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Chapter 4 - Chapter 4: The Fire Beneath His Skin

We rode in silence.

The black car sliced through the misty roads of Veloria like a shadow with purpose. Lucien didn't speak. His hands gripped the wheel, knuckles white, jaw clenched tight. The kind of silence that screams.

I sat beside him, heart pounding, still reeling from what I'd done.

The city lights blurred past. Cold. Distant.

Then we turned off the main road. Down into the dark part of the city. Where rules didn't matter.

Lucien parked in front of a warehouse.

Rusty. Dead quiet. But I saw it in his eyes—

He knew they were inside.

He got out without waiting for me. I followed, legs shaky, stomach twisted.

Inside, there were men. Five of them.

Lucien didn't hesitate.

He walked straight in.

And they saw him.

The leader stood up. Tall. Scarred. Smug.

"Well, well," he said. "Lucien Cain. The king himself. What brings you to—"

Lucien shot him in the leg.

Just like that.

The man dropped with a howl. Blood spilled onto the floor.

The others moved.

Lucien moved faster.

It wasn't a fight. It was a massacre.

He didn't even flinch. Just pure, precise violence. Each move is calculated. Controlled. Like he'd done it a thousand times.

I stood frozen.

He was a monster.

A beautiful, dangerous monster—and part of me wasn't afraid.

Part of me was... mesmerized.

When the last man fell, Lucien turned to me. His hands were covered in blood. His chest heaving.

"I told you," he said, voice low and furious, "no one touches what's mine."

"You didn't have to kill them all," I whispered.

He walked toward me.

"They threatened my daughter."

Our daughter.

"But this…" I looked around. "You enjoy it."

He paused. "I enjoy making sure you're safe."

I took a step back.

He took a step forward.

"Ivy," he said softly. "Don't run from the side of me that protects you."

"I don't know if I should love it… or fear it."

He stepped closer. His breath on my skin.

"Then feel both."

And then—

His lips crashed against mine.

Hard. Dangerous. Hungry.

And I let him.

I kissed him like I was drowning and he was the fire that could kill me or save me.

Because I didn't know the difference anymore.

The kiss broke me.

Because in it, I tasted everything—his rage, his pain, his hunger for control… and his desperate need for me to stay.

But also, buried deep beneath the fire, I felt it.

Fear.

Not for himself.

For me.

When he finally pulled back, our foreheads touched. His eyes searched mine like they were the last safe place on earth.

"I can't lose you again," he murmured.

I didn't answer.

Because I was still trying to breathe.

Still trying to understand why the fire between us wouldn't stop burning—even when it hurt.

He drove us back to the estate. This time, it was slower. No blood. No threats.

But the silence between us was worse than before.

At the gates, Lucien turned to me.

"From now on, you stay where I can see you."

"Like a prisoner?"

"No," he said. "Like someone I care too much about to bury."

His words should have warmed me.

Instead, they made the air colder.

Inside the mansion, I found Ayra asleep in her room. Safe. Peaceful.

Unaware that her father had killed five men for her.

Or that her mother wasn't sure if she still had a heart.

I stood at the window, watching moonlight pour across the courtyard. Everything looked quiet.

Too quiet.

A shadow moved.

My heart jumped.

Before I could scream, a hand covered my mouth.

A voice whispered against my ear:

"Don't make a sound, Ivy. If you want your daughter to live."

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