LOGINThe walk downstairs felt longer than it should have.Every step echoed in my ears, too loud, too sharp, like the house itself was paying attention. Watching me. Waiting for me to make the wrong move.I kept my face neutral, but inside, everything felt tight.The men who had been laughing earlier were now standing in small groups, speaking in low tones. No one was relaxed anymore. No one was drinking. It felt like something had shifted, like whatever this was had moved from casual to serious.My eyes moved across the room slowly.Then I saw him.Cyrus stood near the center, one hand in his pocket, the other holding a glass he was not drinking from. His posture was calm, controlled, like always, but there was something else there now.And beside him—My breath caught slightly.Vane.For a second, my brain refused to process it. Vane was supposed to be in Chicago.But he was here.Standing next to Cyrus like this was normal. Like this was where he belonged.“Elias,” Cyrus said smoothly,
There were very few things in this world that genuinely held my attention.Power did not impress me. Wealth did not impress me. Men who thought they ruled cities amused me more than anything else. I had seen too many rise and fall to be moved by temporary control.But Elias?Elias was different.I stood by the balcony, a glass of untouched liquor in my hand, watching the estate stretch into the darkness. From the outside, this place looked like nothing more than another wealthy man’s property. Inside, it was something else entirely.A game.A dangerous one.And at the center of it, without even realizing it, was him.My gaze shifted slightly as I thought about earlier. The way he reacted. The way he held himself even after witnessing something most people would break from.Fear had been there, yes. I saw it clearly.But so was something else.Defiance. That was rare.Most people bent the moment they understood where they were. They adapted quickly, choosing silence over resistance. El
I did not sleep again.No matter how hard I tried, my body refused to relax.Every time I closed my eyes, I saw it.The man is on his knees.The blood.Cyrus’s calm expression was like it was nothing.I turned onto my side, then onto my back, then sat up again with a frustrated sigh.“This is pointless,” I muttered.The room felt smaller now.Not physically, but mentally. Like the walls had closed in without moving.I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, pacing slowly across the room. My bare feet pressed into the soft carpet, grounding me just enough to keep my thoughts from spiraling completely.Think.You cannot stay here and lose your mind, You need to stay sharp.I walked toward the mirror and stopped in front of it.For a second, I barely recognized the person staring back at me.My hair was messy, my eyes slightly red, my expression tighter than usual.“You look like a mess,” I said under my breath.Not exactly encouraging.I leaned forward slightly, resting my
I did not go back into the room.I could not.My back stayed pressed against the wall in the hallway, my chest rising and falling unevenly as I tried to steady my breathing. The noise from the room had stopped, but somehow the silence that followed felt worse.He had done that so easily.So calmly.Like hurting someone was nothing.My stomach twisted.I dragged a hand over my face and forced myself to think. Standing here, shaking, would not help. Panicking would not help. I needed to get control of myself before I made a mistake.Slowly, I pushed away from the wall and started walking.Carefully.Quietly.The hallway stretched ahead of me, dimly lit with soft golden lights that made everything appear warm and peaceful, which only made it more unsettling. This place was not peaceful. It only looked that way on the surface.Underneath, it was something else entirely.I
I needed space.That was the only clear thought in my head as I stood up from the bed and walked toward the door. The air in the room felt heavy, thick with everything that had just happened. Cyrus and Nikolai were still there, their presence pressing in on me from both sides in a way that made it impossible to think straight.Every word. Every look. Every touch.It was too much.“I’m done for tonight,” I said, forcing my voice to stay steady.Cyrus watched me with mild curiosity, like he was studying a reaction rather than listening to what I said.“You say that like you have a choice.”“I do,” I replied. “I’m choosing not to deal with you right now.”For a moment, I expected him to argue. To block the door. To say something that would pull me back into whatever twisted game he was playing.But he didn’t.He simply stepped aside.“Rest,” he said.That alone unsettled me.Cyrus was not the kind of person who let things go so easily.Still, I did not question it. I walked out into the
Cyrus did not leave immediately.That was the worst part.He stayed.Leaning casually against the wall like he had all the time in the world, like he had not just flipped something inside me completely upside down.My eyes were still on his phone.That picture.Me.And Nikolai.Kissing.I swallowed hard.“You sent that to Kai,” I said, my voice lower now.Not a question.A statement.Cyrus slipped his phone back into his pocket slowly, like he was savoring the moment.“I did.”“Why?”He tilted his head slightly, studying me.“Because I was curious.”“About what?”“About how you would react.”I let out a short, humorless laugh.“That is your reason? You just felt like it?”Cyrus pushed himself off the wall and walked closer.Each step was slow, deliberate, like everything he did had a purpose behind it.“I told you earlier,” he said calmly. “I like to observe people.”I crossed my arms.“I am not some experiment.”His lips curved slightly.“Everyone is an experiment, Elias. You just ha
Packing didn’t take long.I stood in the driveway staring at two black SUVs—both gleaming, both loaded with the small life I’d decided to take to Stanford. Two suitcases (one for clothes, one for books and tech), a duffel of shoes and random shit, my laptop bag, a box of bedding Mom insisted on buy
The front door slammed open so hard the crystal chandelier in the foyer rattled.I didn’t hear it at first—my ears were ringing, my head swimming in a thick fog of pain and shock. Victoria was still straddling me on the marble, her knees pinning my arms, the jagged shard of vase pressed to my throa
The utility room door stayed locked.No windows.No clock.Only the single bare bulb overhead, flickering every few minutes like it was tired of staying alive. The concrete floor was cold enough to ache through my sweatpants. I sat with my back against the metal door, knees pulled to my chest, arms
The Lisbon apartment had one good feature: the balcony overlooked a narrow street where people actually lived. Not tourists. Not expats. Real people—old women hanging laundry at dawn, kids kicking a deflated soccer ball until it rolled into the gutter, a guy in a stained apron smoking while he swep