Chapter 9 Ashes and Chains
Third POV
Marco DeLuca stood in the narrow hallway outside his townhouse door and stared at the envelope lying on the doormat.
No return address. No postage. Hand-delivered.
His stomach dropped.
He picked it up with fingers that wanted to shake, carried it inside, and tore it open before he coul...
Login and Continue Reading
Continue Reading in App
Discover Endless Tales in One Place
Journey into Ad-Free Literary Bliss
Escape to Your Personal Reading Haven
Unmatched Reading Pleasure Awaits You
Chapters
1. Chapter 1 The Scent of Fate
2. Chapter 2 The System Failure
3. Chapter 3 The Architect of Ruin
4. Chapter 4 The Sketch
5. Chapter 5 The Portrait
6. Chapter 6 The Third Anniversary
7. Chapter 7 The Special Ringtone
8. Chapter 8 The Trap Tightens
9. Chapter 9 Ashes and Chains
10. Chapter 10 Deliberate
11. Chapter 11 Wasteland
12. Chapter 12 Small Mercies
13. Chapter 13 The Friend Who Stayed
14. Chapter 14 We Need to Talk
15. Chapter 15 Open It
16. Chapter 16 You Worked So Hard
17. Chapter 17 You Need Me
18. Chapter 18 Calculations
19. Chapter 19 Convergence
20. Chapter 20 Williamsburg
21. Chapter 21 The Mother I Never Saw
22. Chapter 22 Safe Harbor
23. Chapter 23 The Menu
24. Chapter 24 Under the Table
25. Chapter 25 Blacklisted
26. Chapter 26 The Call
27. Chapter 27 When Can You Start?
28. Chapter 28 Mr. Ashford Would Like to See You
29. Chapter 29 Just Tonight
30. Chapter 30 The Costume
31. Chapter 31 The Collector
32. Chapter 32 Drugged
33. Chapter 33 Fever and Ice
34. Chapter 34 Please
35. Chapter 35 When Ice Melts
36. Chapter 36 Awakening to the Proposition
37. Chapter 37 Barefoot Escape
38. Chapter 38 Chilled Retreat
39. Chapter 39 Blushing Echoes
40. Chapter 40 Shadows in the Spotlight
41. Chapter 41 Unwanted Shadows
42. Chapter 46 He's Engaged
43. Chapter 43 And Now This Moon Is Finally Mine
44. Chapter 44 This Is What Happiness Looks Like
45. Chapter 45 We're Still Married)
46. Chapter 46 Mint
47. Chapter 47 Scent of Restraint
48. Chapter 48 Lingering Haze
49. Chapter 49 You're Mine
50. Chapter 50 This Was Wrong
51. Chapter 51 Congee
52. Chapter 52 Fever's Fade and Morning Steam
53. Chapter 53
54. Chapter 54 The Trap Tightens
55. Chapter 55 The Right Question
56. Chapter 56 A Fair Offer?
57. Chapter 57 Echoes of What Was
58. Chapter 58 Cracks in the Resolve
59. Chapter 59 First Instincts
60. Chapter 60 Breaking the Spell
61. Chapter 61 Severed Strings
62. Chapter 62 Reckoning
63. Chapter 63 Misdirected Fury
64. Chapter 64 Collateral Damage
65. Chapter 65 Stage Four
66. Chapter 66 The Only Name Left
67. Chapter 67 The Price of Yes
68. Chapter 68 The Sunset Transaction
69. Chapter 69 Silk and Shadows
70. Chapter 70 The Sweetest Taboo
71. Chapter 71 Shattered Illusions
72. Chapter 72 Ruined
73. Chapter 73 Phantom Warmth
74. Chapter 74 Terms of Repayment
75. Chapter 75 Borrowed Time
76. Chapter 76 The Weight of Silence
77. Chapter 77 Patterns in the Stars
78. Chapter 78 Not This Version
79. Chapter 79 Lodged in the Dark
