Chapter 27 Twenty Seven
IDALIA SOLENE
Julian Devereux’s words hit me like a scalpel to the sternum.
I stood frozen outside the ICU, the sterile hospital lights suddenly too bright, the beeping monitors too loud. The thick folder in his hands felt like a death sentence.
Two bodyguards flanked him, their expressions blank but their stances threatening. Julian looked every bit the cold patriarch — silver hair perfectly styled, bespoke suit immaculate, eyes glittering with malicious satisfaction.
“Mrs. Devereux,” he repeated, savoring the name like poison. “Or do you prefer the ghost who refused to stay dead?”
My spine locked into ice. The mask slammed down perfectly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Devereux. If you’ll excuse me, I have post-op patients to monitor.”
I turned to walk away, but one of the bodyguards stepped into my path. Julian chuckled softly.
“No need for theatrics, Idalia. We have photos. Medical records from Switzerland. Even a lovely DNA sample pulled from your son’s crayon drawing. Careless of you to let the boy keep it.”
My stomach plummeted. Leo’s drawing. The bright blue eyes.
Julian opened the folder and held up a photo — me, five years ago, unconscious in a hospital bed with Cassian standing beside me.
“Your little revenge plot was impressive,” he continued. “But you made one mistake. You came back. And you brought my grandchildren with you.”
Rage, pure and volcanic, surged through my veins. I stepped closer to him, voice low and lethal.
“Touch my children and I will make sure your wife’s new heart fails in the most painful way possible. Slowly. Creatively.”
Julian’s smile didn’t waver. “Bold. But unnecessary. I don’t want to hurt them. I want them where they belong — under Devereux control. With their father. With their family.”
The sound of heavy footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Thane appeared like a storm rolling in. His eyes locked on Julian first, then on me. The tension between father and son was immediate and vicious.
“What the hell is this?” Thane demanded, voice dangerously low.
Julian closed the folder with a snap. “Just welcoming your wife back into the family, son. Congratulations. You’re a father.”
Thane’s gaze snapped to me. For a split second, I saw raw hope flash across his face — quickly replaced by fury as he realized his father had beaten him to the revelation.
“You knew?” Thane growled at Julian.
“I make it my business to know everything that threatens this family.” Julian looked between us. “The board will be informed. The press will be managed. The children will be brought into the fold. And Dr. Solene… your services are no longer required after my wife’s recovery.”
I laughed. It was a cold, sharp sound that cut through the hallway.
“You think you can threaten me?” I stepped forward until I was toe-to-toe with the man who had tried to murder me. “I survived your hitman. I survived the river. I became the best cardiothoracic surgeon on the continent while you sat in your tower counting money. Try to take my children from me and I will destroy every single one of you.”
Thane moved between us, his massive frame a wall of muscle and barely contained violence.
“Enough,” he snarled at his father. “This is my family. My wife. My children. You don’t get to decide anything.”
Julian’s eyes narrowed. “You’re still blinded by her, just like before. She’s been working with Silas and Cassian to ruin us. She fucked you last night to keep you distracted — ask your cousin if you don’t believe me.”
The words landed like a slap. Thane stiffened.
I didn’t deny it. I couldn’t. Not entirely.
Thane turned to look at me. The betrayal in his icy blue eyes was brutal.
“Idalia…”
“Don’t,” I whispered, voice cracking for the first time. “Don’t you dare look at me like that. You don’t get to be the victim here.”
THANE DEVEREUX
My entire world was fracturing.
My father knew. He had proof. He was trying to take control of my children before I even had the chance to meet them.
And Idalia… the woman I had buried myself inside less than twenty-four hours ago… had been planning my family’s destruction the entire time.
The worst part? I still wanted her. Even now, with her chin raised in defiance and her gray eyes blazing with hate, I wanted to drag her into the nearest on-call room and remind her exactly who she belonged to.
Julian’s phone rang. He glanced at the screen and smiled.
“Kimberly is waking up. Perfect timing.” He looked at me. “Choose wisely, son. Blood or betrayal.”
He walked toward the ICU with his guards, leaving Idalia and me alone in the charged silence.
I stepped closer to her. She didn’t back away.
“Is it true?” I asked, voice rough. “Did you sleep with me to buy time?”
She stared up at me, beautiful and deadly.
“I slept with you because I’m weak,” she admitted bitterly. “Because five years of hating you hasn’t killed how much I still want you. But make no mistake, Thane — I will burn your empire down. For what you did. For what they did.”
I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against me. Hard.
“Then burn it,” I growled against her mouth. “But you and the twins are coming with me. You’re mine, Idalia. You’ve always been mine.”
She kissed me violently — all teeth and fury — before shoving me back.
“Try to take them and see what happens.”
She turned on her heel and walked away, white coat billowing behind her like a war flag.
I watched her go, chest heaving.
Game over.
It was time to meet my children.