Blood.
That was all Ethan tasted.
Not because he was injured — but because rage had flooded his mouth with the metallic tang of instinct. He shoved the last guard so hard the man skidded across the marble floor.
The ballroom was chaos — but Ethan only saw the back doors where they dragged his girl.
Aurelia.
His angel.
His biggest mistake… and the only thing he refused to lose.
"Shut everything down!" he barked at his head of security. "Lock the exits. Block the vehicles. I want every camera feed—"
"Sir," the man interrupted, trembling, "Code Black came from an internal clearance level. Higher than yours."
Ethan froze.
That was impossible.
"No one outranks me in this corporation," he said, voice ice-laced steel.
Unless…
His eyes narrowed.
Unless the threat didn't come from the corporation.
Lucas.
That snake must have planted a mole or hacked the system. The idea that Lucas touched what belonged to him—
Ethan's fists flexed.
Someone would die for this.
"Trace the override signal," Ethan ordered. "Within five minutes, or I swear—"
"We're on it!" the guards scrambled.
Ethan didn't wait. He stormed toward the exit, his heart a violent drum. His mind pictured Aurelia's fear — and something animalistic snapped in him.
He would turn the world into rubble if anyone harmed her.
________________________________________
Aurelia's head throbbed as consciousness returned.
She was lying on cold metal, wrists cuffed — but not painfully. Which scared her more. Gentle restraints meant they needed her intact.
White fluorescent light. Sterile air.
A lab?
A secure facility.
A small security camera watched her.
Then the door hissed open.
Lucas walked in with the swagger of a man who believed he owned the world.
"Well," he smiled. "Rise and shine, little thief."
She glared. "I'm not what you say I am."
"Oh, but you are," he crooned, circling her like a predator admiring its prey.
"You and your father stole from me. A betrayal that cost me billions."
"My father never—"
"Stop the storybook lie." His voice cut sharp.
"He signed documents with your login credentials. You helped him."
Aurelia shook her head fiercely.
"I didn't know! I thought I was helping him with school files — I didn't know what he was doing."
Lucas leaned close, whispering:
"Intent does not erase the crime."
Hot tears stung her eyes — not because she believed Lucas…
But because of the terrible possibility that part of his story was true.
Her father had taken secrets to his grave.
Lucas tapped her chin mockingly.
"You should thank me. I saved you from that animal, Ethan Kane."
Her blood boiled.
"He's not an animal."
Lucas laughed.
"Sweetheart… Ethan doesn't want you. He wants to own you. Just as he owned your father's shame."
Aurelia swallowed hard, voice low.
"You're lying."
Lucas's smirk sharpened.
"You think you're special? Ethan collects pretty, broken things. He just gets bored eventually."
The door slammed before her fear could grow teeth.
A new figure entered.
And Lucas's smirk vanished.
A tall older man in a crisp suit stepped in — eyes cold and sharp.
Aurelia recognized that face from tabloids and nightmares alike.
Victor Kane.
Ethan's father.
The real devil behind the empire.
Lucas immediately stiffened.
"Mr. Kane—"
Victor ignored him entirely.
His gaze landed on Aurelia like a dissecting scalpel.
"So," he said. "This is the girl my son is willing to burn the world for."
Aurelia's chest tightened.
She had no voice — no defenses.
And Victor enjoyed that.
"A shame," he continued. "She's not worth the damage."
Lucas cleared his throat.
"With respect, sir, she should belong to me. Her family—"
"Her family is irrelevant," Victor snapped.
"Her bloodline is weak. A disease. My son's judgment is compromised."
Aurelia's breath stuttered.
Compromised.
Like she was corruption.
Victor stepped closer, eyes unblinking.
"You have cost Ethan ten million already. And now he threatens war over you. That cannot happen."
Her fingers curled against the metal platform.
Victor tilted his head.
"You will leave him."
A hollow laugh escaped her trembling lips.
"And if I don't?"
Victor smiled — thin as a blade.
"You will."
He placed a tablet in front of her.
A legal document glowed.
A confession.
Admitting to every accusation Lucas had spewed.
If she signed… she would be condemned forever.
"And in return?" Aurelia whispered.
Victor didn't blink.
"You disappear from Ethan's life."
Her voice broke.
"He saved me."
"No," Victor said softly. "He collected you. I will save him."
Aurelia's heart twisted painfully.
Victor glanced at Lucas.
"When she signs, you'll release her into my custody."
Aurelia stared at the pen.
Her freedom on one side.
Ethan on the other.
Either choice…
Destroyed her.
________________________________________
Ethan burst into the surveillance control room — furious, unstoppable.
