Chapter 4 BURN ME BEAUTIFUL

Bang!!.

The door slammed behind us as I dragged Sienna into the back of my armored Bentley. Her pulse was a war drum against my skin.

"They want me breathing when they gut me?" I barked, gripping the wheel so tight I could've broken it.

"Your father made the call, Silas," she choked out. "He's in on it."

"Oh, sweetheart..." My mouth twisted into a deadly grin.

"They should've killed me when they had the chance."

The city bled past us in streaks of red and gold as I gunned the engine, tearing through streets like a man chasing his own execution.

"Where are we going?"

"To start a fire."

I hit the brakes outside a syndicate-owned club crawling with my father's soldiers.

"You're walking in there?" Sienna's voice cracked between panic and arousal.

"No. We're taking over."

I tossed her a thigh holster and a mini-gun. "Strap in, baby. I want you dripping in danger."

Her smirk cut like a blade. "I was born dangerous."

We stormed the club. My men hesitated. Some lowered their guns. Some didn't. I shot the ones who didn't.

Simple choices. Live or die. Follow or fall.

"Tell your boss his son just reclaimed the kingdom," I snarled to the last trembling soldier.

"You can't-he'll-"

"I can. I just did."

I hauled Sienna into the VIP suite, slammed the door, and the second it clicked shut-

Our mouths collided, frantic, wild, and violent.

"This is insane."

"You're insane for staying."

"You're insane for needing me."

"I don't need you, sweetheart."

I shoved her against the wall, lips bruising hers.

"I'm addicted to you."

She clawed at my shirt, yanked it over my head, and bit my bottom lip like she owned the air between us.

"You started a war for me."

"I'd burn the damn planet for you."

Her fingers traced my scars like they were love letters.

"I want all of you, Silas. Even the parts that destroy me."

"Especially those parts."

We crashed into the leather couch, tangled in heat, her nails scoring fire across my skin.

But just as I ripped the strap of her dress-

The burner phone buzzed.

I didn't answer. I kissed her harder.

It buzzed again. Relentless.

She gasped against my lips. "It could be about the takeover."

"I don't give a damn right now."

"What if it's a kill order?"

"They'll have to wait."

It buzzed a third time.

I yanked it to my ear. "What?"

"They have your father."

The voice on the other end wasn't one of mine.

"Who the hell is this?"

"Someone who just flipped your kingdom upside down."

Click. The line went dead.

I threw the phone across the room.

"What is it?" Sienna whispered.

"They've got him." My fists clenched.

"Your father?"

"Yeah. The man who betrayed me."

Her breath hitched. "Do you... Do you want to save him?"

I looked her dead in the eye, a smirk curling like poison.

"I want to be the one who decides whether he lives or dies."The club still reeked of gunpowder and power plays when I stormed out, my chest aching from the kiss I should've finished and the war I'd just started.

"They want me breathing when they gut me?" I spat into the burner.

"Tell them to stand in line."

The docks bled under the night sky as I gunned the engine, dragging the car through streets that didn't know whether to worship me or burn me.

Kairos waited like he already owned the ending.

Two mercs shoved my father to his knees.

The man looked smaller. Older. Blood dripped from his temple.

Kairos flicked ash off his cigarette. "We could've ruled together, brother."

"You should've tried asking."

I cocked my gun, heat in my veins, fire in my mouth.

"Instead, you chose war. So I'm going to make you choke on it."

Another shadow stepped forward.

Her.

My mother. Alive. Calm. Queenly. Deadly.

"Surprised, sweetheart?" she purred.

"Not really."

"Disappointed?"

"Deeply."

Her laugh coiled around my spine like a chain.

"You never owned the syndicate. I did. Your father stole it from me. Kairos helped me take it back."

"So you faked your death to steal it all over again."

"It's not theft if you're taking back what was yours."

I paced like I had already tasted their blood.

"So what's the move? You want me to kneel? Beg?"

Kairos smirked. "No. Just pick a side."

His nod signaled the mercs to shove my father harder to the ground.

"Kill him," my mother whispered.

"Prove your loyalty. Or die with him."

"You really want me to choose?" I snapped.

