Chapter 9
The sleek black car pulled up to the curb outside a towering glass-and-steel skyrise, each floor lit with warm gold light that shimmered like liquid fire against the night sky.
Roman hadn’t said a word during the drive, his fingers laced with mine, his body coiled tight like a predator barely keeping control.
I could feel the tension in him, in the way his thumb stroked my hand absentmindedly, but his jaw stayed locked, unreadable.
This was the heart of his empire. The doors to the building opened as we approached, guards stationed discreetly on either side. No one greeted us, no words were spoken, but I felt the weight of every eye tracking our movements the moment we stepped into the gleaming black-marble lobby.
Roman led me straight to the private elevator. His grip never loosened and when the doors closed behind us, cutting us off from the world, I turned toward him.
His eyes were molten and without a word, he slammed the emergency stop and hauled me back against the wall. His mouth crashed into mine with brutal urgency, hands gripping my waist, teeth catching my bottom lip. The kiss was demanding a little punishing and very hungry.
"You’re mine," he growled against my lips before the elevator lurched into motion again. The kiss ended just as the doors opened to the top floor, leaving me breathless, lips swollen, and utterly dazed .
He guided me into his office; it was nothing like I expected.
Floor-to-ceiling windows lined the far wall, offering a panoramic view of the city.
Lights danced below us like a thousand stars had fallen to earth.
The walls were a smooth matte black, accented with dark wood and sharp chrome.
A long leather couch stretched under the windows, and in the centre of the room was a massive obsidian desk.
Bookshelves lined one wall, filled not just with files and ledgers, but old books and weapons.
"Make yourself comfortable," Roman said, crossing to the far end of the room. "I need to meet with the others for a while."
He turned a knob and the blinds between the boardroom and the office lifted, revealing a glass partition between the two rooms. I could see the long table already surrounded by chairs, some of them already occupied.
Roman caught my gaze. "You’ll see me, and I’ll see you."
I nodded, he told me that I would be with him as much as possible, but I never thought that he would take me to work with him.
I took a seat on the couch, tucking my legs beneath me.
As I looked closer, I noticed something else, the subtle framework near the top of the windows.
The building had the same shutters, just like at the mansion.
When the sunlight came, this whole floor would go dark. A chill ran through me, was that my life now? Trapped in darkness? Later, when he returned from the boardroom, I’d ask.
I glanced back through the partition to see that the meeting had started.
Roman stood at the head of the table, his brothers were there, Viking, Lucien, Volken, and for the first time, I saw Draugr.
His presence was more shadow than man, with ice-cold eyes that barely flicked toward the glass.
There were three other men I didn’t recognize, all talking in clipped, angry tones.
Roman didn’t speak, not at first. He sat at the head, arms resting on the polished black table, his face unreadable, until he raised one hand.
I could tell that silence fell like a guillotine, even though I couldn’t hear any sound I could tell that the room stilled.
All eyes shifted to him, and then he spoke.
I couldn’t hear the words, but I could feel the shift in the air. The power the command that he wielded it wasn’t shouted, it didn’t need to be. Roman owned the space the way gravity owned planets, and I couldn’t breathe for how much I wanted him.
I had walked into this world barely twenty-four hours ago, but already I couldn’t imagine walking away. He was violent, dangerous, dominant in a way no one I’d ever met came close to. But when he looked at me, I felt like the only thing that mattered.
Was that madness? Or fate? I didn’t know, I only knew that I didn’t want to leave.
The door to the office opened suddenly and a woman stepped in. She was tall, poised, in a fitted pencil skirt and heels that clicked across the floor. She must be Roman's assistant, but she froze when she saw me.
Her expression didn’t change, but something in her eyes did. A flicker of surprise, maybe irritation. She took another step forward but before she could speak, the door between the boardroom and office opened. Roman stood there, his body tense, his eyes locked on the assistant.
"Out," he said.
She hesitated, then nodded and turned on her heel, disappearing with sharp precision .
Roman stepped inside, closing the door behind him. He crossed to me in three long strides, sat beside me, and pulled me into his lap.
"She didn’t know," he murmured. "But now she does."
