Chapter 3 The Ninja and the Lion

The kitchen was a sanctuary of stainless steel and silence, but Elara felt as though she were preparing a last meal for a condemned woman. Her hands shook as she plated the Coq au Vin, the rich, heady aroma of red wine, pearl onions, and fresh thyme doing nothing to settle her rolling stomach.

She had already tucked Leo into the oversized bed in the staff wing. The room was far too large, the ceiling too high, and the shadows too long. To calm him, she had whispered that they were playing a "spy game"-a high-stakes mission where he had to keep his bags packed under the bed and stay as silent as a shadow.

She had to get out. Tonight. Before the gravity of Silas Vane's presence pulled her so deep she could never surface.

...

Elara gripped the frayed handle of her battered suitcase, her knuckles white. "Okay, Leo. Remember the spy game? Quiet as a mouse."

Leo, wearing his dinosaur-shaped backpack and clutching his black knight chess piece like a talisman, gave her a determined thumbs-up. "I'm a ninja, Mommy. Ninjas don't eat broccoli, and they don't get caught."

"Exactly," Elara whispered, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird.

They crept down the servant's stairs, their footsteps muffled by the thick runners. Every creak of the floorboards sounded like a gunshot in the oppressive silence of the mansion. They slipped out of the heavy side door, and the cool, damp Seattle air hit her face. For a fleeting second, she felt a surge of pure, unadulterated hope.

Her 2012 hatchback sat in the driveway, a rusted, salt-stained beacon of freedom amidst a sea of black European saloons. She reached for the door handle, her fingers trembling as she searched her pocket for the keys-

Click.

The car doors unlocked themselves with a mechanical chirp. The headlights flashed twice, slicing through the mist and illuminating the man leaning casually against the driver's side door.

Silas Vane looked entirely too comfortable. He had shed his suit jacket, his charcoal dress shirt unbuttoned at the throat, the sleeves rolled up to reveal forearms that were far too distracting for a man Elara was trying to flee. He was twirling a key fob around his finger-her key fob.

"Leaving so soon?" Silas asked, checking a phantom watch on his wrist. "The soufflé hasn't even had time to fall, Ms Sterling."

Elara jumped, nearly dropping her suitcase on her foot. She shoved Leo behind her, a primal instinct taking over. "I-the kitchen had a... a leak. A burst pipe. I was going to find a plumber."

Silas raised a dark, sceptical eyebrow, his gaze drifting to the three-foot-tall 'ninja' peeking out from behind her legs. "And does the plumber require your son to wear a backpack shaped like a prehistoric predator?"

Leo stepped out from behind Elara's legs, crossing his small arms over his chest in a gesture that was a haunting, carbon-copy of Silas's own signature stance.

"We're going to McDonald's," Leo announced defiantly, his chin tilted at the exact same angle as the billionaire's. "This castle doesn't have chicken nuggets. It only has 'fancy' food."

Silas blinked. For the first time in his calculated, choreographed life, the 'Ice King' looked genuinely speechless. He looked down at the boy-the same unruly dark curls, the same stubborn jawline, and the same absolute, infuriating refusal to be intimidated.

"Chicken nuggets," Silas repeated, the words sounding foreign and slightly absurd in his mouth.

"With the honey sauce," Leo added firmly, sensing he had the upper hand. "Mommy says we can't afford the big box, but I'm a ninja, so I'm going to heist them."

Silas's lips twitched. A look of grudging, surprised respect crossed his face as he looked back at Elara. "Heist them? It seems you've raised a tiny criminal, Elara."

"I've raised a child with standards," she snapped, grabbing Leo's hand and trying to push past him. "Give me my keys, Silas. Now."

"I'm afraid the car is... indisposed," Silas said, tossing the keys into the air and catching them with effortless, predatory grace. "The gates are locked. The security team has been instructed to only let people in. It's a very one-way system tonight."

"You can't keep us here! That's kidnapping!"

"I'm not keeping you," Silas said, stepping closer. He invaded her space until his scent-cedarwood and the sharp cold of the Sound-drowned out the smell of her car's old upholstery. "I'm hosting you. But since Leo wants nuggets, perhaps we can negotiate."

He knelt down, eye-level with his son. The resemblance was so striking it was almost painful to look at. "If I get you a 'big box' of nuggets-and perhaps a professional-grade telescope for the third-floor balcony-will you agree to stay for one dinner? I have something to discuss with your mother."

Leo looked at the telescope Silas was pointing toward, perched high on the glass-walled balcony. Then he looked at his mother. Then he looked back at the billionaire.

"Does the telescope see the rings of Saturn?" Leo asked, his eyes widening.

"It sees the rings, the moons, and probably the neighbours' darkest secrets," Silas replied, his voice dropping into a conspiratorial whisper.

Leo turned to Elara, his little face a mask of solemn logic. "Mommy, the ninja mission is on hold. We need the nuggets for energy to see Saturn."

Elara groaned, burying her face in her free hand. "Betrayed by a four-year-old for processed chicken. I really should have seen that coming."

"Smart boy," Silas murmured, standing up. His eyes locked onto Elara's with a triumphant, smouldering glint. "He knows a winning hand when he sees one. Now, inside. Both of you. We have a contract to discuss, and I believe it's time for a DNA test-just to confirm what the nuggets have already told me."