The morning after the wedding dawned quiet and golden, the kind of peace that felt like a lull before another storm. But Zara wasn't afraid. Not anymore.
She lay in bed, tangled in silk sheets, Lucien's arm draped possessively across her waist. The scent of roses lingered in the room, mixed with the lingering musk of last night's passion. Her fingers traced lazy circles across his chest as she listened to his breathing, deep and even.
For the first time in years, she felt truly safe.
Lucien stirred, his hand tightening around her. "Awake already, Mrs. Vale?"
Zara smiled, turning to face him. "I like the sound of that."
He brushed his knuckles along her jaw, eyes dark with lingering heat. "You looked like a goddess yesterday."
"And you looked like a man ready to conquer kingdoms."
"I already have," he murmured. "You are my kingdom."
Their lips met in a slow, tender kiss, one that deepened with every heartbeat. She climbed over him, straddling his waist, her hair cascading around them like a veil. Lucien groaned as her lips moved down his throat, her fingers exploring him with practiced ease.
But just as passion started to ignite again, a knock came at the suite's door.
Lucien swore under his breath. Zara rolled off him, laughing softly.
"Ignore it," he growled, pulling her back.
"What if it's urgent?" she teased, slipping into his robe.
Lucien watched her move to the door, possessiveness darkening his gaze. When she opened it, a man in a black suit handed her a slim envelope and disappeared without a word.
Her smile faded.
"What is it?" Lucien asked, already out of bed.
She turned the envelope over. No seal. No name. Just her.
She opened it and scanned the message, lips parting slightly.
"They're not done with us."
Lucien was at her side in a heartbeat, reading over her shoulder.
Inside was a single photograph. A satellite image. A compound. Coordinates in Eastern Europe. And below it, a familiar name: Project Revenant.
Zara looked up. "This has to be connected to Sebastian."
Lucien's jaw clenched. "Then we finish this. For good."
They were no longer just lovers or rulers of a business empire. They were warriors bound by fire and fate.
By the end of the day, they were already airborne. Private jet. No security detail. Just the two of them and the ghosts they intended to bury.
Hours later, in the cover of night, they arrived at the coordinates. What they found chilled them both.
A hidden research facility. Abandoned, but recently active. Files scattered. Monitors flickering. Zara sifted through documents until she found one stamped with a symbol she hadn't seen since Damien's black site.
Lucien read the header aloud: "Project Revenant: Psychological Warfare and Behavioral Manipulation."
"They weren't just trying to ruin our legacy," Zara murmured. "They were building something darker."
Lucien picked up a tablet still functioning. Footage loaded.
And there, captured in a security feed dated only weeks ago, was Sebastian Vale—alive, speaking to a group of shadowed figures.
Zara's breath caught. "He knew we'd come."
Lucien nodded grimly. "Then let's not disappoint him."
They set the facility ablaze.
As fire engulfed the secrets, Zara turned to Lucien, her voice fierce.
"This ends with us. No more hiding. No more running."
He took her face in his hands. "Then we hunt him. And we make sure the past dies with him."
Their kiss, framed by firelight, wasn't tender. It was war.