Killian's POV
I don't know when the world started bending around her.
Maybe it was the first time she looked at me and didn't flinch.
Maybe it was when she let me touch her without pulling away.
Or maybe it was the fucking night I realized she was stronger than I ever gave her credit for, and I started wanting to break her just enough to see if she'd stay.
But one thing's for sure—she doesn't belong in my world.
She never should have.
---
One week earlier.
The moment I walked into that penthouse, everything shifted.
I was supposed to be angry.
I was supposed to punish her for sneaking out, for betraying my rules. For defying the one command I gave her.
But when I saw her there, standing by that bar with Max, her lips pulled tight like she was holding back, I didn't feel rage.
I felt a different kind of heat—a hunger I couldn't quite place.
It wasn't about her disobedience.
It was about the way she made everything burn in my chest.
Max had been running her mouth, the brat. I saw her challenge me with those eyes—those fucking eyes. Those eyes that no one should ever throw at me unless they want trouble.
But Noelle?
She was something else.
---
I shouldn't have walked over.
I shouldn't have spoken.
But it was like something inside me cracked open, and there she was—standing so small, so fragile under the weight of my gaze.
And she didn't look away.
She just… stared.
Max's words echoed in my head like a sick joke. "Tell me his name. Show me his face. Let me smash it with my phone."
Smash it?
That wasn't what I wanted.
I didn't want her defending me. I wanted her to need me.
And for a moment, I saw it in her. I saw that need.
Not for my protection. Not for my wealth or power.
But for the quiet, dangerous thing I am.
---
"Big words for a small lady like you."
I said it before I could stop myself, but it wasn't just about Max. It was about the way Noelle made me feel like I had to own every inch of her.
Max was fucking clueless, but Noelle?
She wasn't.
And when she stood up, all fire and defiance, to protect her little friend?
I knew I had her.
Her eyes flashed, challenging me, daring me to pull the trigger.
She thought I was dangerous?
I was about to show her exactly how dangerous.
I could feel the shift the moment I turned my gaze on her. The way she went still. The way the air between us crackled with something electric.
Something otherworldly.
---
I didn't give a shit about Max.
I didn't give a shit about any of the meaningless bullshit the world told me to care about.
The only thing that mattered was Noelle.
She was mine to ruin.
---
She thinks she's running away from me?
Please. I'm the one who lets her believe she's in control. I'm the one who lets her believe she can escape.
But I know what she needs.
She needs the control I'll give her.
And the chaos I'll put her through.
I left her alone that night—let her have her space.
Let her feel like she was free, if only for a moment.
But I couldn't stay away.
---
The next morning, I knocked on her door.
"I'll send for you in the morning. I want you there when I meet him," I said. The words came out like a command, but something about them felt… wrong. I didn't want to admit it, but she was the one person I actually wanted in that room with me.
I didn't need anyone else.
---
When we arrived at the hospital, I didn't even look at her.
I didn't need her watching me like I was some kind of monster. But I couldn't stop the part of me that wanted her there. Wanted her with me when I saw the thing I never thought I'd want.
Her son.
And the second I laid eyes on him?
Everything inside me froze.
Leo was a child.
A weak little thing.
Noelle was holding him like he was the most precious thing in the world.
And maybe he was. But I couldn't let myself feel anything about that.
I couldn't afford to care.
---
When I crouched down in front of him, he didn't flinch.
He didn't even hesitate.
I held out my hand like I was giving him a piece of my soul.
The kid didn't blink. Didn't look away.
He took it. Like it was nothing. Like he knew me already.
And then—then—he smiled.
Like I wasn't the demon I'd always been.
And in that moment, I realized something.
I could break him.
I could break them both.
But I wasn't going to. Not yet.
---
"Leo."
The sound of my voice in the air tasted different.
It didn't taste like power.
It tasted like something softer.
The kid didn't speak much. But his gaze was steady.
And I wondered for a second if he knew more than he should.
I didn't want to think about it, so I focused on Noelle instead.
She was looking at me like I was a fucking stranger.
Her expression was unreadable.
What was she thinking?
She looked at Leo again, her arms around him like a shield, and then her gaze slid to mine, guarded and full of questions.
I wanted to rip those walls down. Tear through her defenses until she couldn't breathe without me. Until she couldn't move without me.
But I didn't. Not yet.
Not with Leo in the room.
---
It's not that I cared about the kid.
It's that I needed him to accept me.
I needed him to see me as something more than the man who would ruin his mother.
And when he looked at me like he did?
Like I was human?
It broke something inside me that I didn't even know existed.
---
We were leaving the hospital when I finally spoke again.
My voice was quieter now, almost tender. "You know… you're not so bad for a kid."
Leo smiled again, but it wasn't just a smile.
It was trust.
I wasn't used to trust.
And that's when I realized—maybe, just maybe—this wasn't about what I could take from them.
It was about what they could take from me.
---
We were halfway to the car when she finally said it.
Her voice barely above a whisper. "Why are you doing this?"
For a second, I didn't answer.
Then I looked at her.
"You want the truth?" I asked. "I'm doing it because I can't stand the thought of anyone else touching what's mine."
Her face went pale. I saw the spark of realization. The fear.
But I wasn't done.
"I'm doing it because I can. Because you don't get to decide when I stop. You don't get to decide anything anymore, Noelle."
She looked at me. Really looked at me.
And for the first time… I wasn't sure who had the power anymore.