CHAPTER 5

ZEUS.

Pretty things often hide in thorns, and even if I have to tear off my flesh to get to her, I intend to pluck them bare, one by one.

The door slammed shut behind me, echoing in the room. The stench of bleach hit me first, sharp, chemical, trying to erase the night's carnage. But it couldn't touch and couldn’t deny the smell of blood that still lingers to me, a scent as intoxicating as her defiance. 

The cleanup crew had vanished and executed their job efficiently, leaving the room as clean as new, as if the walls had never echoed with screams nor the floor never spilled blood.

I crossed the room, my boots thudding against the marble floor, each step a reminder of the power I wielded in Nexus.

My fingers brushed the porcelain vase on the nightstand, its surface smeared with jagged streaks, a blood, dried in patterns that mirrored the chaos of her fury. 

“Saoirse.”

The name rolled off my tongue. A pretty name for a girl who carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. I gripped the vase, feeling its weight, then dropped it against the floor. It shattered with a satisfying crash, shards scattering.

I picked one up, its edge cool and sharp, tracing it along my fingertips until a bead of my own blood welled up, a tiny, stinging sacrifice to the memory of her.

She'd stood her ground, trembling yet unyielding, her uniform torn in shreds that revealed glimpses of pale skin marked by bruises. 

The way her hands shook as she clutched that vase, breath coming in ragged gasps, but she didn't break. A quiet resolve, like the calm before the storm.

Most girls in this hellhole would have crumbled, begged for mercy, and played the victim to survive.

But not her. 

And when my hooded men dragged the limp body away, leaking life onto the floor, she stared at me, not with gratitude, not with pure terror, but with a quiet challenge that ignited something primal, a hunger I hadn't felt in years.

I crushed the shard in my fist, as questions flooded my mind. Why did this cigarette woman, with her shadowed eyes and wild jet-black hair, choose to endure in a place like this? 

Nexus was crawling with eager girls, desperate to please, to submit, their bodies offered like cheap thrills. But Saoirse…she intrigued me more than she should. More than anyone had in a long fucking time.

I yanked my phone from my pocket, dialing the tech team's secure line. The ring was immediate, insistent. 

“Pull all the footage and files you have of Saoirse.”

There was a pause on the other end, a hesitation that screamed incompetence. “Sir, is this... standard protocol?” the voice stammered, laced with fear.

“Do I sound like I give a fuck about protocol?” I growled, the words slicing through the air like a whip.

The line went dead. Good. Obedience was the only currency that mattered in my world. I poured myself a glass of scotch from the bar cart, the amber liquid swirling in the dim light.

As I sipped, the burn tracing a path down my throat, the wall screen flickered to life with a soft hum. I sank into the leather chair, the same one I'd lounged in while watching her struggle, and let the images unfold.

I zoomed in, my fingers hovering over the controls, noting the faint bruise on her cheek, hidden beneath layers of makeup. Not from tonight, that was fresh, from the bastard I'd put down. This one was older, faded yellow at the edges.

The footage shifted to the back rooms, the break area where staff huddled like rats in a cage. She sat alone, staring at her phone, fingers trembling as she scrolled through messages. Without tearing my eyes from the screen, I typed furiously, hacking into the club's internal logs. 

Her employee file popped up: Saoirse Vincenzo. Twenty-three. No family listed. Bullshit. I dug deeper, cross-referencing databases. Her brother, Aofie Vincenzo. Thirteen. Hospitalized for leukemia. Bills piling up like unpaid debts, her pay abysmal — minimum wage plus tips, barely scraping by for his treatments. 

She worked doubles, triples, shifts bleeding into the night, her body a machine fueled by quiet desperation.

Then, the footage from the other night, the night I first saw her. She was arguing with a man inside the club, his hands gripping her arms too tightly, fingers digging in like claws.

Her boyfriend or whatever, shoved her against the wall, face twisted in rage, spitting words I couldn't hear but imagined all too well, insults, demands, the poison of control. She didn't fight back, not then. 

Her body went still, eyes hollow, absorbing the blows like a sponge. But when he turned away, she wiped her cheek, a flicker of something dark crossing her face. Rage. Quiet, simmering, a storm brewing beneath the surface.

