Chapter 1Raina White had three scars.
The first time, she took a blade meant for Cole Quin. Pure instinct.
It collapsed her lung.
Cole spent that whole night on his knees in the hospital chapel, begging gods he'd stopped believing in to take him instead.
The second time, they were ambushed. Six men with orders to make them disappear.
One pulled a hunting knife, angled it straight at Cole's ribs.
Raina slammed into him sideways, took the blade herself again.
It missed her heart by half an inch.
Outside the OR, Cole had a scalpel pressed to the surgeon's throat, eyes wild and bloodshot.
"She dies, you ALL fucking die."
But the third time?
No ambush. No rivals.
Just Cole and the woman he kept in a Russian Hill penthouse.
And this time, the blade went into her belly. Seven months pregnant.
She lost the baby.
And any chance of having another.
Ten years of blind, stupid devotion—and this was what it got her.
Good.
Now she knew exactly what he deserved.
...
Pain dragged Raina awake.
Voices filtered through the fog.
"...the baby didn't make it." Marcus. Cole's right hand. "Uterine damage is severe. She won't be able to carry again."
A beat of silence.
Then Cole's voice cut through, low and deadly: "Handle it. Get Vivian out of the city. Tonight."
"At once, Don."
Footsteps faded.
Raina's hand trembled. She slid it down to her stomach.
Bandages. Thick and stiff.
She pressed down.
Empty.
Yesterday, she'd felt him kick—tiny fists pounding against her ribs, fierce and alive.
Now there was nothing. Just emptiness where her son used to be.
And Cole wasn't grieving at all.
He was even protecting the woman who'd murdered their son.
Tears spilled over, hot and soundless.
Two more months.
Just two more fucking months, and her baby would have lived!
Her fingers twisted into the sheets, knuckles bone-white.
She wasn't stupid.
This was a private suite. Armed guards rotating every six hours. A nurse who never left her side.
But yesterday, when Vivian walked in with that knife—coincidentally, the guards were switching shifts.
Coincidentally, the nurse got called away for some bullshit emergency.
Too many coincidences.
Only one man had the power to clear that room.
Raina let out a bitter laugh.
She'd spent ten years watching her back against enemies, rivals, men who wanted Cole dead.
But she'd never thought to guard herself against HIM.
The man she'd bled for. The man she'd taken bullets for.
He hated her for what she'd done to Vivian. Hated her for taking away that woman's baby.
So he'd let Vivian take hers.
A son for a son. Blood for blood.
You fucking monster.
She felt the tears burn, soundless. But underneath the grief, something else was happening.
Something cold. Something sharp.
Ten years of blind, stupid devotion—and this was what it got her.
Good.
Now she knew exactly what he deserved.
Chapter 2
"You're awake."
Cole's voice came out rough.
"I took care of Vivian." He was watching her face, trying to keep the panic out of his own voice. "She lost it. Went too far. But you pushed her there, Rai. You can't do what you did and expect no blowback."
He reached for her face—wanted to wipe away the tears.
She turned away.
His hand hung in the air. Then dropped.
His expression stayed flat, but something dark flickered in his eyes.
"It's done. It was just a pregnancy. We'll have another one."
His face didn't change. Just cold, transactional indifference.
"Cole." Raina's voice came out wrecked, barely more than a rasp.
"Drop the act. You let this happen. You WANTED this to happen. You sick fuck."
For a second, she saw panic crack through his mask.
But then his jaw set, and the guilt vanished.
He reached for her hand where it lay on top of the blanket. Cold. Lifeless.
He rubbed it between his palms.
"You don't get to play victim here, Rai. You did the exact same thing.
"I got on my knees. I BEGGED you. Let you grind my face into the dirt. And you still sent Vivian to that clinic without blinking.
"She took what you owed her. That's all this was."
Raina's eyes went red from rage burning so hot.
"What she was carrying? Some random bastard's mistake! What I was carrying? YOUR SON!"
Cole's face changed. Anger flared in his eyes.
"Don't insult me. We both know whose baby was the mistake."
Raina stared at him.
And suddenly it all clicked into place.
He thought she'd cheated. Thought the baby was someone else's.
That's why he'd let Vivian do it.
She laughed.
"You're going to regret this, Cole. I promise you that."
Something twisted in his chest. He crushed it down.
"Regret what? Getting rid of a bastard? You killed my kid. Vivian killed yours. We're square. It's over. I'll keep her away from you, and we move on."
"Square." Raina repeated the word like she was tasting poison. "Move on."
A mistress's bastard.
