, Derek was snatched away by a masked figure in dark clothes. I could only see eyes behind sunglasses and a dical mask—the rest of his face completely obscured.
Sothing about his build seed vaguely familiar, though I couldn’t place it.
"Let him go. This doesn’t concern you," I warned.
The stranger remained silent, already retreating with Derek in tow.
I gave chase, engaging him in hand-to-hand combat that quickly proved he was no amateur—we were evenly matched, trading blows that neither of us could fully land.
Derek seized the opportunity to escape in the confusion, disappearing from sight within seconds.
I managed to land a kick that caused the mystery man to stumble, his collar coming loose to reveal a glimpse of what looked like a tattoo on his neck. Before I could see more, the sounds of my security team approaching echoed through the alley.
The masked man didn’t stick around to continue our fight. He turned and vanished around a corner, my n unable to catch him despite my shouted orders to pursue.
Back at my office, I sketched what I rembered of the tattoo—a black butterfly design on the neck, small enough to be concealed by most clothing.
Despite this potentially crucial clue, my team’s investigations turned up nothing concrete, just similar designs that didn’t match what I’d seen.
I was still brooding over this when Serena appeared in the doorway of my study, her eyes imdiately drawn to the sketch on my desk.
"What’s that?" she asked, moving closer.
"A tattoo I spotted on the man who helped Derek escape today. It was on his neck," I explained, pointing to the spot on my own neck.
Sothing flashed across her face—recognition?
"Neck..." she murmured, staring at the drawing.
"Do you recognize it?" I asked sharply.
She shook her head, then nodded, confusing further.
"Serena, what does that an?"
"I just rembered sothing. Lucian has a tattoo on his neck too. I never saw it clearly, though," she said thoughtfully.
My jaw tightened involuntarily. "You’ve seen Lucian’s tattoo? When exactly were you close enough to notice sothing like that?"
"Don’t use that tone with ," she shot back. "We were discussing business once, and his button ca undone. I just happened to notice it.
Besides, didn’t you tell yourself that Lucian was soone to watch carefully? So I did."
I nodded reluctantly, thinking back to my confrontation with the masked man. The build and height were similar to Lucian’s, now that I considered it.
But what possible connection could exist between the CEO of Celestial Gems and Derek?
"Ryan, I’m just speculating," Serena continued. "Lucian’s not exactly simple, but he is the heir to a major corporation. It would be more suspicious if he didn’t have so complexity to his character."
"You can’t seriously suspect him based on just this," she added, defending him in a way that irked more than I cared to admit.
I made a dismissive sound. "Whether it’s his tattoo or not isn’t hard to verify. I’ll find out."
"Oh," she said flatly, her tone suddenly dripping with sarcasm. "Since you couldn’t catch Derek, doesn’t that make things more dangerous now? Aren’t you worried about your precious Sophie being threatened?"
I sighed, tucking away the sketch. I’d learned my lesson about engaging with these comnts."I only have one person I treasure—and that’s you."
"I’ll handle this quickly. In the anti, please stay here where it’s safe. If you absolutely need to go out, take my security team with you. Can you do that for ?"
Serena made a small huffing sound, waving her hand dismissively as she turned and headed downstairs.
I watched her go, fighting the urge to follow. Maybe I was getting better at this—knowing when to let her cool off instead of making things worse. At least I hoped so.
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