Chapter 79: The War That Was Never a War

The moment Adrian pulled him closer, Kian knew there was no going back. No undoing this. No pretending that they hadn't crossed a line that had been drawn in the sand years ago, that neither of them had been willing to step over until now. He had spent his life calculating every move, predicting every consequence, controlling every possible outcome. But this? This had never been something he could control. Adrian had never been something he could control. And maybe that had always been the problem—because Kian had built himself into a man who thrived on power, who took what he wanted without hesitation, who destroyed anything that stood in his way before it had the chance to become a threat. But Adrian had never been an enemy. Never been someone Kian could erase, never been someone he could manipulate, never been someone who feared him the way others did.

Adrian had been the only real constant.