It hooked me. Not her beauty that was undeniable, curves that begged to be traced, but this. Her quiet rage. The way she swallowed pain, turned it into fuel. Most people broke under pressure, but she sharpened herself on it, emerging stronger, deadlier.

I leaned forward, breath fogging the screen as I replayed the moment she swung the vase. The crack echoed in my mind, blood spraying in slow motion, her defiance of a wildfire. 

She was a storm in a teacup, and I wanted to unleash her, feel her fury crash over me.

Just then, the door creaked open, and Azriel stepped in, his presence a cold draft cutting through the room's heat. The one who kept the shadows at bay in this empire of sin.

He glanced at the screen, eyes narrowing. “What are you, a pervert? Watching her again? This isn't like you at all, Zeus.”

I didn't bother turning off the feed, letting the images play on. Azriel poured himself a drink, settling across from me, his movements deliberate, controlled. It seems that he read the question I had in mind as he spoke.

“Same as the rest. Desperation. Her brother's sick. Bills are piling up. Nexus pays better than most dives, but you know the drill. Once you're in, it's hard to get out. Debts, threats, the whole fucking cycle.”

I nodded, but my mind was elsewhere, her file flashing in my peripheral vision. Low pay, abusive boyfriend, sick brother. But she never complained, never asked for help. That rage simmered, a weapon she hadn't fully unleashed. 

Yet.

Azriel sipped his scotch, gaze piercing, like he could see straight through me. “Attachment is liability, Zeus. You know that. You're not built for softness. Girls like her, they break or they burn. And you? You burn everything you touch.”

His words were a warning, laced with the truth I'd lived by for years. Softness was a myth in my world, a trap for fools. I'd clawed my way to the top, built an empire on fear and control, Nexus, the Trojan Covenant, all of it, mine. 

Attachments? They were chains, weaknesses to be exploited. But Saoirse...she wasn't a weakness. She was a puzzle, a flame I wanted to hold, to consume.

I kept my face impassive. The way she'd remained frozen, memories crashing over her like waves. And then her defiance, refusing to fold even though death is staring at her face.

It was a hunger I couldn’t quite name but want to fucking consume. Something deeper, darker.

Azriel set his glass down with a clink, tone sharpening. “Whatever you're thinking, stop. She's not yours to save or ruin.”

I smirked, the cold grin twisting my lips as I finally shut off the screen, plunging the room into dimmer shadows. He shook his head, but didn't argue. He knew better. In Nexus. In the Trojan Covenant. I am a king, and kings take what they want. 

Saoirse was mine to watch, to unravel. Her quiet rage called to me, promising chaos I craved, the fear, the fire. I saw it all.

“I don’t do saving games, and I ruin pretty things perfectly,” I murmured, more to myself than him, my voice rough with the weight of it. 

“She caught a glimpse of the monster hiding beneath my skin and yet didn't flinch. As if she recognized them — craved them, even.”

Azriel's eyes darkened, a flicker of concern crossing his features. “Recognized them? Or saw something she wants to destroy?”

“Destroy. Ignite. Either way, I don’t care. It's mine now.”

He leaned back, crossing his arms, his gaze unwavering. ‘You've got that look, Zeus. The one that says you're already planning how to break her or worse, how to keep her.”

“Break her?” I echoed, pouring another scotch, the liquid splashing against the glass. “No. I want to see her shatter on her own terms. That rage. It's…beautiful. Untamed.”

Azriel snorted, but there was a hint of amusement in his tone. “This isn't a game. She's got a brother to protect, debts that could bury her. If you pull her in, it'll be war.”

“War? I thrive on war, Azriel.” I set the glass down, leaning forward. “And Saoirse…without her realizing she's already in the middle of one.”

I met his gaze, unflinching. He held my stare for a long moment. “Just don't say I didn't warn you. What starts as an intrigue like that, it’s dangerous…it consumes.”

He stood up and headed towards the door, clicking it shut behind him, I returned to the screen, replaying the footage once more.

I poured another drink, the scotch burning as I imagined her here, in my world, her defiance clashing against my control. 

Soon. Very soon. She will be mine to break and ruin.