And a son she'd fought through hell to give him.
How the fuck was that even REMOTELY the same?
And after everything he'd done, he actually thought they could just... what? Pretend it never happened?
All she wanted now was to watch him burn.
"You'll PAY. Both of you."
Cole's grip on her hand tightened. Over a bastard, she was actually ready to turn on him.
He looked at her—pale, hollow, drowning in hate—and for half a second, regret stabbed through him again.
But he shoved it down.
This wasn't on him.
SHE'D betrayed him. SHE'D gotten pregnant with another man's child.
How could she be that cruel?
He'd never raise some other man's bastard. Never.
That baby had to go.
And besides—she'd owed Vivian this.
He just hadn't expected Vivian to go that far with the knife.
But it was fine. He'd already told Vivian it was over. From now on, he'd stay with Raina. Make it right.
Even if she couldn't have kids anymore, he'd be there.
As for Vivian—she'd been his. Carried his child, even though it didn't make it. He owed her something.
"Vivian crossed a line. I'll pay her debt."
With that, he grabbed the fruit knife off the nightstand.
And drove it straight into his forearm.
He grunted through clenched teeth.
"That's for her."
Without hesitation, he ripped it out and stabbed himself again.
"That's for me."
Raina's eyes burned redder.
And just like that, the memory slammed back—the day she'd walked in on them.
Chapter 3
Cole stood between them, body angled to shield Vivian.
"This is on me, Rai. Not her. You want to hurt someone? Hurt me."
Raina stared at him—this man who'd sworn to protect her, now using that same body to protect another woman.
Bile surged up her throat.
She swallowed it down through sheer force of will.
Her eyes drifted past him to the coffee table.
The fruit knife sitting next to the bowl of apples.
"You want to take responsibility? Prove it."
She flicked her fingers.
The knife skittered across the table, hit the floor with a sharp CLINK at his feet.
Cole looked down at the blade. Didn't hesitate.
Bent down. Grabbed it. Drove it into his side.
Blood bloomed across his white shirt, spreading fast.
"COLE!"
Vivian screamed and lunged, grabbing his wrist. Tears streamed down her face.
"Stop—you can't—I'm not worth this—let her do whatever she wants to me, just PLEASE—"
"Sure." Raina's voice cut through the hysteria.
She looked at Vivian with dead eyes. "Then do what he just did. One cut. Do that, and maybe I let you walk."
"RAINA!" Cole's voice came out strangled. "She's pregnant. Back off."
He was breathing hard, blood dripping from his fingers.
He raised his trembling hand and pressed it over his heart.
"I said this is on me. You still want blood?"
"Right here. Say the word."
Raina's eyes burned.
Not from tears. From rage so hot it felt like her veins were on fire.
She held his stare. He held hers.
Neither looked away.
Then Vivian dropped to her knees.
"Please—Ms. Raina—PLEASE. This is my fault. I seduced him. Hate me, not him."
She slapped herself hard. Once. Twice.
"I'll do anything—just stop hurting him. He's bleeding—doesn't that mean ANYTHING to you?!"
Raina sneered at the scene.
She looked at Vivian's tears. At Cole's bleeding side.
And realized that somehow, she—the WIFE—had become the villain in this fucked-up little play.
Finally, she looked away first.
She turned to leave.
Cole grabbed her wrist.
"I swear, Rai—once the baby's born, she's gone. You'll never see her again. I'll fix this. We can go back to how things were—"
Raina ripped her arm free. Looked down at his blood-soaked sleeve.
"You disgust me."
Cole went rigid. All the color drained from his face.
Raina walked out.
...
On the drive home, she suddenly started laughing.
Quiet at first. Then harder.
Then the tears came.
She hadn't lost to Vivian's schemes.
She'd lost to HIM. The man she'd loved for ten years.
Lost so completely there was nothing left.
Ten years.
Back then, Cole Quin was muscle-for-hire at a Vegas dive bar. Raina White was a San Francisco heiress who'd never pumped her own gas.
They should never have crossed paths.
But she ran from an arranged marriage, only to stumble into his world.
And from that moment, she gave him everything. Fought her family for him. Bled for him. Built his empire with her money, her name, her LIFE.
She took bullets for him. He killed for her.
They burned through the world together, fused by blood and fire.
She thought it would last forever.
Then he cheated.
When she found out—when she made Vivian get rid of that baby—she thought it would bring him back.
Instead, it pushed him into Vivian's arms.
He protected her. Let her have her way.
And let her knife find its mark in Raina's belly.
