The King's Domain
736 Words
AVERR'S POV
She shouldn’t have found it funny.
But she did.
Mallory Adams — the forgotten bride, the girl replaced like faulty furniture was suddenly viral.
Headlines stacked across every news outlet, every gossip page, every snarky blog feed. Some called it a scandal. Some called it strategy. Most called it entertaining.
"Heiress Swap Shocker: Sister Marries Groom at the Altar."
"Was Charlotte Reid Always the Favorite? Sources Say Yes."
"Is Mallory Adams Missing Humiliated or Planning Her Return?"
Averr snorted.
It wasn’t satisfaction. It wasn’t closure. It was noise. The sound of vultures squawking over scraps. They cheered not because they loved justice but because they loved mess. They weren’t laughing with her. They were laughing at all of them.
Her fingers tightened on the phone. She let out a dry, mirthless laugh anyway.
“Pathetic,” she muttered.
The phone was snatched from her hand.
She turned.
Eduardo stood above her, dressed in black slacks and a fitted dark shirt — sleeves rolled, forearms veined and tensed. His hair was still damp from a shower. His expression? Not amused.
“You find their mockery entertaining?” His voice was low. Dangerous.
“It’s not about me anymore,” she said flatly. “They’re tearing into Charlotte now. I thought I’d enjoy it more.”
“You won’t enjoy scraps.” He tossed the phone onto the couch. “You will dine on a feast.”
She blinked at the phrasing. “That’s violent.”
“It’s a promise.”
Before she could reply, a voice crackled from the intercom by the door.
“Boss ,movement at the East gate. Unmarked vehicle. Four men.”
Averr straightened.
Eduardo’s posture shifted from cold prince to predator.
“How did they get that close?” His voice was deadly calm.
A pause. “We’re checking now ...”
“Don’t check.” Eduardo strode toward the door with lethal purpose. “Kill.”
Averr stood, pulse fluttering. “Should I ... go to a safe room or something?”
He stopped mid-stride and turned.
The silence between them stretched. Then:
"You are the safe room. Anyone who reaches you dies."
There it was.
Possessive. Unyielding. Irrational.
And it didn’t scare her.
It burned.
She swallowed. “Are you always this dramatic?”
He smirked briefly. “Stay behind me.”
The intruders didn’t make it past the gravel.
One bullet. Then another. Then chaos.
His men opened fire with disciplined precision. Eduardo didn’t hesitate — he strode out into the courtyard, drawing his pistol as if it were an extension of his hand. Gunshots split the air, smoke rising in hot bursts from muzzles.
He fired once — headshot.
Twice throat.
No wasted movement. No mercy.
One of the attackers stumbled out from behind a hedge, clutching his wounded arm. He raised his weapon toward the house — toward her.
Eduardo didn’t think.
He became the bullet.
His shot hit first the man dropped, lifeless.
The silence that followed wasn’t peace. It was obedience. The world submitting.
“Someone find me who sent them,” Eduardo said, voice like frozen steel. “Deliver them breathing. I want their tongue.”
His men scattered at once.
He turned.
Averr stood at the doorway barefoot on marble, arms crossed, silently watching him like he was both horrifying and… intoxicating.
“You didn’t go inside,” he said.
“You said I was the safe room.”
His chest tightened.
He walked toward her.
She didn’t flinch.
Blood stained his shirt sleeve. She reached for it instinctively and then stopped inches away.
“Does it hurt?” she asked quietly.
“It’s not mine.”
A beat.
She looked up into his eyes.
“Did you kill for me?” she whispered.
“No.” He stepped closer. “I killed for us.”
Something cracked between them like lightning striking dry wood.
He leaned in....
Then her phone buzzed again on the sofa behind them.
She turned away and picked it up.
Another headline.
This one bolder. Crueler. Sharper.
"CHARLOTTE REID: GOLD-DIGGER OR MASTER MANIPULATOR? SOURCES SUGGEST GROOM WAS STOLEN FOR MONEY."
Averr stared.
Eduardo’s voice slid behind her like silk over a knife.
“Let the world chew on rumors.” His hand brushed her shoulder possessive. “We deal in truths. Bloody ones.”
She looked back at him.
For the first time she didn’t feel alone.
- Writer
