A HOUSE OF KNIVES

The estate never slept.

But tonight, it held its breath.

The guards were quieter. The lights were dimmer. The tension in the air was so thick it could be bottled and sold as poison.

Jacob stood at the top of the grand staircase, watching Matteo speak to a man in a dark coat near the back exit. Their heads were too close. Their voices, too low.

He didn’t need sound to read the betrayal in their body language.

Matteo wasn’t covering his tracks anymore.

He thought Leo would never doubt him.

And Jacob… he wasn’t supposed to see anything.

But that was his mistake.

They all underestimated him.

Two hours earlier…

Leo had disappeared into his private wing without a word.

Not unusual. But different.

Because today, Jacob had caught him staring at an old photo, one he thought Leo had burned.

Gabriel. Again.

His name was starting to taste like venom.

Jacob’s role in this marriage had changed. He wasn’t just a kept man anymore. He was a chess piece, maybe even a blade.

And now, he had one goal: Find out who was setting Leo up, and figure out if he wanted to stop them.

Jacob made a choice.

He followed Matteo.

Waited until he left the estate and tailed him on foot, ducking between parked cars, slipping through alleys, his breath visible in the cold night air.

Matteo met with two men. They exchanged something. A flash drive. A photo. A handshake.

Then Matteo made a call.

Jacob was close enough to hear three words:

    “He still trusts me.”

Jacob’s blood ran cold.

Back at the estate…

Jacob broke a rule.

He entered Leo’s study without permission. The room was dark, filled with old books and newer scars.

On the desk sat a locked drawer. And Jacob, burning with adrenaline, picked it with a hairpin.

Inside?

A gun.

A USB.

And a file labeled: Gabriel.

Jacob slipped the USB into his pocket. He’d return it before Leo noticed. But he needed answers, needed proof.

Because if Leo was still protecting someone who wanted him dead, Jacob would rather shoot first and mourn later.

In the war room…

Jacob plugged in the USB.

Video files.

Footage from six months ago.

Gabriel. Bleeding. Alive. But not running.

Speaking.

    “He won’t kill me this time. He’ll hesitate. I’m counting on it. Matteo knows what to do. Leo’s greatest weakness isn’t trust. It’s guilt.”

The screen cut to black.

Jacob’s hands shook.

He had the proof.

Now he had to decide what to do with it.

Later, Leo found him on the balcony.

Wind in his hair. USB in his fist.

“You broke into my drawer,” Leo said calmly.

Jacob didn’t lie. “Yes.”

Leo stepped closer. “Why?”

“Because Matteo is selling you out.”

Leo didn’t flinch. “What proof?”

Jacob held up the USB. “Enough.”

A pause.

Then Leo took it. But he didn’t plug it in.

He looked Jacob in the eye. “Do you want me to kill him?”

Jacob blinked. “What?”

Leo’s voice was ice. “Do you want him dead? Say the word.”

Jacob hesitated. “I want the truth. Not blood.”

Leo’s gaze was unreadable. “Truth is blood.”

The next day…

Leo called a meeting.

Private.

Just Leo, Matteo… and Jacob.

They sat at the long table in the soundproof room, tension coiled like razor wire.

Leo placed the USB on the table.

“You recognize this, Matteo?”

Matteo didn’t blink. “No.”

Leo nodded once.

Plugged it in.

Gabriel’s voice filled the room.

And when it ended, Matteo didn’t bother lying.

He stood slowly. “You weren’t supposed to find out like this.”

Jacob stared. “So it’s true?”

Matteo’s lips twisted. “He was supposed to stay dead. You were supposed to be distracted.”

Leo didn’t move. “Why?”

Matteo met his eyes. “Because you forgot who made you king.”

The gun was out before anyone breathed.

Leo pressed it to Matteo’s head.

“Finish it,” Matteo whispered.

Leo stared.

Then lowered the gun.

“No,” he said quietly. “I want Gabriel.”

He turned to Jacob. “And you… You’re going to help me catch him.”

That night…

Jacob sat alone in his room, replaying every moment.

He could have stayed silent. Could have let it all burn.

But he didn’t.

And now, Leo was looking at him differently.

Not as property.

Not even as punishment, but as a partner.

A dangerous one.