I wave at my men, a simple flick of the hand, signalling to remove the hoods. Their faces lift, adjusting to the dim light, eyes snapping to me as they take in the space. I let the moment hang, let the weight of my presence settle on them.
“Were the hoods really necessary, Nikolai?” Enzo speaks first, his voice slightly irritated. We’ve met before, but he hasn’t warmed up to me. Which is surprising because I’m very likable.
“Elijah, yes?” I let my attention sweep over Aurelia’s bodyguard with pure disdain. One job, and he failed. Disgust courses through me.
“Yes,” he answers cautiously, every muscle in his body tight.
Enzo watches me warily, eyes darting between us as I drag a chair close, sliding it forward, and sit so my knees press against Elijah’s. He stiffens, but the proximity alone forces him into submission.
“Tell me,” I begin, “about how you lost access to Aurelia, allowing my men to take her.”
A muscle jumps in his cheek, and almost instinctively, “Don’t call her that,” escapes his lips.
I grab his jaw firmly, tilting his head slightly, my grip reminding him whose authority this room answers to.
My eyes flick to Enzo. “You will not tell me what to do with my toys.”
Both men struggle silently against the restraints binding them. I can see it in their eyes: the effort to resist the urge to lash out, to tear me apart just for the mention of her. But she’s mine now, mine to control, and mine to punish. They’ll have to accept that.
Keeping my hand on Elijah’s jaw, I lean back, letting the tension hang heavy in the room before pressing again. “Tell me why you couldn’t do your job.”
He coughs, as though forcing the words out of him requires physical effort. “Ace… she was mad at me. To prove a point, she dismissed me and snuck out with her dog.”
“Why was she mad?”
“She saw me fucking a girl the night before.”
I release my hold and sit back. “Interesting, so she cares for you.”
Elijah hesitates, glancing briefly at Enzo as though seeking confirmation. “Yes.”
My body tightens from the rage coiling inside me. I’ve never wanted to burn a man alive more than I do right now. The audacity—the betrayal of proximity, the care he inspires in her—it makes my blood boil.
I turn my eyes to Enzo. “And Enzo,” I ask, cutting through the tension, “you allow this in your estate?”
He swallows, stiffens, and looks down, clearly weighing the consequences of answering. The room grows quiet, the weight of my authority pressing against them. Every second stretches as a reminder: in my domain, I control the outcome.
“I have requested that Elijah… fuck the girl I provide him with,” he says slowly, letting each word land in the room like a hammer, “since the beginning of his isolated protection of my sister. Keeping him from making a mistake with her.”
I shift in my seat, finally processing the full dynamic. So the so-called “protector” has had a history with her. No wonder he’s so rigid in my presence.
Elijah’s eyes flick to me, tight with suppressed anger and something closer to resignation.
“What do we need to do to get her back?” he asks. His words lack emotion, but his relation to her alone gives him away.
I lean forward slightly, letting a slow smile creep across my face. “You sure you want her back? She’s been fucked more times than I can count.” Teeth bare, the statement designed to sting.
Every man in the Orlov empire would kill to have her, and right now, she is mine, so, of course, no one’s laid a hand on her that I haven’t sanctioned—or rather, I’ve already broken the ones who dared. But I like to think that she’ll cave to me, eventually.
Enzo thrashes in his seat, raw anger flashing in his eyes. “Fuck you,” he spits, the restraint in his body failing him.
I lean back slightly, letting the room feel smaller than it is. I’m not a monster. We’re both from families with long historiesof messed-up rituals and power games. Aurelia is just a girl, but to my father, she’s a byproduct of betrayal. For him, that means she must die. For me… I have other plans.
“Relax, my friends. I have no issues with you,” I say, my voice even. “I will give you a chance to get Aurelia back, but I’m going to need Elijah here for a little while.”
“No,” Enzo cuts in immediately. “Elijah is coming back with us. He’s not staying.”
I raise a hand and gesture to my men. “I don’t need him for long. Keep him in Vostralya for a few nights.”
