Kian didn't sleep. He couldn't.Not with Nova curled up between them, tiny fingers clutched in his shirt, her breath soft as summer wind.
Talia was asleep too, her hand resting on Nova's back protectively. Her hair spilled across the pillow, her skin pale in the moonlight, lips parted in the kind of peace he hadn't seen on her in years.
He watched them both.
The two things he would kill for and almost had. Kian slipped out of bed just before dawn and padded silently into the next room, phone in hand.
Marcus was already waiting on the secure line.
"Well?" Kian asked.
"She didn't take Nova for ransom," Marcus said. "That was just the excuse. Lena was paid in advance. Big money. Deposited in crypto wallets tied to an offshore shell company owned by Donovan Holdings."
Kian's blood froze.
"My father paid for her abduction?"
"Your father authorized it," Marcus said grimly. "But he didn't just want leverage. He wanted proof."
"Proof of what?"
"That Nova's really yours."
Kian gritted his teeth. "He wanted to test the bloodline."
"Exactly," Marcus said. "Lena was transporting her to a black-site clinic in Russia. DNA extraction, then disposal. You interrupted the process."
Kian's throat tightened. "So this wasn't about punishing me."
"No," Marcus said. "This was about control. And erasure."
Kian ended the call and stared out the window, fists clenched. His own father had tried to erase his child from existence because she made him vulnerable, because she meant he had something to lose.
Back in the bedroom, Talia stirred.
Kian slid in beside her again, wrapping an arm around both her and Nova.
Her eyes fluttered open. "Can't sleep?"
"I know everything now," he whispered.
She blinked. "What?"
"My father wanted DNA proof. Then he was going to vanish her. Quietly."
Talia's eyes filled with horror. "Oh my God—"
"I should've killed him years ago," Kian muttered. Talia sat up, voice shaking. "What are you going to do?"
He looked at her, and his eyes weren't just storm, they were execution.
"I'm going to destroy him. His name. His legacy. Everything."
Later that morning, Nova ran through the safehouse yard, squealing with laughter as Kian chased her. She wore one of his black t-shirts as a dress, drowning in fabric, her curls bouncing wildly.
Talia stood at the door, watching them, hand over her heart. "I never thought I'd see this," she whispered.
Kian scooped Nova up and spun her, both of them laughing like they hadn't just crawled out of hell.
When he set her down, he looked at Talia and said: "You owe me five years."
She smiled sadly. "I'd give you a lifetime if it could make up for it."
He walked to her. "Then start now."
They tucked Nova into bed that night and for the first time, she fell asleep between them with no nightmares.
Just safety. Just warmth. Just love.
And when the room fell quiet, and the house felt still, Kian slid his hand along Talia's thigh beneath the covers.
"I can't sleep," he whispered against her ear. She shivered. "Why not?"
"Because I have a beautiful woman lying next to me wearing nothing but one of my shirts and memories I can't forget."
Talia turned to face him, eyes dark with fire. "I'm not a memory anymore." His hand slid up to her waist, pulling her close.
"Tell me what you want," he murmured.
"I want to feel yours again."
"Then you will."
He kissed her like a man making a promise. And this time, it wasn't about fury. It was slow. Intentional. Deep.
Clothes slipped away like ash. His mouth found her throat, her breast, her stomach worship in every kiss.
Talia gasped as he slid between her thighs, his fingers teasing her open, his mouth claiming her like it had been aching for this.
"Kian—" she moaned, arching.
He held her down, breath hot. "I want to hear everything." And she gave him everything.
They moved like they'd been waiting their whole lives to feel again.
Each touch a vow.
Each stroke a memory rewritten.
When she came, it was with his name and a sob — and he followed with a growl and a kiss that felt like forever.
After, they lay tangled in the sheets, Nova still asleep beside them, unaware that the war was far from over. Kian looked at the ceiling.
"What if this doesn't last?"
Talia curled against him. "Then let's make it worth burning for."