What is he doing? Why is he heading straight toward me?
Wolfgang’s penetrative gaze welcomes me, and suddenly I’m drowning in the sunset of him. He’s all I see, all I experience for what feels like an eternity, trapped in an hourglass that never runs out of sand.
“Happy birthday, love,” he says, the final word pouring down my skin like warm chocolate. Like molten sin.
“T-thank you.”
His hand rises next to my face, and my eyes instantly snap to the motion, giving away my restlessness. Still, I don’t move away. Not a single inch. I’m frozen in place.
His calloused fingers brush the skin on my temple, gently gripping a rebel strand of platinum-blond hair and tucking it behind my ear. He lingers—just for a few seconds, but enough to show me he seems fascinated by the movement. The image of him trembles with my pupils, confusion coiling around me at the intimate gesture.
“Afraid of me?”
“Yes,” I hush out.
The corner of his mouth twitches. “Honesty is a rare trait these days. It looks pretty on you.”
His hand finally retracts, only so he can extend it out to the side. Almost immediately, one of his goons approaches with a flat box.
The lid is lifted, and blood-colored gemstones come into view. Five rubies cut in an emerald shape, linked by a string of clear diamonds.
Wolfgang picks it up with a slow, deliberate movement, then circles me, leaving a trail of faint sandalwood in his wake. The cologne lingers all around me, extending its tendrils out to envelop my body. It catches me in its haze like a web I can’t escape before squeezing until my lungs expel all the oxygen and rely on it for survival. On this man’s scent.
“May I?” Wolfgang’s voice—lovely and carnal—tickles the shell of my ear.
Every sound in the room dulls under the weight of his proximity. I turn my head slightly—just enough to glance back at him.
His gaze meets mine. Steady. Intimate. Unflinching.
There’s no smile. No smirk. Just the unbearable intensity of a man who doesn’t ask questions unless he already knows the answer. A man who doesn’t wait for permission.
My breath hitches. Something hot and electric coils at the base of my spine.
And then—I move.
Not because I want to obey. Not because I’ve decided. But because he's looking at me like that. Because he expects it. Because some dark, terrifying part of me wants to be seen like this.
My fingers reach up, and I slowly gather my hair, dragging it over one shoulder. The back of my neck tingles as I expose it to the open air—to him.
I don’t look away. But his gaze lowers to my naked skin. It lingers there for a moment too long to be adventitious, showing me just how easy it would be to kill me if he wanted to. Then he wraps the jewelry around my neck, tight, fixed above my pulsing veins.
The stones are cold against my skin, and my first instinct is to take the necklace off, despite allowing him to put it on me. My hands reach for the clasp… but stop midway. The last thing I want to do right now is displease him.
When he’s gone,a cowardly voice says in my head.I’ll take it off when he’s gone.
“Aren’t you a precious little thing,” he drawls, coming back around to face me, tilting my chin up. Back to drowning me in his gaze. “Now, what do you say?”
Not a single voice from the crowd dares to intervene. Not my sister, nor my mother, and definitely not my father. I don’t understand what’s happening, but I square my shoulders and try to play it cool as best I can.
Keeping my outstretched hand on the stones, I say, “Thank you. It’s beautiful… You didn’t have to.”
A low hum of approval rumbles from his chest. I get the feeling he’s not responding to what I said, but to something else, something only he can see in his mind when he examines me so closely.
“Truly, a lovely gift,” my mother chirps from the distance. Wolfgang’s eyes don’t leave mine. “C-can we fix you a drink, perhaps? Lina,” she calls for one server, “Get Mr. Rykov some whiskey on the rocks—”
“That won’t be necessary,” he says, my chin dropping an inch when he retracts his hand. “I’m here to collect what’s mine.”
Anya’s whimper reaches my ears. “D-dad?” she calls out.
