Chapter 2

Ivan POV

I stood at the floor-to-ceiling window of my office, looking down at the city lights that sprawled beneath me like a chaotic, shimmering galaxy.

They were all down there-sleeping, eating, living their mundane little lives.

They had no idea that men like me were the ones holding the leash.

I am the Underboss of the Hughes family.

I have killed more men than I have years on this earth.

I built this empire on a foundation of fear and blood, and now, I was about to put a crown on it.

I turned away from the panoramic view and unlocked the hidden drawer in my mahogany desk.

Inside lay a single photograph.

Kiera.

She was laughing in the picture, her head thrown back, wild and untamed.

She was everything Aliana Donovan was not.

Kiera was fire-consuming and passionate.

Aliana was ice-cold, brittle, and lifeless.

My capo, Marco, knocked once before entering the room.

"The shipment is secure, Boss," he reported, his voice clipped and professional.

"The new route through the harbor is clear."

"Good," I said, my eyes drifting back to the photo.

"And the money laundering through the Bio-Med accounts?"

"Clean," he replied without hesitation.

"Donovan's accounts are already being merged. It is seamless."

I nodded slowly.

"Perfect."

My phone buzzed against the hardwood of the desk.

It was Kiera.

I answered, my voice softening instinctively, shedding the armor of the Underboss.

"Where are you?" she asked.

Her voice was a purr, demanding and sweet all at once.

"Working," I said, leaning back.

"Dealing with the merger."

"You mean dealing with the Princess," she spat, the sweetness evaporating.

"I hate that she is back, Ivan. I hate that she is in that house."

"It's necessary, Kiera," I said, sitting on the edge of my desk.

"She is just a tool. A key to unlock the Donovan vault."

I gripped the phone tighter.

"Once we have full control, once the legitimacy of the marriage secures the alliance, she becomes irrelevant."

"You promise?" she asked, her voice small.

"I promise," I said.

"My future is with you. And Leo. Always."

I hung up and checked my reflection in the mirror.

I looked the part.

The devoted fiancé. The respectful ally.

I drove to the Donovan estate for a scheduled meeting with Richard and Eleanor.

They were waiting in the study, surrounded by books they probably hadn't read in years.

They looked old. Weak.

They were handing me their kingdom because they didn't have the strength to hold it anymore.

"We need to discuss the transition," I said, taking a seat opposite them.

"Aliana seems... hesitant."

"She is headstrong," Eleanor said, waving a manicured hand dismissively.

"She has always been difficult. But she will obey."

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees.

"I want to make sure she is manageable," I said, my voice dropping an octave.

"Her medical background makes her sharp. Too sharp."

Eleanor exchanged a look with Richard.

A look of guilt. A look of conspiracy.

"We are handling it," Eleanor said softly, refusing to meet my eyes.

"She has... health issues. They tend to flare up when she is stressed."

She paused, a cruel smile touching her lips.

"She will be docile enough by the wedding."

I suppressed a smile of my own.

They were poisoning their own daughter.

It made my job so much easier.

I didn't even have to get my hands dirty.

"Excellent," I said.

"I have the transfer papers for her trust fund. Since she will be my wife, it makes sense for me to manage her assets."

Richard signed without hesitation.

He was selling his daughter's safety for a percentage of my shipping routes.

Greedy old fool.

I left the estate, washing the stench of their desperation off me as I drove to the apartment I kept for Kiera.

It was a penthouse, far removed from the grime of the family business.

Kiera was waiting.

She was draped in silk and diamonds, gifts from me.

Leo was on the floor, playing with a set of hand-painted toy soldiers.

My son.

He had my eyes. He had my chin.

And he was a secret the world couldn't know about. Yet.

"Daddy!" Leo shouted, abandoning his toys and running to me.

I scooped him up, burying my face in his neck.

He was the only pure thing in my life.

"Did you slay the dragon?" he asked, his eyes wide.

It was a bedtime story Kiera told him.

The dragon was the obstacles in our way.

The dragon was Aliana.

"Not yet, buddy," I said, smoothing his hair.

"But the dragon is getting very tired."

Kiera walked over and kissed me deeply.

She tasted of expensive wine and raw ambition.

"Is she suffering?" Kiera whispered against my lips.

I smirked.

"Her own mother is taking care of that."

"She is weak. She is alone."

I pulled back slightly to look at her.

"She thinks she can play detective, but she has no idea the game is rigged."

Kiera stepped back and handed me a manila folder.

"I found this," she said, a triumphant glint in her eyes.

"From her time at the hospital. A malpractice suit she settled quietly."

She tapped the cover with a fingernail.

"It's not much, but it stains her perfect white coat."

I took the folder, feeling the weight of it.

It was ammunition.

Just in case the poison didn't work fast enough.

Aliana Donovan thinks she is a prize to be won.

She thinks she is a person who matters.

She is about to learn that in my world, she is just a sacrifice.