I rested my head against his chest, his heart thundering beneath my cheek. “Are you finished, don’t they need you in there?”
I feel his head shaking in reply before he answers, “I have said what I needed to say, they are just finalizing a few facts and then they will be gone.”
"Roman…will I never be able to go out in sunlight again?" I asked softly.
I feel his body tense; he exhaled slowly before he answered. "You might be a little sensitive to direct sunshine, my blood will do that, but you’re still human. You can still walk in the sun. I’d just rather you didn’t."
"Why?"
"Because I can’t protect you when I’m not with you. And the light...it hides too much."
I nodded, swallowing hard, I understood. Or at least I was trying to. The man holding me was a king, a killer, yes maybe even a monster but he was my protector, and now, somehow, he was mine.
And I wasn’t going anywhere not because he commanded it, but because I wanted to stay.
The door opened again, this time revealing Draugr, he was tall and silent, with eyes like permafrost, he stepped into the room with a nod.
"We need to discuss the southern flank," he said without preamble. His gaze flicked to me, and for a second, I swore there was a flicker of curiosity there.
"Draugr, you have met Layla," Roman said.
Draugr gave a short bow of his head. "You’ve given him a reason to breathe, that makes you important." I didn’t know what to say to that so I just nodded, feeling oddly exposed under his stare.
Before Roman could respond, the door to the boardroom flew open and one of the men from earlier stormed in. His face was twisted in anger, his voice rising with every word.
"This is bullshit! I don’t care what the others decided. I lost two men, two loyal soldiers and we’re just supposed to let it go? "
He was halfway into the office before the air shifted. Draugr was in front of him in a blur of movement, his hand closing around the man's throat and slamming him against the door. The sound echoed through the room like thunder.
"Krall, are you fucking mad? You enter the King's office like a rabid dog?" Draugr growled, voice low and lethal.
The man’s feet dangled off the floor, his face turning red, then purple as he struggled to speak. Roman was beside them a moment later, his expression a storm of cold fury.
"You come into my space," he said, each word slow and deliberate, "and raise your voice in front of my mate?"
Draugr let go, the man Krall, crashed to the floor, gasping. Roman stared down at him his anger evident in his expression, his tense body. "Two men are dead, and you're more concerned with ego than justice. If you ever step into my office uninvited again, you won’t walk out."
Krall coughed, trying to recover, but didn’t respond. The message was clear. Roman turned back to me, his rage already retreating behind those steel-blue eyes and reached for my hand.
He didn’t need to say it, I already knew. No one, not even his own men, would ever be allowed to disrespect me. Not while he breathed.
“Get out Krall!” Roman snaps, his voice a sharp crack in the charged silence. The man struggled to stand, one hand on his throat, the other bracing against the floor.
Krall looked up, eyes full of rage and bruised pride, but the heat of Roman's glare was enough to silence whatever insult he was choking back. Draugr stepped forward again, a warning growl rumbling low in his throat, and Krall finally stumbled to his feet and staggered out of the office.
The door slammed behind him, the sound final. Roman turned to Draugr. "I want him watched. If he so much as breathes out of line again, I want to know before he draws his next breath."
Draugr nodded once. "He’s already marked, I’ll have two men on him by sunrise."
Roman released a heavy breath, running a hand through his hair. I could feel the heat radiating off him, fury barely contained .
"That was Krall," Draugr said, more to me than to Roman. "One of the southern Capos. His men got ambushed in the last attack. He thinks volume makes up for lack of spine."
Roman pulled me back against his chest, holding me there like he needed my touch to calm him. "He should be grateful he walked out of here at all."
I glanced between them. Draugr’s demeanour returned to calm, the quiet, dangerous stillness of a man who knew how to kill without ever raising his voice. Roman, on the other hand, was anything but calm. His pulse thundered under my hand.
"Are you okay?" I asked softly.
He looked down at me, and I saw something flicker in his eyes, not doubt, but the strain of having to hold himself back. "I am now."
I pressed a kiss to his jaw, needing to ground him just like he’d done for me so many times.
Draugr turned and moved toward the boardroom door, pausing only to say, "I'll handle the southern report, you stay with Layla. "
Roman nodded. "I will."