Chapter Five: Poisoned Truths

Kai sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the wall as memories flooded back. Victor Kane. The name alone made his stomach twist.

They had met in high school. Victor was the bad boy who showed interest first. He was confident, dangerous, impossible to ignore. Kai hadn’t liked him, not really. But Victor helped when no one else would. He bought Kai clothes, paid school bills his mother couldn’t cover, and put food on the table. In return, Kai became his plaything. “My personal boy,” Victor used to call him.

Victor taught him dominance and BDSM. He would tie Kai up, whisper that he loved him, and get harder the more Kai cried or struggled. “Give me what I want,” he’d demand, forcing Kai to his knees. That was how Kai learned to be good with the whip and control, his survival skills born from fear. Victor was also violently jealous. One time when he saw Kai talking to another boy, he and his friends beat the guy badly. The rumor spread, and Kai became isolated, lonely without friends. He was relieved when Victor left for London to study. Finally free, so he thought.

Now he was back. To do what exactly? Kai dreaded the answer.

A soft knock interrupted his thoughts. The door opened, and Elena stepped in, face lined with worry.

“Kai… tell me you’re not doing anything dangerous.”

Elena grabbed his arm. “This family saved us. Don’t ruin it. Damien seems… fixated on you. Please, just stay out of trouble.”

Another sharp rap on the door cut her off. Damien’s voice carried through, cool and commanding. “Kai. Breakfast. Now. Father wants us all at the table.”

Elena gave him a pleading look and slipped out. Kai followed moments later, dread coiling in his gut.

The dining room felt like a battlefield. Magnus sat at the head, reading reports. Damien lounged across from Kai’s seat, eyes tracking his every move.

“Sleep well, brother?” Damien asked, the word dripping with challenge as Kai sat down.

“Well enough,” Kai replied flatly, reaching for coffee.

Magnus cleared his throat. “Good. We have an engagement party this weekend. I expect both of you to behave. No fighting. We’re family now.”

Damien smiled slowly. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Though Kai here seems to enjoy late-night activities. Care to share where you disappeared to last night?”

Kai’s grip tightened on his mug. “None of your business.”

“Everything is my business when it concerns this family,” Damien shot back. “Especially when my new stepbrother comes back smelling like trouble.”

Elena paled. “Boys, please…”

Magnus raised a hand. “Enough. Damien, drop it. Kai, if you need money, ask. We don’t do secrets here.”

The meal continued in tense silence until Magnus and Elena left for a meeting. The second they were gone, Damien stood and rounded the table.

“Get up,” he ordered.

Kai stayed seated. “Fuck off.”

Damien grabbed the back of his chair and spun it, forcing Kai to face him. “You pinned me last night. Made my body react when nothing else has in years. Then you ran. Again. Or maybe not. But tell me why I shouldn’t drag you to the club myself and rip that mask off.”

Kai shot to his feet, shoving Damien’s chest. “What mask?.. You're delusional. And even if I was that guy, which I’m not, you’d still be the same rich asshole who thinks he can buy whatever he wants.”

Damien caught his wrist, pulling him closer. “I don’t need to buy you. Your hands on me last night did what months of doctors couldn’t. You fixed something in me. I want more.”

Their faces were inches apart. Kai’s heart hammered. “Let go of me.”

“Make me,” Damien whispered, echoing their earlier fight. The air crackled.

Kai yanked free and stepped back. “Touch me again without permission and I’ll break your arm for real.”

Damien’s eyes gleamed. “There he is. The fighter. The dominus. I see you, Kai. Even if you won’t admit it, I will catch you soon enough.”

Kai turned to leave, but Damien’s next words stopped him cold.

“I hired someone else to look into that club. The masked dominus who suddenly appeared the same week you moved in. Interesting timing, don’t you think?”

Kai spun around. “You’re stalking me now?”

“Protecting what’s mine,” Damien corrected. “And you’re mine. Whether you wear the mask or not.”

The confession hung heavy. Kai’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He ignored it until Damien left the room with a final, heated look.

Alone, Kai checked the messages. Victor again.

“Meet me at the old café. Or you don’t want to greet an old friend? Don’t let me get you the hard way. Tick tock. Time is going.”

Kai cursed and slipped out the side entrance, driving to the rundown café on the edge of the city.

Victor waited in a back booth, smirking. “Look at you. Playing hide and seek with me. Pathetic.”

“What do you want?” Kai demanded, sitting stiffly.

“Just the normal old stuff. A taste of what I missed,” Victor said, touching his chin. “Don’t forget you are indebted to me.”

Kai hated that he still feared Victor and that is because Victor knew all the bad guys in Riyadh. Nobody can really save him from their torments.

Kai’s blood boiled. “We’re done. I left you years ago.”

Victor laughed. “Oh, you’re done but I’m not done yet with you.” He smiled provocatively. “Oh, my boy now rolling with the big boys now? Tell me who is it that makes you despise me?”

Victor pinned Kai’s wrists and for some minutes he groaned in pain . By the time he released Kai’s wrist, his eyes were already bloodshot.

“1 million dollars and I will leave you and whosoever big cock you are seeing now?”

Kai stood abruptly. “Go to hell.”

He stormed out of the place, his mind racing. Back at the mansion, Damien was waiting in the foyer.

“Productive outing?” Damien asked, blocking the stairs. “You look like you want to hit someone.”

Kai tried to push past. Damien caught his arm.

“Talk to me,” Damien said, voice unexpectedly softer. “Whatever it is, I can fix it. Just stop running from me.”

For a split second, Kai almost broke. Almost told him everything. Instead, he pulled away.

“You can’t fix this,” he whispered.

Damien’s expression hardened with fresh determination. “Watch me.”

Kai made it to his room and locked the door. His phone rang again. It was Lena. Why won’t Lena just leave the fuck of him alone.

“Emergency gig tonight. Your client doubled the rate again. He said if you don’t show, he’s going to order a sack of all of us.”

At the same moment, another text from Victor: “Clock’s ticking. 1 million dollars, or you come see me. Don’t ever think of running away. I will find you or your mum.”

Kai sank onto the bed, head in his hands. The double life was collapsing. Damien was closing in from one side, Victor from the other.

A firm knock sounded. Damien’s voice carried through the wood, low and possessive.

“Open the door, Kai. I know you’re in there. And I’m not leaving until you tell me the truth.”

The handle rattled.