Accidentally Yours (Merffy Kizzmet) novel Chapter 178

Chapter 178

He leaned in the doorway like he owned the place, all tailored charcoal and lazy confidenge. His fuit jacket hung open, catching the light on the gleam of a silver tie pin, but it was his eyes that lacked her steady, unhurried, and for toi sharp, Clean–shaven jae, cheekboner cut like they’d been carved with intent. He didn’t crowd the room, not physically. But his presente e pressed in like smoke, Filling every inch of att she breathed.

Lola’s pulse thundered in her ears, matching the ghost–heat of the song that had just died,

Shit. Shit. He’s not supposed to be here. No one’s supposed to be here.

Her mouth went dry. She didn’t move, didn’t breathe. Just sat there on the concrete floor with her sketches scattered around her like spilled secrets while Rafael smiled like he’d walked into his own living room.

“Creative space

suits you.” he said smoothly, voice low enough to curl under her skin. “Though I imagined something loader.”

Lola’s spine straightened, chin lifting despite the hammer in her chest. “Funny, I was imagining a lock on the door.”

Rafael’s smile sharpened, head tilting. “Even if it had locks, they don’t stop ghosts.”

Her laugh came low and sharp. She uncrossed her legs and rose in one fluid motion, the pen twirling once more between her fingers before she flicked it into her palm like a blade. “Good thing I don’t believe in ghosts, Only men who bleed.”

For the first time,

his eyes fl

flicked to the pen–like he knew she’d use it. The bastard had the gall to look amused.

-you’re shar

sharper than they give you credit for,” Rafael murmured. “But even sharp edges can be dulled.”

et to rattle me, not here, not in my space.

Lola smirked, casual but colled. You don’t get

She barked out a laugh, sharp and hysterical, shaking her head as if he’d just told the world’s worst joke. “Oh my God–hahaha–good luck with that, dude. Seriously. Why are you here? I’m in the middle of something.” She gestured at the scatter of notebooks and floor plans like he was the one intruding.

Rafael clutched at his chest in mock injury, eyes glinting with something too dark to be humor.

grazie (thank you] for saving your

life?” His lips curved, slow and deliberate. “I’m wounded, piccola volpe little fox).”

Her grin faltered. Not gone–just thinner, edged in steel. “Why a fox?”

He crouched, the expensive fabric of his suit whispering as he folded himself down to her level. Close. Too close. His voice dropped into something softer, reverent almost, though the edge of danger never left it.

“In our stories, the fox transforms. She changes her skin, her shape, her very soul–slipping in and out of places unnoticed, clever enough to live nine lives where others die in one. She gives everything and takes everything in the same breath. A creature of power. Of survival*

He studied her, head tilting, gaze tracing the lock at her throat, the bruises fading into memory, the steel in her posture. His smile sharpened, slow and knowing.

“You don’t just survive, volpe. You become. And every time you do, the world underestimates you.”

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11:23 Thu, Oct 9

Chapter 178

Her heart jolted.

Don’t let him see it. Don’t let him name you like that.

23000

So she hated her teeth in a smile, pen still twirling in her hand. “Cute bedtime story. But last I checked, fores still end up shot for their pelts.”

Rafael’s laugh was quiet, dangerous. “Only the careless ones.”

Then

his eyes sharpened, slicing her open like glass. “Cinnamon, Lola Marlowe. Masks. Beautiful, but masks all the s

same.”

Her jaw clenched, stomach sinking.

He leaned forward, voice smooth. “But the one that interests me most is the one no one speaks of. The one you buried.”

Lola’s grip slipped on the pen. Her throat went tight.

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