"Holy shit!"
A gasp leaves Nikolai's mouth as he listens to Felix's call.
I got the news of Julian visiting M&A last night and decided not to go to the company since everyone believes Aaron William Laurent is on break.
Sitting on the second floor of Chi Lou, surrounded by luxurious curtains, flowers, music, and beautiful women, my mind isn't even there. It's on the woman on the other side of the call talking to my little brother.
Her flattery sounds exaggerated, animated. I can almost see her face — smiling, faking her way expertly.
A strange mix of pride and possessiveness makes my heart burn.
She had the opportunity to side with Julian and secure her future.
Rather, she chooses to be seen as an insignificant, over-the-top newbie.
She listened to my words from a week ago — not to show her claws without proper standing and power, because there are too many people who would stab her the moment she opened up.
"You… this is the same girl with whom you spent the night before you killed thirty spies?" Nikolai side-eyes me, sipping his cold iced lemon soda.
The wine in the silver glass reflects my predatory blue eyes back at me.
"You're too curious," I say, looking at him lounging on the couch with the bored expression only the heir of one of the most powerful men in the underworld could have.
"Of course, I am. It's not an everyday thing that the great, brooding iceberg Aaronnie gets flustered by someone," Nikolai smirks victoriously, seeing me clench my jaw in annoyance.
My hand itches to punch that smug out of his face, yet I hold back, knowing Li Zhao will throw a tantrum if we break more furniture while fighting.
The call continues with Julian's usual attempts to scare off M&A and gain the upper hand, while Felix faces him with practiced politeness mixed with his own nonchalance.
Strings of guqin, the relaxing smoke of incense — the surroundings feel like a cocoon where I am free to just exist and pull my strings.
Li Zhao is gone to New York for some work. Nikolai is in London to track down Beatrix Wolff and face the silent, cold war he's having with Sebastian as my front. Alister is in Geneva handling my uncle and reporting directly to my father in case my reports get tampered with in the middle.
And me — sitting in the center of my four pillars, who work both as my shadows and my best friends.
Each of them has a greater reason to work with me this devotedly — something that ties their interests to my successful takeover of the Laurent family.
"Julian is in M&A because Mark Weber has decided to side with him," Nikolai says knowingly, leaning back on the couch, spreading his thighs, gaining too much attention from Li Zhao's dancers.
A dark chuckle leaves my mouth as I hang up Felix's call once Julian is gone.
The wine in my hand feels warmer than before — mostly because I've been holding it instead of drinking.
Lanterns dangle from the ceiling, casting light and shadow. The soft hum of the air conditioner makes my senses too sharp — I can even hear the heartbeat of this Nikolai bastard sitting next to me.
"Can you breathe normally?" I grumble, typing on my laptop to access the company's security system and see the conversation between Mark Weber and Julian, who are currently talking in the M&A break room, with Julian's assistant James standing by the door to make sure nobody enters.
The M&A break room is rather luxurious and elegant — a mini kitchen, two large fridges, and an oven on the counter. Cookie jars filled with eight different kinds of cookies, fresh bread and butter, tons of snacks, and a coffee machine with roasted beans in the grinder.
Five round plush couches face the floor-to-ceiling glass window, which gives one of the best views of the London Bridge.
Nikolai leans closer, his hot breath brushing my neck, making me more annoyed than I already am.
"The departments under you really get the princess treatment," he says, nodding to himself. "Nepotism."
My jaw tightens as I elbow him and push him away. "Stop spreading your garlic breath around me."
Nikolai just smirks mischievously and nods mockingly.
"Why did you decide to join me, Mark? If I'm right, your father is supporting my elder brother, isn't he?" Julian's calm, relaxed voice with an edge of suspicion echoes through the microphone on my laptop.
Mark looks dead into Julian's eyes. "My father and I aren't the same person."
Mark sounds cold, and his usual tone of disinterest is gone. I shift closer to my laptop, reading their body language carefully.
Julian is no fool.
I'm sure…
He knows I'm watching him through the camera and listening.
The corner of Julian's lips twitches into a smirk as he turns and looks directly into the CCTV camera.
His emerald green eyes — filled with evil intention and vengeance — make me clench my fist.
"Dear brother, seems like your spying ends here."
He smiles — but it's the smile of a maniac I failed to control and recognize years ago, and he's become a pain in my ass.
He claps his hands, and instantly, the CCTV and microphone are jammed.
"You Laurent brothers are crazy bastards," Nikolai scoffs with a smirk.
I inhale deeply, my anger too cold and controlled to explode like a volcano. Putting my laptop away, I lean back against the softness of the couch.
My eyes stare at the red lantern dangling right above my head. It swings slightly to the left, my breathing controlled, my mind calmer than it has been in days.
"What are you thinking?" Nikolai turns toward me, his amber eyes holding both understanding and curiosity.
"Just… should I kill Julian or keep him alive?" I say, my voice low, void of emotion — as if I'm not talking about killing my little brother.
The same little brother with whom I've spent some of my most horrific and traumatic years.
My heart clenches at the memory of the distant past — one I've been trying so hard to forget, yet I can't erase it from either my body or my soul.
"You do know, right?" Nikolai's voice drops low — almost prophetic, almost dangerous. "Unlike you, Julian isn't thinking twice. Just a few months ago, he tried to crash into you with his car."
The roar of the engine that night makes my body stiffen.
Not with fear.
Rather, with the knowledge of how dangerous my little brother has become.
I remember how his Ferrari crashed against mine. If I hadn't taken the risk to open the door and jump out of my car…
I would have died there — just like Julian wanted.
"Killing him isn't an option right now. Not when Father's eyes are spying on every one of us from God knows where," I clench my jaw. Something inside me feels the raw hunger to devour my own blood and flesh and end this all.
But I know better than anyone…
The worst kind of death comes from defying the patriarch of the Laurent family.
"Julian and your uncle are going overboard to kill you and destroy you, Ron." Nikolai sips his soda with a calm understanding of the gravity of the situation.
"Let them," I say coldly — not out of overconfidence, but from simple knowledge of the power I hold.
"Your uncle must have received the gifts through the shipment, don't you think?" A cruel grin dances on his lips, which matches mine for the first time in a long while.
"Of course he has." I sip my wine calmly, my blood running hot with anticipation of the enraged scowl on my uncle's face when he sees the twenty spies' severed heads delivered to him.
In this game of inheritance, survival demands cruelty — and cruelty makes a man a monster in the eyes of the world.
But nobody knows…
Even monsters used to be human once — men who begged the world to be kind, only to be met with daggers instead.
The scars of whips from my distant past still sting and burn whenever I think of it.
Of the person…
Who made me a monster, and blames me for being a bloodthirsty lunatic.
If Nova ever sees that side of me…
I wonder if my little princess will ever look at me without fear or disgust in her eyes.
A low grunt leaves my lips at the thought of her.
Nova Celestia.
You have ruined me — body and soul. I'm suffering like a starving man in a desert, where you appear as an oasis only to reject me at the entrance.
How will you react when you see me tomorrow?
Pretend that the night where I tasted your tears and heard my name on your lips never happened?
I will pretend — only to make you confess first.
How much you want me to touch and devour you again, and give me every right to claim you as mine.