Darius’s pov :
I'd played my cards so carefully, leaking those damning revelations about Naomi's lineage, her father's treacherous alliance with our family in the plot against Elias's parents. It should have ignited a wildfire between them, that insufferable mate bond twisting into a noose.
Elias, distracted by domestic chaos, would have left his empire vulnerable, ripe for me to sink my claws into Kingsley Industries. But no. The bastard was sharper than ever, beefing up security, sniffing out every shadow.
My spies reported him prowling the boardrooms with that predatory focus, as if the revelations had forged him into something unbreakable.
I slammed my fist on the mahogany desk, rattling the crystal decanter of scotch.
"Damn you, Elias," I muttered, pouring a generous