80. Chapter 80 Pulled into the Light
81. Chapter 81 Allowing the Fall
82. Chapter 82 Messy Variables
83. Chapter 83 Unenforceable Secrets
84. Chapter 84 Changing Variables
85. Chapter 85 Optimal Illusions
86. Chapter 86 Breathless Precision
87. Chapter 87 Irreversible Recalibration
88. Chapter 88 The Ring and the Stranger
89. Chapter 89 Interrupted Gratitude
90. Chapter 90 No Idea
91. Chapter 91 Silver Boundaries
92. Chapter 92 Slamming Doors
93. Chapter 93 Lingering Doubts
94. Chapter 94 Duty and Desire
95. Chapter 95 Two Plates
96. Chapter 96 Inevitable
97. Chapter 97 Before Tomorrow
98. Chapter 98 Forty-Seven Falls
99. Chapter 99 The Truth Cynthia Sees
100. Chapter 100 Pretending Not to Care
101. Chapter 101 11:43 PM
102. Chapter 102 The Penrose at Midnight
103. Chapter 103 Don't Get Too Attached
104. Chapter 104 Wrong Body
105. Chapter 105 Relief
106. Chapter 106 Red on White
107. Chapter 107 Permission to Stay"
108. Chapter 108 The Expiration Date
109. Chapter 109 The Things We Don't Say
110. Chapter 110 Before Everything Falls Apart
111. Chapter 111 Borrowed Time
112. Chapter 112 While She Still Could
113. Chapter 113 My Choice
114. Chapter 114 She Forgave Me
115. Chapter 115 Nine People
116. Chapter 116 Unexpected Encounter
117. Chapter 117 The Table Read
118. Chapter 118 Social Theater
119. Chapter 119 The Cage
120. Chapter 120 The Only Language He Knows
121. Chapter 121 The Bait
122. Chapter 122 The Trap Springs
123. Chapter 123 Two Revelations
124. Chapter 124 Alive
125. Chapter 125 The Weight of Secrets
126. Chapter 126 Some Things Just Hurt
127. Chapter 127 The Weight of Control
128. Chapter 128 The Lamb and the Wolf
129. Chapter 129 Don't Touch Me
130. Chapter 130 Separate Orbits
131. Chapter 131 Breaking Point
132. Chapter 132 The Siege
133. Chapter 133 The Hour of Ghosts
134. Chapter 134 The Art of Disappearing
135. Chapter 135 The Geometry of Absence
136. Chapter 136 The Architecture of Pursuit
137. Chapter 137 The Breaking Point
138. Chapter 138 Sanctuary
139. Chapter 139 The Truth That Destroys
140. Chapter 140 The Unforgivable Secret
141. Chapter 141 The First Pill
142. Chapter 142 Not Alone Anymore
143. Chapter 143 She Played Me
144. Chapter 144 No Deal
145. Chapter 145 A New Begining
146. Chapter 146 In Her Orbit
147. Chapter 147 Making It Official
148. Chapter 148 I Saw Him
149. Chapter 149 You're Alive
150. Chapter 150 Iron Grip
151. Chapter 151 I‘d Rather Die
152. Chapter 152 Roses for Sale
153. Chapter 153 Five Frances
154. Chapter 154 The Reckoning
155. Chapter 155 The Statement
156. Chapter 156 Apologies and Ashes
157. Chapter 157 The Savior Complex
158. Chapter 158 The Transaction
159. Chapter 159 The Red Dot
160. Chapter 160 The Bullet and the Debt
161. Chapter 161 One More Chance
162. Chapter 162 The Truth That Destroys
163. Chapter 163 99.97%
164. Chapter 164 0.00%
165. Chapter 165 Through Fire
166. Chapter 166 The Truth in the Waiting Room
167. Chapter 167 Sincerity Begets Sincerity
168. Chapter 168 Say You Love Me
Zoom out
Zoom in