Page 76 of The Devil's Thorn

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“We’ll go to mine,” he adds. “I’ll call for cleanup in the morning to take care of your arm.”

Ash nods. “I’ll set new firewalls on your system. You know he’ll start digging.”

“Let him,” I say.

Kellan doesn’t answer, but I see his fingers tighten around the wheel.

As the car turns onto the hill leading to Kellan’s place—a tall, secure estate nestled just outside the main city—I exhale slowly, letting the weight of everything finally settle in.

We’re alive. We’rein.

And Rafael Romanov…

He knows my name now. But he doesn’t know thewomanbehind it.

Not yet.

CHAPTER 5

RAFAEL

Thepenthouse is quiet now.

Not silent—never silent. The city hums below, distant car horns and flashing lights bleeding in through the glass like ghosts. But up here, in this fortress of glass and stone, the noise feels… irrelevant.

Beneathme.

I stand in front of the massive window, drink in hand, ice melting slowly against the side of the crystal.

The blood on the floor has been cleaned. The overturned chair reset. The shattered glass swept away.

But theweightof it still lingers.

The scent of adrenaline. The echo of her voice. The way she said her name.

Isabella.

I take a sip of the whiskey, letting it burn down my throat. I didn’t expect her to give it. Not yet. Not so willingly. But when she did…

Itshiftedsomething.

She wanted me to have it.

Or maybe… she knew she couldn’t hold it back any longer.

Either way, it doesn’t matter. Because now I do. And I never forget a name.

I roll my shoulder slowly, tension coiled in the space between my spine. The bruises from tonight are invisible—but they’re there.

Not on my skin. In mymind.

The way she moved. The way shefought.

No hesitation. No fear.

Not even when three trained men stormed through the door with knives and guns and blood in their eyes.

She didn’t scream. Shecalculated.

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