Maybe that should scare me a little more than it does.
Tiernan’s already moving in the background, stacking layers upon layers of distance between us and this mess. By the time the story breaks, the only thing anyone will see is Luke’s name going up in flames.
Still, there’s really no such thing as a clean break when you’re dragging truths like this into the light.
It’s almost anticlimactic. The way Arden hits send and closes her laptop like she’s clocking out for the day. No real hesitation. No shaky breaths or trembling fingers.
That’s when the realization settles in.
Luke Holloway didn’t get justice when he died. He got immortalized. His sins got polished away by grief and money and the kind of silence people confuse for respect. This isn’t about revenge. It’s about refusing to let the lies live longer than he did.
Her smile, the first real one in days, cuts through me like a blade. She stands up, looking at me as if she’s asking me to follow her into whatever comes next. I should move, but I’m frozen, overwhelmed bythe brutal realization that somewhere between planning sessions, nightmares, and watching her come apart, I fell in love with her. Not despite her history. Not because of what she’s done. But because she survived it all.
By the time my brain catches up to my body, I find myself halfway across the room. My hand coils in her hair, tugging her head back just enough to see those blue eyes flare, alive in a way that could bring me to my knees.
“You think you can set the world on fire and just walk away from me?” I say, my voice thick with something I can’t even name. “Not a chance.”
She doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t try to hide. She smiles, that same twisted grin, and pulls me down to her mouth like she’s been starving. The kiss is all clashing teeth and heat and years of fury burning down to this one moment. She tastes like coffee, sugar, and something absolutely feral. I know this is a hunger I’ll never outrun.
When I slam her back against the wall, she giggles against my mouth, a wild, breathless sound. Fuck, it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard, and it tears me apart. Days of silence, of watching her slip away piece by piece, and now she’s here. Alive and burning in my arms.
I pull her tighter against me, grinding her back against the wall until she gasps. My hands roam her body like I’ve been starving, because I have. I take every curve and every breath as if they belong to me. She fists my shirt, yanking me closer, proving she’s just as desperate.
“You don’t know what you do to me,” I rasp against her throat, teeth grazing her skin before I bite down just hard enough to make her whimper. “Fuck, Arden. There’s no way I’m ever letting you go.”
Her legs wrap around my waist, locking me in place. Our mouths crash together again, frantic and desperate. Her nails rake down my shoulders, sharp enough to sting, and it only drives me deeper.
I tear her shirt over her head, needing her bare, needing proof she’s real and here. Her bra hits the floor a heartbeat later, and I drag my mouth down her chest, tasting, biting, devouring every inch of her skin. It’s as if she’s the only thing anchoring me in this moment.
She’s moaning my name now, head thrown back, spine arched against me, and I swear I could die here and be happy. My fingers work at her leggings, shoving them down, and she kicks free like she’s been waiting for this just as long as I have.
“Locke,” she gasps, breath hitching as I drag my hand between her thighs, teasing just enough to make her shake. “Don’t make me wait.”
I grin against her skin, ravenous for her touch. “But you’ve got no idea how long I already have.” She gives me a feral grin and grabs my waist.
I’m inside her in one hard thrust, and everything else disappears. The world goes still. We’re the only people who exist. She clutches at me, her grip tightening, pulling me deeper, harder. Every moment is a claim, every sound a surrender. It’s chaos and fury and something dangerously close to love, all tangled together.
We come apart in each other’s arms, mouths crashing together as if we’re afraid to let go. She’s laughing against my lips again, breathless and radiant.
Outside, the sun is sinking, flooding the room with gold as if nothing has changed. Even though I know everything has.
The truth is out. The lie is bleeding. And whatever comes next — the headlines, the fallout — I know one thing with brutal clarity.
If the world burns down around us, I’ll still be here.
Not because I think we’ll survive it.
Because she’s worth it all.
Chapter 39
ARDEN
The city doesn’t sleep after something like this. It just hums louder, shines brighter, like it’s feeding on the chaos.
Inside the loft, the noise feels just as relentless. Phones light up on every available surface, TV screens flicker with headlines and half-formed takes, notifications stack faster than I can process them. I don’t touch any of it. I already know what they’ll say and, worse, what they’ll argue about.
I don’t need to scroll to know the internet is doing what it always does when it senses blood in the water. Videos are slowed down and dissected frame by frame. Influencers rushing to weigh in with their newly urgent opinions. Some of them furious. Some of them thoughtful. Some, nauseatingly enough, coming to Luke’s defense.