"Choose your crown, Silas," Kairos barked. "Or lose your head."

I pointed the gun-

Straight at my father.

Straight at the man who sold me out.

But I pulled the trigger on the merc instead.

Gunfire exploded.

I flipped a crate, dragging my father behind cover as bullets carved the air.

"You're saving me?" He coughed, blood soaking his collar.

"Don't flatter yourself." I slammed a fresh clip into my gun.

"I'm saving the choice. You don't die until I say so."

"You can't outrun your family, Silas."

I smirked, dragging him toward the car as flames torched the docks.

"Watch me."

We screeched away, the tires burning their lies into the pavement.

In the silence, my phone buzzed.

A message. No name. Just a video.

I hit play.

Sienna.

Blindfolded.

Tied to a chair.

Blood on her lip. A fresh bruise on her cheek.

Her voice trembled. "Silas-don't-don't come for me-"

A hand gripped her hair, yanking her head back. A shadow leaned into frame-a face I didn't know.

A stranger's voice whispered, cold and clean.

"You were told to come alone. You disobeyed. Now you bleed alone."

The video is cut.

No name. No signature. Just war.

My grip crushed the phone.

I don't lose.

I don't walk away.

And no one-

No one-

Takes what's mine. I crushed the phone in my palm.

The screen split, but the image of Sienna's bruised face scorched the back of my skull.

"Drive faster!" I barked, slamming my fist into the dashboard as my father bled out in the backseat.

"Why save me, Silas?" His voice was brittle, like his bones. "You should've killed me."

"I still might."

I slammed the brakes, yanked him forward by his bloodstained collar.

"You don't get to die until you tell me who's pulling the strings."

His laugh scraped like broken glass. "You think you're the king? You've always been the pawn."

I pressed the barrel to his throat.

"Who took her?"

His eyes flicked, faltered. A crack in the armor.

"There's another syndicate. One that doesn't answer to the Mavros. They fund the wars, own the cops, burn the streets you walk on."

"Name. Now."

"The Aurelian Circle."

He coughed up blood. "They don't want your throne. They want your life. They want your girl. She's the key."

"Key to what?"

"Your mother gave them something years ago-leverage. Sienna's the insurance. You were just the distraction."

The tires screeched as I swung the car toward my war bunker.

The door cracked open before I reached it.

Sienna's burner phone sat on the table, still buzzing. A live feed.

She was still tied to the chair.

Her captor's voice came through, smooth, surgical.

"Silas Mavros. I know you're watching. You're outnumbered. Outplayed. And out of time."

The camera shifted-showing Sienna's bound hands.

A ring sparkled on her finger.

The syndicate heirloom I gave her. The key to my kingdom. The key to my offshore accounts. The key to every kill switch in my empire.

The stranger's fingers tapped the ring. "Funny thing about trust, Mavros. It always comes back to burn you."

I shot the screen, the bullet cracking straight through Sienna's frozen image.

"They've got the codes." My father groaned behind me.

"They've got her. They've got you."

I turned slowly, the rage settling in my bones like concrete.

"Not yet."

I dragged him to his knees, gun pressed to his temple.

"Tell me where they're keeping her. Or you don't see sunrise."

His lips twitched.

"Go ahead. Pull the trigger. See what doors slam shut."

"Test me."

I shoved him to the ground. "I'm not here to play games. I'm here to burn the board."

I stormed out, dialing my top enforcer.

"Mobilize the black cars. Lock the ports. Freeze all Mavros assets. I want the Aurelian Circle bleeding by midnight."

"Boss, you're making a lot of enemies real fast."

"Good. Maybe they'll kill each other trying to get to me."

The enforcer hesitated. "What about your father?"

I glanced back at the man groaning on the floor.

"Leave him."

"Alive?"

"For now. Let him choke on the family he broke."

As I slammed the door, my phone buzzed again.

A text.

From an unknown number.

You want her back? Come alone. One bullet. One decision. Midnight.

An image followed.

Sienna.

Blindfolded.

A gun pressed to her temple.

And she was smiling.

Smiling.

My chest cracked open.

Was she playing them?

Or had she just joined them?

I don't walk away. I don't lose. And now I don't know who I'm saving.