Chapter Six
1524 Words
The ring on Noah’s finger was too heavy.
It wasn’t the weight of gold that burdened him it was what it symbolized. Ownership. A promise he never made. A future he never chose. Viktor had slipped it onto his hand that morning, without warning, without a question. Just a sharp look, and the cold press of metal against his skin.
“This makes it official,” Viktor had said, brushing his thumb possessively over Noah’s knuckles. “You belong to me now.”
The words hadn’t left Noah’s head all day. He will never belong to no one. But Viktor didn’t ask for belonging he took it.
Now, locked away in Viktor’s penthouse suite gilded in luxury, soaked in silence, Noah sat by the window, eyes scanning the streets below. Somewhere out there was a way out. Somewhere beyond this glass, this fortress, this man, was his freedom.
His heart still ached from the kiss they shared. Not because he longed for it, but because he hated that he’d felt something something warm, something he shouldn’t. It betrayed the memory of his parents, their laughter, their love their death. And Viktor’s hand was stained with their blood.
He gripped the edge of the table, nails digging in.
I’m going to get out.
Even if it kills me.
I have to.
Viktor stood in his private office, watching
Noah through the security feed. The boy had grown colder since the engagement. Distant. But Viktor knew it was fear. Fear that he would twist, bend, break. Just like everyone else who dared stand close to him.
He lit a cigarette, his thoughts heavy. Possession was never enough. He wanted devotion. He wanted Noah to stay not because of chains, but because of something deeper. But love had always been dangerous for men like him.
Still, he couldn’t help but be drawn in. Noah’s silence intrigued him. His pain made Viktor want to protect and destroy him at the same time.
A knock at the door.
“Come in.”
Yuri stepped inside, his face grim. “We have a problem.”
“What kind?”
“Someone’s been asking questions. A man named Matteo. Ex-member of the Pavlenko syndicate. He’s sniffing around New York again. Says he wants revenge for what happened in Odessa.”
Viktor’s jaw clenched. “Odessa was eight years ago.”
Yuri nodded. “He hasn’t forgotten.”
Neither had Viktor. He remembered the blood on the docks. The screams. The way the fire lit the night sky. Matteo had barely survived the ambush. And now he was back.
“He won’t come near the boy,” Viktor said, voice cold.
“Then we need to move him.”
“No.” Viktor’s eyes narrowed. “He stays with me. Always.”
Noah searched the library for the fifth time. No secret passages. No weapons. Only shelves of leather bound silence and the faint scent of old wood and stronger power.
But there was something else a map tucked inside a hollowed out book. A floor plan of the estate. Marked routes. Security blind spots.
Someone had tried to escape before.
He folded it into his pocket, his heart racing.
He couldn’t trust anyone in this place. Not even the maids who wouldn’t look him in the eye. Not Yuri with his snake-like presence. Certainly not Viktor, whose touch burned like fire and left behind invisible bruises.
But the map was hope. A whisper of rebellion.
A reminder that he was not a pet.
That night, Viktor returned with the cold of the outside world clinging to his coat. He found Noah in the bedroom, curled on the edge of the bed, eyes glazed but not asleep.
“You didn’t eat,” Viktor said, setting a tray down.
Noah said nothing.
“You need strength.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You don’t have a choice anymore.”
Noah turned his face away. “Like everything else, right?”
Viktor sat beside him, the mattress dipping. “This engagement it’s for your protection.”
“You mean your control.”
Viktor’s hand reached out slowly, tilting Noah’s chin toward him. “You think I don’t see what you’re doing? The way you’ve been looking at the windows, the doors, the help?”
“I’m not stupid, Viktor.”
“No. You’re not. But you’re mine.” He leaned in, his lips grazing Noah’s jaw. “Even if you run, I’ll find you. Even if you hate me, I’ll keep you.”
Noah jerked away, fury flashing in his eyes. “You don’t get to talk about hate when you killed my parents.”
Silence.
