---
I woke to the scent of sandalwood. Faint, comforting—his scent.
The sheets were tangled around me, my skin bare beneath one of Raiden's button-down shirts. I didn't remember putting it on, or how I ended up back in bed after overhearing that call.
But I remembered his words:
"I've waited too long to let her go now."
Was that love?
Or obsession dressed in romance?
---
Downstairs – Breakfast Table
Raiden was already waiting, sipping black coffee, in a perfectly tailored dark shirt rolled at the sleeves.
"You didn't sleep," I said.
"Neither did you."
He didn't look at me—just set down the mug. "You were watching me last night."
My blood ran cold. "I—I wasn't trying to spy."
"You never need to explain."
His tone was low. Gentle. "But if you're going to sneak around me, at least be better at it."
I flushed. Embarrassed.
Then:
"You said you waited for me."
He looked at me then. Sharp. Intense.
"Since the moment I saw you in that lecture hall."
---
Later – His Office
"I want to help," I told him.
Raiden arched a brow. "With what? The war I'm trying to keep you out of?"
"Exactly. I'm tired of being the girl who hides behind locked doors while people bleed because of me."
He stood slowly, walked to me, and placed both hands on my shoulders.
"You don't belong in the dark, Aria."
"Maybe not. But I belong with you."
He blinked. Once. Twice. Like the words hit something deep.
Then he kissed me.
Not rushed. Not rough.
But slow. Deliberate.
Like I was the calm before the storm.
---
Nightfall – The Underground Ring
He took me there.
Not to test me.
But to show me.
"This is what I rule."
Men with blood on their hands. Money passed in whispers. Guns exchanged like candy.
And Raiden?
He stood at the center.
Cold. Powerful. Feared.
But when his hand found mine in the crowd, something in him softened.
"They don't know this part of me exists," he murmured into my hair.
"What part?"
"The part that can still feel warmth. The part that only wakes up for you."
---
Back at Wolfe Manor – Bedroom
The moment the door shut, something shifted.
He pushed me against it.
His breath hot. His control cracked.
"Do you even know what you do to me?" he growled against my throat.
"Raiden—"
"You beg me to show you who I am," he whispered, voice gravel. "But you have no idea what that means."
His hand slipped under the hem of my borrowed shirt. "No idea what I become when I lose control."
I gasped, trembling between fear and need.
He didn't stop.
Didn't move away.
"Tell me to stop."
I didn't.
Because I didn't want him to.
---
End of Chapter 20