Aria learned something terrifying on the fourth day of captivity.
Jack wasn’t arrogant.
He was patient.
She had tried softness.
She had tried logic.
She had tried calculated vulnerability.
None of it worked.
The chains around her wrists hummed faintly as she shifted, the runes reacting to the flicker of power she couldn’t fully suppress. Jack sat across the room this time, relaxed in a leather chair, legs crossed, watching her like a man watching a chessboard already tipped in his favor.
“You’re losing money every hour I’m here,” Aria said evenly. “Security, silence, bribes. This isn’t sustainable.”
Jack swirled the drink in his glass. “It doesn’t need to be.”
She met his gaze. “You want influence, not chaos. My mates won’t stop.”
“They already haven’t,” he replied calmly. “Whic
