Lucien held Zara close during the entire flight back. Her body trembled against him—not from cold, but from the remnants of the drug laced into her bloodstream. Her skin still burned, her senses overloaded. Every beat of the helicopter blades above them was a drum against her chest. But it was Lucien's arms that kept her grounded. Alive.
"I'm here," he whispered for the hundredth time, his voice raw. "You're safe now."
But Zara wasn't sure if she would ever feel safe again.
Lucien's men had swept the facility clean, retrieving files, hard drives, anything linked to Project Revenant. But none of it mattered. Not really. Not after what had nearly happened.
She could still feel the phantom touch of that bastard's hand. His breath on her skin. The way he looked at her like she was prey.
And Lucien—God, Lucien—had looked like death incarnate as he held her bloodied and broken captor beneath the barrel of his gun.
He hadn't flinched when he pulled the trigger.
He hadn't blinked when blood painted the bunker walls.
Because Lucien Vale had one weakness.
Zara.
And someone had dared touch her.
Lucien was silent when they landed back in their safehouse on the outskirts of Vienna. No words. Just movement. Precision.
He carried her to the bedroom himself, wrapped her in warm blankets, held her close in the shower as she shook violently under the spray. He didn't ask for details. Didn't demand answers.
He waited.
Until she was ready.
Hours later, Zara lay in their bed, staring at the ceiling. Her body had calmed. The aphrodisiac was gone from her system, but a cold emptiness replaced the fever.
Lucien sat across the room, still in his blood-streaked shirt, a tumbler of whiskey untouched in his hand. His jaw was tight. His eyes were locked on her.
"Say something," she finally whispered.
He looked up, his voice a low growl. "I should've killed them slower."
Zara blinked. "Lucien…"
"They touched you," he snarled. "They drugged you. They tried to break you. And I—" His breath hitched, and he stood abruptly, pacing. "I should've known Sebastian wasn't finished. I should've seen it coming. I should've protected you."
She sat up, crossing the room barefoot, wrapping her arms around his waist. "You came for me."
Lucien turned, cupping her face with reverence. "I would have burned the world to find you. I still might."
Zara closed her eyes. "I was so scared. But the moment I saw you… I wasn't anymore."
He kissed her then. Not with heat, but with aching devotion. His lips trembled against hers. His hands trembled where they held her. It wasn't lust. It was survival.
They had survived.
Two days later, they had everything they needed.
Sebastian Vale hadn't just ordered the kidnapping—he had orchestrated the entirety of Project Revenant. The data retrieved from the facility painted a horrifying picture: psychological warfare, blackmail, behavioral manipulation. A network of influence stretching across Europe's financial elite. Sebastian had never truly died. He had gone underground, building an empire in the shadows while letting his son clean up the visible legacy.
Lucien stared at the photo of his father in a secret meeting—his eyes cold, detached.
"He wanted to kill you, Zara," Lucien said, his voice like ice. "Not just destroy you. Humiliate you. Ruin you. You were the final strike against me."
Zara stood beside him, stronger now. Steeled. "Then let's end him."
They located Sebastian in an estate in Montenegro—fortified, off-grid, accessible only by air or sea. Lucien prepared the strike team himself. No delegation. No delays.
Zara insisted on coming.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "This isn't a war you fight."
Her chin lifted. "It's our war. And I want to look him in the eye."
Lucien didn't argue again.
When they arrived, it was nightfall. The moon hung low over the cliffs as the estate came into view—a dark sprawl of luxury turned fortress.
Lucien's team moved in with precision. Quiet. Ruthless.
Within minutes, they had breached the perimeter. Gunfire lit the darkness. Screams echoed.
Zara followed behind Lucien as they moved through the corridors. Every footstep felt like walking through the end of an era.
They found Sebastian in a glass-walled study overlooking the sea. He didn't run. He didn't plead.
He poured himself a drink as if expecting them.
"Son," he greeted with a smirk. "Brought your wife, I see."
Lucien raised his gun.
Zara stepped forward, her voice deadly calm. "You drugged me. You tried to have me raped. You sent a monster to destroy me."
Sebastian's expression didn't waver. "Collateral damage."
Lucien's hand twitched.
Zara touched his arm, stopping him.
"No," she said softly. "He doesn't get the easy way."
She turned to Sebastian. "We'll bury everything you've built. Erase your empire. You'll die forgotten."
He laughed, a bitter, rasping sound. "You think vengeance makes you clean?"
Lucien's voice was a low growl. "No. But it makes me whole."
They left Sebastian alive—but ruined.
Zara's evidence was already with every major investigative agency. The offshore accounts. The human experiments. The corporate blackmail.
By morning, Sebastian Vale was a hunted man with nowhere to run.
Back in their Vienna penthouse, Zara stood on the balcony, the wind brushing against her silk robe.
Lucien came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"It's over," he said.
She nodded. "Almost."
He kissed her temple. "You scared me, Zara. I've never… I've never felt like that before."
"I know."
"I lost myself."
She turned, eyes meeting his. "But you found me."
Their kiss was slow this time. Gentle. Not desperate, but reverent.
Lucien lifted her into his arms and carried her inside.
There was no rush. No fury. Just the language only they understood—made of touches, glances, gasps, and love.
Their bodies moved together like a dance written in fire and silk.
After, wrapped in each other, Zara whispered, "Do you think the darkness will ever stop chasing us?"
Lucien brushed her hair from her face. "No. But I'll always be the one standing between it and you."
She smiled through the tears that welled in her eyes.
And for the first time in a long time… she believed him.