Chapter 4: Proposal
1351 Words
The heavy doors of the auction hall closed behind her with a dull thud, muffling the chatter inside.
Evelyn slowed her stride, heels tapping softly on the dark marble floor before she turned to face Luka.
“Luka,” she said quietly.
He stepped closer, alert. “Miss?”
“Wait for me in the car.”
Luka frowned, uncertain. “Miss, this is still inside enemy territory—”
“Exactly.” Her tone cut through his protest. “If I can’t walk their halls without fear, I shouldn’t be a Liroux.”
Luka hesitated, jaw tight. Then he nodded once. “Understood. I’ll have the engine ready.”
“Good.” She offered him a faint, fleeting smile. “If I’m not out in twenty minutes…”
“I’ll come in shooting,” he said simply.
Evelyn chuckled under her breath. “That’s why I keep you around.”
She turned and walked deeper into the corridor as the red silk of her gown whispered against the floor. The further she went, the quieter it became, with only the distant thrum of machinery and faint echoes from the city above.
Dim wall lights flickered as she passed. She scanned each doorway, each branching hallway with her eyes sharp behind the mask. But there was nothing.
But all of a sudden, a sound of a footstep echoed behind her.
Evelyn froze, instincts sparking. Before she could turn, a shadow moved swiftly and in the next instant, a hand caught her wrist and guided her forward until her back brushed against the cool concrete wall.
Her breath hitched, not in fear, but in recognition.
“Easy,” a familiar voice murmured behind her, low and amused. “You found me.”
His tone was unhurried, playful in a way that sent a flicker of irritation through her calm. His hand held her wrist not tightly, but just enough to keep her still, as if daring her to react.
Evelyn exhaled through her nose as a soft laugh escaped her. “You have a strange way of saying hello.”
He leaned closer, his breath warm against her ear. “You didn’t strike me as the kind of woman who appreciates subtlety.”
“You’d be surprised what I appreciate,” she replied as the man slowly let her go.
Evelyn turned slowly to face him. Even in the dim light, the white-gold mask caught the faintest shimmer. His dark and unreadable eyes watched her with a calm that unnerved even her.
“I assume you enjoyed your little show,” she said, straightening.
“Immensely,” he answered. “You bid like a queen about to conquer an empire.”
She arched an eyebrow. “And you? You steal from queens now?”
He smiled faintly. “I don’t steal. I negotiate.”
“Funny,” she murmured. “That’s what thieves say before they disappear.”
He chuckled softly, tilting his head. “You wound me, Miss Liroux. I was only hoping for a conversation.”
“So you know me.”
Evelyn raised a suspicious brow, her voice steady even as her pulse betrayed her.
The masked man smirked, leaning closer until his breath brushed her skin. He placed a light kiss on the crook of her neck barely a touch, but enough to send a shiver racing down her spine.
“I know everyone, Красотка,” he murmured, the foreign word rolling off his tongue like silk. “Especially you.”
Evelyn stilled, fighting the involuntary flutter in her chest. “Ah. Russian. Explains your… aggressiveness.” She tilted her head, eyes narrowing. “What do you want from me?”
He smiled against the dim light, lazy and unbothered. “Want? You make it sound so simple.”
“I prefer simple.”
“Hmm.” He watched her from head to toe and back up again like a predator tracing the edges of its prey’s lusciousness. “Then let’s start with this, I like knowing the dangerous ones before they decide to kill me.”
Evelyn smirked. “You must introduce yourself to a lot of people, then.”
He laughed quietly as genuine amusement flickered beneath his words. “Touché. But no, you’re different. The rest come for power, money, and territory. You come for loyalty. For legacy.”
She turned sharply toward him. “You know nothing about me.”
“On the contrary,” he said, leaning in until his masked face was inches from hers. “I know your father taught you how to slit a throat before you learned to drive. I know you hide your kindness under all that steel. And I know,” he lowered his voice, his breath brushing her ear, “you’ve been running this empire in your father’s shadow far too long.”
Evelyn’s eyes flashed. “Careful. You talk like a man with a death wish.”
He chuckled. “I talk like a man who doesn’t fear death.”
“Well, you should.”
“Oh, I do,” he said softly. “I just happen to fear you a little more.”
That startled a laugh out of her. “You’re insane.”
“I’ve been told that. Usually by women I like.”
Her lips twitched despite herself. “I don’t remember agreeing to join that list.”
He shrugged. “That’s the beauty of lists. They can change.”
Evelyn exhaled slowly, her irritation wrestling with amusement. “You’re impossible.”
“And yet,” he said, tracing a hand on the most sensitive part of her thigh. “you haven’t walked away.”
She met his gaze head-on, voice firm. “Because I don’t run from games I intend to win.”
He smiled behind the mask, eyes glinting. “Then we understand each other.”
A silence stretched between them until she broke it. “You still haven’t answered my question. What do you want from me?”
The masked man was quiet for a long, measured beat.
Then he said it.
“Marry me.”
Evelyn froze, eyes narrowing as if she hadn’t heard him right. “What?”
He smirked slightly beneath his mask, enjoying the way her composure cracked for the first time. “You heard me.”
“That’s not funny.”
“Wasn’t meant to be.”
She scoffed, taking a step away from him. “You appear out of nowhere, steal what’s mine, touch me like you own me, and now you’re proposing? Who the hell are you?”
He tilted his head. “Someone who doesn’t waste time asking for what he wants.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“Oh, I do.” He teasingly said. “You’re the girl who doesn’t flinch at blood. The one who laughs in the face of chaos but goes quiet when the sunrise hits her eyes. You’re Evelyn Liroux, the only one in this rotten world who still remembers how to feel.”
Her heart stumbled at that.
She hid it behind a smirk. “You’re observant. I’ll give you that.”
He leaned closer again as her breath brushed her ear. “And you’re beautiful when you’re cornered.”
“Careful,” she warned when he began to step closer to her once more. “Flattery gets men killed.”
“Maybe,” he said softly, “but it also gets them remembered.”
Her pulse jumped, and she hated it. "What if I say no?”
He shrugged. “Then I’ll keep asking until you say yes.”
Evelyn laughed, low and dangerous. “You think persistence will save you?”
“No,” he replied. “But it’ll surely make you think of me.”
The silence that followed was taut and electric. She could hear her own breathing, feel the weight of his nearness like heat.
Finally, she stepped forward, tilting her chin up. “You’re bold, I’ll give you that. But I don’t marry strangers. I only want to marry a man who would love me.”
- Writer
