"Valerius!!!"
The name ripped out of my throat before I even realized I'd formed it.
The man in front of me flinched at the sound of the name. His hand shot up, ready to smother my mouth and silence me forever.
But then… BANG.
The sound behind him was so loud, so violent, that the floor vibrated. The man jerked, spinning around, irritation twisting his face as he opened his mouth.
"The hell is wrong with—"
The words died.
The locked cubicle door, the heavy one he had latched behind him, was no longer attached to its hinges.
It wasn't open, neither was it broken. It was gone.
Ripped clean off.
His breath hitched. "W-wha—"
A hand slammed into the back of his shirt like a hook. His body jerked backward, and then he was lifted.
His feet left the ground as if he weighed nothing. He managed one startled grunt before his entire body was hurled across the room.
THUD.
His skull hit the wall so hard the sound cracked through the room.
He sagged instantly, his legs buckling. Warm blood began sliding down the wall behind him in slow, glistening trails.
I froze.
My lungs refused to pull in air. Standing there, breathing in slow, murderous cadence… was Valerius.
He looked feral.
His eyes were wild with his chest rising and falling as though he'd sprinted through fire. His hands flexed at his sides, as his veins raised along his forearms.
The man on the floor blinked up slowly, and dazed, with his vision swimming in and out of focus.
"I… I didn't…. I was just—"
Valerius's fist came down again, like a hammer. He slammed it on the man's nose.
The man's nose exploded beneath the hit, twisting grotesquely, with blood spurting across the marble in thick splashes. His scream was strangled. The stranger just discovered the pain he never prepared for.
The man whimpered. His palms flew to his broken nose, curling in on himself like a beaten animal.
Valerius stepped forward.
His shadow swallowed the man whole.
His voice dropped to a deep, razor-edged growl. "Did you touch her?"
The man's lips shook. Blood bubbled out of his mouth. "N-no, boss— I swear— I swear I didn't— I only—"
I swallowed hard. My back was still pressed against the wall.
Valerius's hand shot out and fisted the man's shirt, lifting him halfway off the ground with terrifying ease.
He backhanded him.
The strike took air out of my lungs again.
The man's head snapped sideways, as blood sprayed across the floor like red rain. His jaw cracked audibly.
Valerius leaned closer, his voice dropping colder. "I will ask again."
His grip tightened.
"Did you touch her?"
The man's breath hitched. "I I… I didn't please— I didn't get to— she— she— I—"
His eyes darted to me, desperate, and pleading. Valerius followed his gaze.
Then Valerius turned his head toward me.
Those eyes landed on mine.
His eyes were sharp, too perceptive, and too knowing.
"Did he?" he asked quietly, controlled, and deadly.
My throat tightened. I didn't want to say it. Not because I pitied the man — I didn't. But because saying it out loud meant acknowledging what had just happened. What almost happened. What could have happened.
My tongue felt heavy.
I lowered my eyes, not to submit, but because looking at Valerius felt too dangerous at that moment. I nodded.
My throat closed. Shame burned under my skin. I nodded once.
Valerius inhaled slowly.
Then exhaled.
His fingers tightened around the man's throat.
"That's it," he said softly.
His hand twisted, and then SNAP.
The sound was wet and sharp, like dry wood breaking under pressure. The man's body went slack instantly.
His head fell at an unnatural angle. His limbs dropped like dead weight. His eyes stayed open, frozen in shock.
Valerius let him fall.
The body hit the marble with a dull thud.
I stared.
My mind was buzzing but my heart hammered violently, with my cheek still burning from the earlier hit. The sting radiated outward like a brand.
Valerius stood there, his chest rising and falling too fast. He didn't look away from the corpse. His fingers twitched once, twice, as if resisting the urge to break something else.
Then slowly… His attention shifted to me. A storm was behind his eyes. He took one step forward.
I flinched before I could stop myself.
His jaw tightened.
He stopped moving.
The room spun. I pressed my hand against the wall to steady myself. My cheek throbbed, heat pulsing beneath the skin, a reminder of everything that almost happened.
Valerius's gaze slipped to the red mark on my face.
His pupils contracted. His entire body went rigid. "What did he do to you?" His voice was low and barely contained.
He took another step forward, slower this time, as if fighting an impulse and losing. His breathing was uneven.
"Nara."
I tightened my arms across my chest. "Don't."
His expression flickered but he didn't move closer. The silence curled around us like smoke.
He dragged a hand through his hair, exhaling sharply. His jaw clenched so hard a muscle ticked along the side. "I shouldn't have left you. My men aren't so tame around women."
He sounded possessive, territorial, and feral.
His eyes moved to the corpse again. "I will deal with the rest of them."
I swallowed. My voice cracked when I spoke. "The rest?"
Valerius met my gaze with eyes that looked carved from obsidian. "Anyone who even looked at you wrong."
My stomach knotted.
He stepped closer again. Slow, and careful, like he didn't want to trigger another flinch. His hand lifted halfway, as if he wanted to touch my face, my cheek, or the bruise forming there.
I stepped back.
His hand froze mid-air. A muscle in his throat moved as he swallowed. Then he lowered his hand.
He didn't look angry.
"You will not be touched again," he said. "By anyone. Not even death."
The room felt too small.
I forced out a breath. "I don't… I don't need your protection. Just let me go. Send me back to my family."
His eyes narrowed the slightest bit. "You needed my protection today."
"I shouldn't be here," I whispered. "None of this is mine. This fight, this war, these politics, and all, they're not my world."
"No," Valerius said quietly. "They're mine."
He stepped forward. I didn't move this time.
"And now," he added, his voice sinking lower. "They include you."
My breath caught.
Behind Valerius, the corpse lay still on the cold marble, blood pooling in dark spreads around the head. The metallic scent slithered through the air, sharp and nauseating.
Valerius didn't look back again.
"You called my name. Why?"
I inhaled sharply. "I was afraid."
His eyes softened. Barely.
"And you chose me," he murmured.
My chest tightened. "I didn't choose anyone. I panicked."
He exhaled once, slowly, like he didn't believe a single word.
"Either way," he said, "I came."
He took another step. He stopped inches away. His presence swallowed the room, thick and heavy and unyielding.
"Next time," he said softly, "you won't need to scream."
My heart thudded once.
"You will not be put in danger again," he continued. "Not while I still draw breath."
My lips parted, but no sound came out. His gaze dropped to the faint bruise forming on my cheek.
Something in him snapped again. Quietly, and invisibly, but I felt it in the air.
"Nara." he sounded safe. "Come here."
I froze. "No."
His jaw flexed.
"Nara."
"No."
He stared at me for a long moment. His chest rose.
Then he stepped back.
The air loosened around me. My lungs finally expanded.
Valerius turned his head slightly, eyes still locked on mine. "A nurse will come in five minutes."
"I don't need—"
"You will let them look at you."
His tone left no space for argument.
I was tense.
He watched me for a few seconds more. Then he walked toward the door.
He paused beside the corpse.
His foot pressed down on the dead man's throat. He didn't look back when he spoke.
"This was the last mistake anyone in this estate will ever make with you."