Viktor’s expression hardened, but there was something beneath it. Regret? No. That man didn’t regret. But he paused.
“I didn’t kill them,” Viktor said finally. “I gave the order.”
Noah’s breath hitched.
“That’s not better.”
“No. But it’s the truth.”
Later, when Viktor slept, Noah stared at the ceiling, unable to close his eyes. He clutched the map under the mattress. Every line was memorized. Every blind spot burned into his brain.
He would wait for the gala. The engagement celebration Viktor planned to host in three days dozens of guests, noise, distractions. He’d slip out then. Ditch the ring. Leave the lies. Never look back.
But he had to survive three more nights.
Across the city, Matteo stood outside a warehouse near the river, smoke curling from his mouth as he watched the moonlight bounce off rusted metal.
“You sure the boy’s still with him?” he asked the man beside him.
“He doesn’t let him out of his sight. Obsession. It’s sick.”
Matteo smiled bitterly. “Good. That’ll make it easier. Take what he loves, and Viktor Mikhailov will come crawling.”
He crushed the cigarette under his boot. “Let’s burn his kingdom down.”
The next morning, Viktor watched Noah dress from the shadows of the hallway. Every movement was cautious. Calculated. The boy was hiding something.
But instead of confronting him, Viktor waited. Sometimes silence was the best confession.
As Noah walked out to the balcony, Viktor followed.
“You don’t trust me,” he said simply.
Noah laughed bitterly. “Should I?”
“I’ve kept you alive.”
“You’ve kept me caged.”
Viktor’s eyes didn’t waver. “And what happens if you run? If someone else finds you first? My enemies won’t be as kind.”
“You’re not kind.”
“No,” Viktor said, stepping closer, voice dropping, “but I care. In the only way I know how.”
He reached out, fingers ghosting over Noah’s cheek. “I’ve lost too much already. I won’t lose you too.”
Noah stiffened, trying not to flinch. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have taken me in the first place.”
A long silence stretched between them. A storm waiting to break.
Viktor finally said, “We all have our sins, Noah. You’re just the one I can’t let go of.”
In the dead of night, Noah crept into the hallways with quiet steps and a fast beating heart. The guards had shifted rotations. He had six minutes.
He slipped through the servant corridor, heart pounding with every turn.
Freedom was near.
But before he could reach the stairs he stopped.
Footsteps.
Not guards. Not maids.
Something else.
Then he heard it.
Gunfire.
Explosions.
Screams.
The estate shook beneath his feet.
Yuri burst into Viktor’s room. “We’re under attack. East wing. Multiple men. Armed.”
Viktor was already up, gun in hand. “Where’s Noah?”
“I don’t know. He’s not in his room.”
Rage laced Viktor’s voice. “Find him. Now.”
Noah ducked behind a pillar as masked men flooded into the halls. One spotted him and raised a gun, but before he could fire, a bullet ripped through his head. He crumpled to the floor.
Noah froze, shaking.
Viktor emerged from the smoke, gun raised, eyes wild.
“You wanted freedom?” he growled. “This is what it looks like.”
He pulled Noah to his chest roughly. “Stay behind me. Don’t move.”
Noah’s body was trembling, but he obeyed. Not out of loyalty. Out of survival.
They ran through the halls, bodies littering the floors, gunfire echoing like thunder. Noah caught glimpses of the chaos the blood, the broken glass, the brutality. All of it for him. All of it because of Viktor.
This wasn’t just obsession.
This was war.
They made it to the vault room, the thick steel doors sealing them in for now. Viktor was bleeding from his arm, but he barely noticed. His eyes were on Noah.
“You see now?” he said, breath ragged. “The world doesn’t care if you’re innocent. It only cares who you belong to.”
Noah backed away from him slowly, chest heaving. “And I don’t belong to anyone.”
Viktor grabbed him by the face, voice shaking. “You do now.”
Outside, the alarms blared.
Inside, the real cage had just closed.
- Writer
