Chapter 5:Blood in water
423 Words
Chapter Five: Blood in the Water
Lucian rarely hesitated.
But the name that appeared in his encrypted inbox made his fingers still.
Target: Anthony Devereux.
Location: Devereux Private Estate.
Details: High clearance. Sensitive. Confirm kill on site.
He leaned back in his chair, eyes fixed on the screen. The room around him was dark, silent — his private study, tucked in the east wing of the mansion. No cameras. No guards. No trace of the man he played in public.
Just the assassin.
His jaw tensed.
Anthony Devereux — Saraphina’s father.
The man who ruined her mother, crushed his daughter’s power, and buried his sins under gold and contracts. But he was also the man who had once been friends with Lucian’s own father — before betrayal split bloodlines.
Lucian had always assumed the Devereuxs were involved in his sister’s death. Now… it was starting to look like more than suspicion.
He closed the laptop.
This mission wasn’t just business.
It was personal.
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Downstairs, Saraphina sat alone in the wine cellar — the only place in the mansion that didn’t feel like a tomb. It was warmer here, quieter. She traced her fingers along the bottles, reading vintage years like secrets.
“You do know we have dining chairs, right?”
Lucian’s voice wrapped around her like smoke. She didn’t turn.
“Sometimes silence tastes better than food,” she said.
He walked closer, pausing a few steps behind her.
“You shouldn’t come down here alone.”
“Why?” she asked, half turning. “You planning to murder me in your own house, Mr. Blackthorn?”
His lips curled. “Not tonight.”
She arched a brow. “Should I be flattered or afraid?”
“Neither.” His eyes met hers. Cold. Calculating. “Just… prepared.”
She shook her head, half amused, half tired. “What do you really want?”
A beat passed.
Then he stepped closer. Close enough to whisper.
“Tell me something, Gem,” he murmured. “If your father disappeared tomorrow… would you cry?”
Saraphina stiffened.
“What kind of question is that?”
He didn’t answer.
Because he already knew.
Later that night, Lucian stood on the rooftop, staring out over the city lights like a king surveying a kingdom he hated. The wind was cold, but he didn’t feel it.
The line between mission and marriage was starting to blur.
Saraphina wasn’t just his bride anymore.
She was the one person who could ruin everything.
Or save him from it.
- Writer
