“And who do you think owns your tech?” he asked, his fingers paused on my arm. “The same people who tell you it’s harmless? Who sell it like it’s freedom?”
No one answered. But he waited giving them time to answer.
“Dynasties own it. The companies and the medical licensing. They know exactly what they’re doing. You take enough of it, your bloodline stops reproducing. So you add more tech to fix it. More DNA patches. Artificial replacements. Until you’re renting your own skin.”
The room went still. Even I felt the change and I was half asleep.
He gently brushed my arm.
“The Thorne Dynasty didn’t do anything wrong by keeping her unaltered.”
“Crows hate dynasties. Why are you defending the Sovereign Codex now?” Someone asked. I wasn’t sure where in the room. But it echoed slightly.
“This isn’t politics. And even the Crows understand the importance of lineage.” Vince voice dropped so low it was almost a growl.
They understood what he meant, that beneath empire, crime, power, legacy still ruled everything. Even in the Crows’ world.
The room cleared after that. When we were alone because he slid down the bed beside me.
“I’m sorry, Madeline,” he whispered, against my temple. “I’m so fucking sorry.” His voice dropped. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have taken you there…”
But I was already drifting, so I didn’t hear the rest of it.
Later when I stirred he wasn’t beside me. I lifted my head slightly. His voice came from the other side of the room.
“I fucked up, Nik. I knew. I fuckingknewshe had the allergy.”
A pause. Something cracked.
“I banned peanuts from every menu in our portfolio before I even took her there. Had the kitchens flagged.”
He sounded furious.
“She would’ve died, Nik. If I didn’t have that pen on me, she’d be—” He paused, it sounded like he was choking up. “It would’ve been my fault.”
Another silence.
“Of course I had one. As soon as I heard she had the allergy, I made sure I carried it.” A longer pause this time. Vince exhaled.
“The medics gave her something to help her sleep. Before I could stop them. Said it would help stabilize her system, calm the adrenaline crash. I didn’t want it. But it was already in.”
Another pause.
“So I’m not taking my eyes off her.”
A soft, familiar “mmhmm” followed. Then nothing everything faded again.
8
Vince
The first girl I ever liked, and I nearly killed her with food. Me. Not one of the thousand enemies who’d wanted my blood since I was sixteen.
Fuckingpeanuts.
And there was nothing I could do except hold her and hope to god the injector worked. That wasn’t control. That was failure. Because of it I hadn’t slept.
Instead, I’d pulled every food product from my penthouse cabinets, reading labels, researching allergens, scanning for possible cross-contaminations like I was prepping for war.
