Chapter 3 Secrets in the Dark

The Sinclair estate was a fortress of wealth and power. It loomed over the city like a silent god, its marble walls and towering gates shielding the darkness that lived inside. Logan had been stationed in dozens of mansions, had guarded men with more money than morals, but something about this place set his instincts on edge. The polished floors, the chandeliers dripping with crystals, the grand staircase-it was all just an illusion. A gilded cage.

And Eleanor Sinclair was trapped inside it.

It was nearing midnight when Logan first heard the sound. He had been making his routine patrol through the halls, the faint hum of security cameras tracking his every move. The house was quiet, the staff long since retired for the night. But then-there it was again.

A muffled cry.

Logan froze, his body going rigid. It was coming from down the hall. Eleanor's room.

His training told him to ignore it. His job wasn't to interfere. It was to protect her from outside threats, not the one sleeping in the same bed as her. But his gut told him something else entirely.

He moved before he could talk himself out of it, his boots silent against the polished floor. The door to her bedroom was slightly ajar, just enough for him to see inside. Moonlight spilled through the open balcony doors, casting silver streaks across the room. And then-he saw her.

Eleanor was curled up on the edge of the bed, her back to the door. Even from a distance, he could see the tension in her body, the way her shoulders shook with suppressed sobs. One arm was wrapped around her ribs as if shielding herself, her silk nightgown slipping off her shoulder.

Then Logan saw the bruises.

A dark smudge along the curve of her arm, another just barely visible on her collarbone. His hands clenched at his sides, a slow burn igniting in his chest. He had suspected, but seeing the proof was something else entirely.

She shifted suddenly, as if sensing his presence. Her head lifted slightly, her breath hitching. Logan pulled back into the shadows before she could see him, his heart hammering. He had no right to be here. No right to watch her like this.

And yet, as he walked away, one thought kept circling in his mind.

Eleanor Sinclair wasn't just another assignment.

She was a woman who needed saving.

And Logan Carter had never been the kind of man to walk away from a fight.