Semua Bab The Mafia King's Collateral : Bab 1 - Bab 6

Liora's POV The black SUV smelled like expensive leather and barely contained danger.I sat rigid in the back seat, Alora pressed so tightly against my side that I could feel her little heart racing. The video of Ogura mocking me still played on loop in my mind, his laughter, the other woman’s moans, the cruel words he used to describe me. Frigid. Pathetic. Useless wife.My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.The man who now owned me sat in the front passenger seat, his broad shoulders taking up too much space. He hadn’t said a word since we left the apartment, but his presence pressed down on me like a physical weight.Rain still clung to his dark hair, tracing the sharp cut of his jaw. When he finally shifted and glanced back, those icy gray eyes pinned me in place.“Eyes down if you know what’s good for you,” he said suddenly, voice low and commanding with that thick Russian accent. “Or do all wives of weak men stare like they still have rights?”The words hit like a slap. Heat flooded

Liora's POV Sunlight pierced the heavy velvet curtains like it had no right to be there. I hadn’t slept. Not really. Every time I closed my eyes, I felt that icy gray gaze dragging over my body in the study. The silk robe still lay draped over the chair where I’d dropped it last night, a silent reminder of how little protection I had left. My bare feet touched the cold marble floor. The same heavy scent of roses lingered in the air, sweeter in daylight but no less suffocating. I padded to the connecting door and cracked it open. Alora was already awake. She sat in the middle of her big bed, dark curls messy, clutching her stuffed bunny tight against her chest. Those big brown eyes found mine immediately. “Mommy… where are we?” Her voice was small, but curious. Not crying. Not yet. My heart squeezed so hard it hurt. I crossed the room and pulled her into my arms, breathing in her warm, sleepy scent. “We’re staying here for a little while, baby. It’s… a big house. With lots o

Liora's POV I barely made it back to the suite before my legs gave out.The door clicked shut behind me, and I leaned against it, chest heaving. My fingers rose unconsciously to my lips, tracing the ghost of his thumb where it had brushed my cheekbone. The skin still burned.What the hell was that?Anger, fear, and something far more terrifying twisted inside me. He was dangerous. He was cruel. He was the reason we were trapped here, paying a dead man’s debt with my body and my freedom. So why had I leaned in? Why did my body still hum where he had touched me?I glanced at the connecting door. Alora slept peacefully in the next room, her small chest rising and falling under the silk sheets. My light. My only reason for surviving this. I couldn’t let myself forget what this was — a transaction. A cage dressed in roses and marble.But my lips still tingled.And deep down, a treacherous voice whispered that I hadn’t wanted him to stop.Nikolai’s POVThe study felt too small.I stood