Kieran stared down at his wife, the air in the room still thick with the scent of sex and sweat. Genesis lay fast asleep on the couch, her body limp and glowing, the soft rise and fall of her chest the only sign she was still tethered to this world. Her skin was flushed, her lips parted, and faint red marks trailed down her neck and inner thighs—evidence of how thoroughly he had wrecked her.
He crouched beside her, brushing a curl from her cheek. She looked so peaceful like this—unguarded. Sweet. He liked her best like this, when she wasn't trying to hide behind those eyes of hers.
But something was off.
It wasn't just the sex. He felt it. Saw it in the way her eyes had flinched when he asked her about the collar earlier. Guilt. Fear. And something else—something festering beneath the surface.
His jaw clenched as he stared at her, the thoughts in his mind growing darker.
Her body still gave him everything—still opened up like she was made for him. But her mind was slipping away. She was pulling back.
And he couldn't allow that.
He moved slowly, sinking onto the couch beside her, lifting her into his lap. She didn't even stir—just curled against him like her body knew its place. His place.
He picked up his phone and dialed. Damon answered on the third ring.
"I need you to pull the security footage," Kieran said, his voice like cold steel. "All of it. Bedroom cams. Just from the day I wasn't home. Don't touch the others. Don't you look at the others."
Damon chuckled under his breath. "Trust me, I'm not interested in watching you rail your wife on every surface of yours bedroom."
Kieran didn't laugh. "Just get to it."
Damon sighed and started toward the estate's security room. He hadn't followed Kieran to the office today. Truth was, he'd stayed behind to watch someone else. A certain someone. But now wasn't the time.
Back in the office, Kieran glanced down at Genesis again. She pressed herself closer to him in her sleep, one hand fisting his shirt. He watched her for a long moment, then slowly trailed his fingers down her chest. They stopped on her breast, circling her nipple until it hardened under his touch.
She sighed in her sleep—soft, needy—and Kieran smirked darkly.
Even unconscious, she couldn't lie to him.
"You there?" Damon asked, pushing open the door to the empty security room. He frowned. Everyone was probably on a break.
Kieran adjusted the phone against his ear, fingers still teasing her nipple. "I'm here. What do you see?"
Damon tapped a few keys, monitors flickering to life. He scrubbed through footage quickly. "Hallway cams first… then your bedroom."
Kieran's smile vanished.
His hand moved to her belly, palm flattening possessively. "She's hiding something," he muttered.
"You think someone got into the room?" Damon asked, more serious now.
Kieran's eyes darkened. "Not think. Know. Someone got to her."
Silence stretched, heavy, as Damon switched angles, rewinding to the day Kieran had stormed home after a fight. The day Genesis had been crying.
Damon's eyes went wide. "Sh—" He bit off the curse, running a hand down his face.
"What do you see, Fang?"
Damon hesitated. He could lie. But not for long—not to him. Still, there was room to twist the truth.
"I see... Revelation," he said carefully.
Kieran stiffened. "Who the fuck is that?"
Damon rolled his eyes. "One of the maids. Not an angel. She's the one who…"
"What was she doing in my room that night?" Kieran snapped.
Damon exhaled. "Genesis was crying. Revelation found her. She… comforted her. And… she's the one who took off the collar."
Everything inside Kieran went still.
His grip on Genesis tightened slightly, enough to make her stir with a soft whimper, but not wake.
"She what?"
"She removed the collar," Damon repeated. "I don't know why. Maybe Genesis asked her to. Maybe she just thought—"
Kieran's eyes narrowed, a slow, wicked grin spreading across his lips. "No one touches what's mine. Not without consequence."
Genesis sighed again in his arms, her body arching softly into his hand.
Kieran stayed quiet, his large hand drawing slow, possessive circles over his wife's bare stomach. The air around them was thick with heat and tension, the scent of sex still clinging to the room. Genesis remained curled in his lap, tucked inside the warmth of his coat, her body slack with sleep and satisfaction.
A soft knock broke the silence.
Rachel.
She'd realized about an hour ago the meeting wasn't going to happen and had quickly informed the others that it was postponed. Good call—no one needed to walk into this.
"So she took it off—" Kieran started.
"Yes, she did," Damon cut in, "but I think she only did it because Genesis looked like she was choking. She kept grabbing her throat, like the collar was suffocating"
He froze.
Too late.
Kieran's eyes darkened. "Suffocated," he murmured, standing up with Genesis in his arms, still wrapped in his coat. He walked toward his desk and sat, settling her across his lap again with the ease of a man who'd done this before.
His hand moved, to the small black panel built into the desk's edge.
Click.
A soft mechanical beep sounded as the magnetic lock disengaged. The door handle turned almost immediately.
Rachel stepped inside, heels clacking against the polished floor. She stopped the second she saw them.
Genesis was asleep, tangled in Kieran's arms, her thighs still bare beneath his coat, bite marks on her skin like a savage love letter. Rachel's eyes flicked around the room—papers, a shoe, a chair knocked slightly out of place. Yeah. No need for a detective here.
She exhaled. "Apologies, sir. I didn't mean to intrude."
Kieran didn't even glance at her. His eyes were locked on Genesis like she might vanish if he looked away. "All meetings are canceled. Handle it."
Rachel gave a tight nod. "Yes, sir." She turned to leave, but couldn't help muttering under her breath as the door shut behind her, "I'm not being paid enough for this…"
She sat at her desk and tried very hard not to picture what that coat was covering.
Inside the office, Damon was still scrolling through the feed. "Knight, you know I didn't mean it like that. It's just… watching the video, it really did look like she was helping. The maid. Revelation. She panicked. I would've too if I saw someone gasping like that."
Kieran didn't respond. His silence was its own storm.
The tension stretched until Damon let out a low curse. "Shit."
Kieran's head snapped up.
"You need to see this," Damon said, voice sharp. "Now."
He zoomed in on the footage.
His mouth dropped open.
Whatever he saw—it wasn't good.