"What did you find!?"
A guard stuttered:
"Sublevel C… restricted vault. She's there."
Ethan didn't wait for backup.
Three guards tried to block him — they hit the floor in seconds.
He took the elevator down alone — because no one else moved fast enough when she was bleeding fear somewhere in the dark.
His phone buzzed.
A message.
One image.
Aurelia. Cuffed. Pale. Eyes wet.
His heart split like glass.
Then text below:
One more step and she confesses.
Ethan's grip cracked the phone screen.
Confesses what?
He didn't care.
He would burn the confession, the building, the world.
The elevator doors slid open.
Two men stood guarding the hall.
Ethan didn't break stride.
They attacked — he disarmed both brutally.
He did not stop.
Could not.
He reached the door.
Unlocked with his biometrics.
He stepped inside…
And froze.
Aurelia sat hunched, tears streaming silently. Victor and Lucas turned to face him.
"What are you doing?" Ethan's voice was a threat incarnate.
Victor folded his hands calmly.
"The only thing a father must do — protect his son."
Ethan's laugh was humorless.
"By kidnapping the woman I—"
He stopped.
Chest tightening.
He almost said love.
Victor tilted his head.
"You love nothing, Ethan. You crave. You possess. This is no different."
Ethan stepped toward Aurelia.
Lucas moved — Ethan's fist struck first.
Lucas collapsed.
Victor sighed.
"Son—"
"You are not my father," Ethan snapped, fangs bared.
"You lost that right the day you chose power over blood."
Aurelia's teardrop hit the metal.
Ethan's rage evaporated into dread.
He knelt before her, gently taking her restrained hands.
"Did they hurt you?" he asked quietly.
She shook her head — but her eyes screamed.
"They want me gone," she whispered. "They want me out of your life."
His jaw clenched.
"You're not leaving."
She swallowed hard.
"If I don't… they'll destroy you."
Her voice broke into a sob, unfiltered emotion spilling out:
"I can't let you lose everything because of me—"
Ethan cupped her face, whisper-rough:
"Angel… don't you dare decide what I'm willing to lose."
She shuddered — torn open.
"I'm not worth it."
"Yes," he breathed, "you are."
Victor slammed the table.
"Enough."
Two guards rushed forward.
Ethan stood in front of Aurelia like a wall.
Victor's eyes sharpened with disgust.
"So this is your weakness."
Ethan smiled — vicious and victorious.
"No. This is the first thing I've ever cared about enough to fight for."
A beat.
Then chaos exploded.
Ethan attacked first — brutal, calculated. Lucas scrambled up and ran. Victor signaled more guards.
Aurelia forced herself up — cuffs scraping — stumbling toward Ethan.
A guard raised a stun baton behind him—
Aurelia screamed, throwing herself between them—
Pain exploded through her body as the stun hit her side.
Ethan caught her collapsing form, eyes going feral.
The guard didn't live long after that.
Ethan scooped Aurelia into his arms.
Victor shouted after him:
"She will ruin you!"
Ethan didn't turn around.
"She's the only thing that will save me."
Aurelia tried to speak — but darkness dragged her under.
Her last sensation:
Ethan's lips against her forehead…
And his whispered vow:
"I'm not letting you go. Ever."
________________________________________
She woke hours later in a soft bed — his bed — wearing one of his shirts, drowning in warmth and safety.
Ethan sat in a chair beside her, head bowed, hand still wrapped around hers — like he'd been protecting her even in sleep.
Her voice was barely breath.
"Ethan…"
His eyes opened instantly — silver fire and terror.
"You're awake," he exhaled, relief cracking his armor.
She tried to sit — he gently pushed her back.
"You're safe. I've handled everything."
Her chest ached.
"Your father—"
"He's no one." Ethan's tone left no argument.
"He can't touch you now."
"But he'll come after your empire," she whispered.
He traced her jaw slowly — tenderness too intense to fear.
"Let him try."
Her heart twisted.
All this… for her.
"You shouldn't want me," she said weakly.
A slow, dark smile curved his lips.
"Angel," he murmured, leaning close, "I don't want you."
Her breath hitched.
"I need you."
Her world spun — not from weakness…
But from how deeply she felt it too.
Ethan brushed his thumb over her lower lip — barely a touch, yet it ignited fire.
"You're mine now," he whispered.
And when he kissed her — soft, claiming, terrifying in its devotion — she didn't pull away.
She kissed him back.
Like he was air.
Like he was danger she craved.
Like leaving him would destroy her.
Because maybe it would.
________________________________________
END OF CHAPTER 10