SILAS
I didn’t let go.
My fingers were locked around my father’s wrist, pinning his hand against the small of his back.
I could feel the cold steel of the gun holstered beneath his jacket.
The old man was actually going to do it.
He was going to pull a weapon on a girl in the middle of his own home just because she’d insulted his ego.
It was a pathetic new low, even for him.
He had spent his whole life building this empire, and here he was, ready to throw it all away because a twenty three year old had more backbone than he did.
“Five hundred million dollars,” I hissed, leaning into his ear so he could hear the weight of his own stupidity in my voice.
“Remember what she’s for.
Think about the long game, Viktor.”
My father’s breath was ragged, his body trembling with a fuming rage.
But before he could snap back, the air in the room shifted.
The defiance in Maya’s eyes had been the only thing holding her up, a flickering flame in a room full of monsters.
But as if her body finally realized it couldn’t fight anymore, the color drained from her face and her strength vanished.
In a heartbeat, the light in her eyes went out, and her knees buckled.
“Maya?”
The name left my throat before I could stop it.
I shoved my father away, abandoning his arm as I lunged forward.
My knees hit the floor with a dull thud just in time.
My palm slid under the back of her head a split second before it would have hit against the cold marble.
She went limp.
I pulled her small body against mine and lifted her up.
I glanced toward the door, where Julian was still standing.
He was watching me with an unreadable expression, his eyes tracking the way I held her.
I gave him a look that promised he’d be the next one on the floor if he didn’t leave.
Up close, Maya looked completely exhausted.
Her face was pale, and her skin was cold to the touch.
It was a sharp reminder that she hadn’t had a chance to eat or even catch her breath since being dragged into the nightmare of my world.
I’d told Viktor to remember what she was for, reminding him she was nothing but a tool for our success.
But as I felt her heart beating faintly against my chest, the lie felt heavy in my throat.
I was holding her too tightly for someone who only cared about a contract.
My body was reacting before my mind could catch up, and for the first time in years, I felt something that had nothing to do with business.
I brushed the feeling aside.
It had to be my will to make this work.
It couldn’t be anything other than that.
“Leave her on the floor, Silas,” Viktor drawled, not even glancing at the unconscious girl.
“She can wake up there, where she belongs.
Don’t waste your energy carrying trash to a bed.”
I didn’t answer.
I didn’t even give him the satisfaction of a look.
I simply adjusted my hold on her, my fingers digging into the fabric of her blazer as I turned toward the bed.
But then, I stopped.
My eyes landed on Viktor’s face.
He was looking at her in my arms, his eyes narrowed into slits as if he were trying to find a reason to strike again.
I shifted my gaze to Julian, who was still leaning against the door frame with a sick grin on his face.
If I left her here, she was defenseless.
This room had a lock, but in a house like this, a lock was just an ornament.
My father had master keys to every wing, and Julian had spent his entire life learning how to slip into rooms where he wasn’t invited. New chapters come out on g.com first.
I couldn’t lock her in from the outside like a prisoner, and I certainly couldn’t leave her in a room where they could simply walk in the moment I turned my back.
All I knew was that I wasn’t leaving her where they could get to her.
My father didn’t see a human being in my arms; he saw a mistake and a possible liability.
And Julian?
He just saw a new toy to break.
I turned on my heel, shifting her weight as I headed for the door.
As I moved, her head slumped back, her cheek settling against the hollow of my shoulder.
The sudden contact was a jolt to my system.
She felt smaller than she had a moment ago, her breathing shallow and ragged against my neck.
“Silas,” my father called out, his voice sharp with a warning.
“Don’t get attached.
You paid for a fake wife, not a charity case.”
”I’m not attached!” I snapped back.
“Oh?
You’ve changed your mind, big brother?” Julian’s voice echoed through the hall.
I didn’t have to look at him to know he was wearing a smirk.
“And here I thought you only cared about the long game.”
I kept walking, my grip on Maya tightening instinctively.
“I told you she deserved a closer inspection,” Julian called out, his laughter bouncing off the high ceilings.
“Are you going to keep her all to yourself?
Just make sure she doesn’t break, Silas.
We wouldn’t want to lose five hundred million dollars just because you got a little too rough behind closed doors.”