Chapter 5
793 Words
"Tell me I'm wrong," Kael said, voice like a blade. "Tell me you didn't steal from Magnus."
She smiled. A slow, taunting smile.
"Alright." She tilted her head. "You're wrong."
Kael was done playing games. The moment he saw that account number, everything clicked. She wasn't just some runaway bride—she was a damn thief.
He released her wrists but kept her pinned with his gaze. "Get up."
When she didn't move fast enough, he grabbed her arm and dragged her to the adjacent room. She stumbled, barely keeping her balance as he forced her into a chair.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she insisted, fluttering her lashes. The innocent act might have worked on another man. One who hadn't caught her stealing twice already.
"Let's try this again." Kael planted his hands on the armrests, caging her in. "Magnus is dead. His trillion dollars are missing. And you just happened to be running for your life the same night?"
Her violet eyes revealed nothing. "Coincidence is a funny thing."
Kael straightened, reaching into his jacket. He threw a folder onto the table between them.
"Coincidence?" He flipped it open. "These are your transactions, Seraphina. Or should I call you by your other name?"
For the first time, she froze. The color drained from her face as she stared at the papers—her transactions, her accounts, her aliases. He'd been digging.
He knew.
"How did you—"
"I have my resources." Kael leaned in, voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "You think I saved you out of kindness?" His smirk was cold. "I don't do charity, sweetheart."
She recovered quickly, mask slipping back into place. But he'd seen it—the moment of genuine shock.
"If you knew who I was, why bring me here? Why not turn me in immediately?"
Kael studied her, something dark flashing in his eyes. He was not just angry. He felt played. The way she touched him, the way she tried to use him—
"So tell me, darling," he murmured, "do you actually want me? Or you just want to rip me off too?"
For once, she didn't have an answer. Her silence was more revealing than any lie she could have crafted.
Kael grabbed a knife from his belt and slammed it into the table, the blade quivering between them.
"I should turn you in." His rage was barely controlled, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
To his surprise, she smirked and crossed her legs, leaning back in the chair like she owned it.
"You could," she said, examining her nails. "But you won't."
Kael stiffened. "And why's that?"
She leaned forward, lowering her voice to a silky purr. "Because if I go down, your name is next to mine."
"You're bluffing." But his eyes narrowed, uncertain.
"Am I?" She reached for the folder, flipping through pages until she found what she wanted. She tapped one manicured nail against a transaction. "Draven Holdings. Your shell company. The one you use for your less-than-legal acquisitions."
He didn't flinch, but his silence confirmed it.
"I did my research before running," she continued. "I needed a safety net. Someone powerful enough to hide me if things went wrong." Her smile was all teeth. "You were perfect."
"You set me up." The realization hit him like a physical blow.
She shrugged one delicate shoulder. "I prefer to call it 'strategic planning.'"
Kael opened his mouth to respond when the window exploded in a hail of glass. A gunshot echoed through the room.
He moved instantly, tackling Seraphina to the floor as another bullet whistled over their heads. His body covered hers, shielding her from the debris.
"Friends of yours?" she gasped, her body trembling beneath his.
"More likely friends of your dead fiancé." He rolled off her, pulling her behind the desk as more shots rang out.
She was breathing hard, genuine fear in her eyes now. This wasn't part of her plan.
Kael reached into a hidden compartment in the desk and pulled out a handgun. He checked the chamber, his movements fluid and practiced.
"Looks like your past finally caught up with you," Kael said, c*****g his gun.
She exhaled sharply. "Then I hope you're a good shot, billionaire."
Their eyes locked for a heartbeat—
Another volley of bullets splintered the wood above them.
Kael's lips curled into something between a snarl and a smile. "Stay down," he ordered, and then he was moving, his body transforming as he lunged toward their attackers.
He tore them apart in seconds, and in those few seconds all the men where dead on the floor with blood splattered everywhere across the room.
“Oh. My. God! Somebody help!” Seraphina screamed out her lungs
- Writer
