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And his eyes were on mine. His whole attention was trained on me.
I saw his gaze moving below, and it stilled on Valentin’s arm around my waist. Even with this distance between us, I saw the way his hand tightened around the fragile glass—something that could easily break under his force.
My attention was snapped away from him when Valentin steered me away. We walked to one of the chairs in the corner, and he pushed me in it.
Fear slithered its way into my body at his glare. “Stay.”
I nodded and folded my hands over my lap, my feet planted firmly on the floor. It was hard not to shake or bounce my legs with nervousness.
Valentin stood beside the chair, a hand on my shoulder as he greeted and chatted with people. The world around me moved and tilted—everyone enjoyed their night as I stayed sitting, trapped yet again.
Around me, men and women danced—waltzing around the room. I watched everything in a daze, my body feeling heavy and my mind numb.
The man who was standing in front me moved away, and I saw Viktor. He was still standing there—where he was before.
Our eyes met again, and he stepped out of the shadows, moving forward stealthily. With each step toward me, I grew nervous.
What was he doing?
He stopped in front of Valentin and me. His gaze never left mine. A waiter passed by him, and Viktor placed his glass on the tray without breaking our eye contact.
Chewing on my lips nervously, I tried to look down, but his intense stare stopped me. It trapped me in place.
It was ironic. I hated being trapped, like how I was in this chair, yet I didn’t mind being trapped by Viktor.
It was something I welcomed with open arms. He could trap me however he wanted, with his eyes, his words, his body—and I would welcome it.
He could be the puppet master, and I his marionette, and still I wouldn’t fight those taut strings.
Viktor smirked, and I trembled in anticipation. This shouldn’t be happening. Not in front of Valentin. If he knew whatever Viktor and I had, we would lose it all.
From everything to nothing.
Just empty broken hearts.
I couldn’t bear the thought of that. My stomach twisted, and I felt sick just imagining being without my Viktor.
My thought was interrupted when I saw Viktor speaking, his unwavering gaze never leaving mine. My eyes widened, and I sucked in a deep silent breath.
“You have a lovely wife there, Valentin.”
My fingers clenched at the soft fabric of my dress. What is he doing?
Valentin’s hand tightened on my shoulder, his fingers digging in my skin almost painfully. I winced, and Viktor’s eyes grew darker, murderous.
But he continued speaking, refusing to act on his anger. A part of me was thankful for that, but another part of me—an irrational part of me—wanted him to fight for me.
“If Ayla was here, I would have asked her for a dance, considering she is my Queen. It would have been an honor,” Viktor said, nodding toward my left. “But since she isn’t…”
Ayla? That Ivanshov woman? The one Valentin always swore at?
But…
Confused, I looked to my left. My breath left me, and I froze.
I hadn’t seen him before, but he had clearly seen me. His hard blue eyes were on me, looking just as dangerous as Viktor’s. His black hair was smoothed back nicely, but a few stubborn dark strands fell over his forehead.
He was big and very tall, his shoulders easily twice mine, and he was probably a foot taller. If I thought Viktor was a big man and dwarfed me, then I was clearly mistaken.
Viktor had a dark aura around him, all the time—and when he was angry, he was vicious. But this man—I could tell he was someone everyone bowed to. This man was deadly.
And without even asking for his name, I already knew who he was.
This was the infamous, the one and only, Alessio Ivanshov.
And he was staring at me, like I was someone under a magnifying glass and he was trying to figure me out.
He was staring right into my soul, and I shivered, shrinking away and pushing myself deeper into the chair, away from him. My heart did several flips in fear, panic now coursing through my body.
I always imagined Alessio as a dangerous man, but with him glaring at me like that, I just wanted to run away.
Quickly averting my gaze, I looked at Viktor instead. My anchor. He would protect me.
He was still staring at me. All thoughts of the dangerous man standing beside me was gone. This time, Viktor extended his hand toward me.
“It is only fair that I ask you for a dance. So, may I have this dance…Mrs. Solonik?”
I flinched, but the burning sensation in the pit of my stomach was only for a moment, because behind his words, I saw what he really wanted to say. I saw it in his eyes.
