Page 211 of I See You

No words. Just a quiet lift. And then, finally… he drank.

“I can’t see how you’re your father’s son,” Carlos said with a low chuckle, shaking his head. “Smarter. Colder. More dangerous.”

There was a flicker of something like pride in his voice—but Hassan didn’t flinch, didn’t blink.

“And I don’t miss,” he replied, flat and emotionless.

He didn’t need the compliment. He wasn’t looking to impress Carlos. The only thing he ever shared with his father was a name— and even that felt like a burden he’d been dragging through hell.

A long pause followed. Then Carlos slowly extended his hand. Hassan didn’t hesitate.

They shook—grip firm, eyes locked. The past, buried. The war, redirected. And in the cold silence of that office, a deadly partnership was born—one built on betrayal, blood, and the promise of vengeance.

???

SevynsatslumpedinthebackoftheblackEscalade,herhead resting limply against the window, her body hollowed by the drug they’d pumped into her veins. She couldn’t move anything from the neck down, but they still cuffed her wrists and pointed a gun at her like she was a threat. Braxton sat in the passenger seat, giving smug instructions to the driver while Nova hovered beside Sevyn with a steel gaze and shaky hands gripping the pistol.

They changed her clothes—Nova’s hands rough and cold against her skin as she dressed her in a black sweatsuit like she was preparing her for burial. The numbing agent didn’t knock her out like the others. No—this one forced her to feel everything emotionally, even as her body refused to respond. Her arms were dead weight, her legs unmovable, but her mind was racing.

She knew they were transporting her. Moving her out the city. Out of reach. Far away from anyone who could save her. And it was in that moment—watching the world blur past the window in a sea of darkness and streetlights—that Sevyn accepted the truth:no one was coming.

Maybe Hassan didn’t know she was missing. Or maybe... he knew, and stopped looking. Maybe she was just a chapter in his story he decided not to finish. Maybe the love she felt, the kind that lit her soul on fire, wasn’t enough to save her.

A tear slipped from her eye, silent and slow, soaking into the collar of her shirt.

She didn’t get to say goodbye—to her parents, to Dorian or Harper, tothe patientswhoreliedonher.She wouldneveropenthe doors to her own clinic, never sit in Dorian’s shop laughing over wine and secrets, never dance in her kitchen again.

And worst of all... she’d never be in Hassan’s arms again.

She could still feel them around her—strong, warm, steady—when he let the ice melt just enough to love her. Her thoughts ached for the sound of his voice, that deep velvet tone that somehow made her feel safe even when it sounded detached. She missed the way he looked at her like she was his anchor, his calm. The man who’d once held a gun to his own head over the pain of hurting her. The man who said he didn’t deserve love, but loved her anyway.

If only he could see her now. If only he knew she was still holding on. Still waiting. Still believing.

But even that hope was starting to die.

Her eyes fluttered shut as more tears slid down her face, unseen, unwiped. If this was the end—if she was never going to be Sevyn Love the healer, the sister, the fighter again—then she just prayed that somewhere, somehow...

Hassan would feel her pain... and come for her.

"Stopcrying,baby.Wehere,andgon'beinparadisesoon," Braxton said, turning to look at her.

Sevyn shifted her eyes—because that was all she could move. Her body felt like it was full of nails, sharp and splintered, yet somehow still numb. She was trapped in her own skin.

They pulled into the hangar, and parked. The black and gold jet sat gleaming under the floodlights like it had been waiting on her. She’d always known Braxton came from money, but this kind of money? Private jet money? That was a different level. She’d only ever methis mother—sweet, simple, and living in a modest two-story house. Nothing about their life screamed power or this kind of wealth.

But Sevyn didn’t care about the hangar or the jet. Right now, it felt like her one-way ticket to hell.

Braxton hopped out the car as two of his armed men came around to the truck, yanked open the back doors, and gestured for Nova and Sevyn to come out.

Sevyn’s head fell forward, her body limp. Then—

Pop!A single shot cracked through the hangar.

Nova’s body jerked back, a bullet ripping through her skull. She dropped like dead weight, blood blooming beneath her like spilled ink.

Sevyn couldn’t even flinch—couldn’t scream or move—but her eyes widened, terror rushing through her like a tidal wave.

Braxton and his men scrambled, guns drawn, spinning to see where the shot came from.

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