Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
KAYLANI
The theater wasn’t neutral ground.
That was a lie people like Julian told themselves to feel like they were offering civility. The ugly truth was that neutral spaces didn’t exist in my world. Every room belonged to someone. Tonight, the question was who and why.
I felt eyes on me the moment we entered, and even more when we moved to the VIP level. They were all people whose opinions should have mattered to me, but didn’t.
Men who owned billions in corporations, antiquities, or wielded power in political circles.
Women whose last names carried the lineage of old blood, money, and legacy.
People who smiled for performance but clapped for victories.
This wasn’t a ballet crowd. It was a congregation watching everything, including me.
Julian walked beside me as if he belonged there, and I hated it. I was quickly realizing that, as determined as I was to live this double life and coexist with my father, it could not last. That had been only a display of bravado.
But doing this felt wrong and disgusted me.
And I hated that Goran was forced to watch it all. I had done this to him. I had drugged him and married him, and now he was forced to stand by while other men courted me.
No, I needed to cut my father off.
God, that thought was terrifying. Not because I couldn’t live without the money. But because I knew he would never let me walk away. And what he would do to get his way…who he would kill…that was what scared me.
At least Julian wasn’t trying to push any boundaries. Not yet. No crowding. Just close enough to imply familiarity. The kind that invited assumptions.
I cataloged the room the way I had been taught. Exits. Sightlines. Who stared when we entered? Who looked away a little too quickly? Whose smile didn’t reach their eyes?
We stepped into the small box, and Julian turned to face Goran.
“I don’t believe your presence is necessary inside the box. As you can see, there are only two seats and no magical escape,” he said sarcastically. “Ms. Mikhailov will be quite safe.”
I looked at Goran and hoped he understood that it was okay. I would be fine in the confined space, despite the company.
Goran stepped closer to Julian and lowered his voice. I leaned in just enough to hear.
“I will remain right here,” Goran said.
Julian’s jaw tightened. “Very well. Suit yourself.”
I straightened and pretended I hadn’t been listening as Julian pulled the cord on the heavy curtain.
We were suddenly alone. Despite the hundreds of people in the theater, this box had become an island cut off from the rest of the world. There was not a single person here who would lift a finger to help me if I screamed.
The box was intimate in a way that felt intentional. Two chairs were slightly turned toward each other. Our shoulders brushed as he sat down. I shifted to the side and didn’t care if half of my ass hung off the seat, as long as we weren’t touching.
If Julian noticed, he didn’t mention it. He settled beside me, smooth as silk, posture relaxed. Too relaxed. He had already decided how this night would end.
“You handle the spotlight well,” he said quietly, eyes on the stage. “Most women in your position mistake admiration for safety. But you don’t let their attention sway you. I may have underestimated you.”
“I don’t mistake anything. Especially men who confuse proximity with permission and view money as a golden ticket to do whatever they want.
” I looked at him. “And I’m positive you’ve underestimated me.
All you saw was a pretty face, a sassy mouth, and a family name that would boost yours.
But I can assure you there is far more to me than that. ”
A corner of his mouth lifted, but not in amusement.
“Your father warned me you were direct and might need more guidance than other women.”
“Guidance? Is that what he calls a heavy hand and chains these days? How quaint. What he was really warning you about is how I will not pretend. Nor will I inflate your ego just because you need it stroked.”
His eyes darkened at the sexual undertone. My insult had been received loud and clear.
The orchestra swelled and broke our staring contest. Movement filled the stage as the house lights dimmed.
I knew this story well. A servant girl who longed for more, but realized she was seen as nothing but dirt beneath the nails of those who mattered. She met her one true love by chance, a duke, a man of power. And for a short time, they lived in a fantasy untouched by the ugliness of reality.
But by the end of the ballet, they were torn apart.
He married another, leaving her devastated.
In an act of despair, she took her life, leaving her lover trapped in a loveless marriage, carrying a broken heart and unable to find the will to go on.
It was a tragedy that played out the same way for centuries.
It played out now in this theater. Except I was the duke in the story. But I refused to let my ending become a tragedy.
I watched the dancers glide across the stage, their faces full of emotion.
Julian leaned closer, legs crossed, hands resting in his lap. He turned his head and studied me openly. I tried my best to ignore him.
As the music rose into a dramatic crescendo, his arm stretched along the back of my chair. He was careful not to touch me but still claimed space without asking. My nostrils flared as my grip tightened on my clutch.
“Remove your arm.”
He didn’t.
“Julian, it would be wise to listen to me.”
“Is that so?”
I caught his wrist mid-motion as he shifted, aiming to rest his hand on my leg.
I glared at him, my pulse pounding in my throat as his eyes filled with a calculated malice. The first real crack in his composure all evening.
“You do not get to touch me because you think my father would approve.”
A flash of irritation crossed his face. He didn’t bother trying to hide it.
“I wasn’t asking,” he murmured.
He pushed his hand down, proving that I couldn’t physically stop him. His grip settled on my thigh, and he smirked.
And that was when I knew.
Julian Harrington did not negotiate anything. He took. And he was far more dangerous than I had allowed myself to believe.
Instead of wasting any more time, I stood. Opening my clutch, I took out the ring he had given me and dropped it into his lap.
“Now you have my final answer.”
Before I could walk out, he grabbed my wrist. His fingers were firm enough to bruise, but I didn’t wince.
“You don’t just walk out on me.”
“Watch me.” I tugged on my hand. “Let go of me, right now,” I said louder, drawing the attention of the box next to us. If they heard, Goran would hear too, and things would get very ugly if Julian did not release my arm.
GORAN
I had spent the last thirty minutes assessing the two men standing outside the box. The one on the left was experienced but had something wrong with his knee. The way he shifted his weight told me it was aching, and he wanted to sit down.
The one on the right was trying to look tough, but he was wet behind the ears and would get himself killed if he didn’t watch it.
I cracked my neck and rolled my shoulders like I was preparing for a fight. Not that I planned one, but watching them grow uneasy was highly entertaining.
“You do not get to touch me because you think my father would approve.” Kaylani’s voice cut through the curtain. She wasn’t in distress, but she was furious.
I stepped forward, and the two men blocked me without appearing aggressive. They had done this before. That much was obvious. But if they expected me to back down, they had misjudged the situation.
“Get out of my way,” I growled.
“Our orders are to keep you out here,” the more experienced one said.
“I see.”
I moved faster than either one of them anticipated, and they gasped as I pressed a blade up to their throats.
“Watch me. Let go of me, right now,” Kaylani said. And that was it.
“I’m either going in around you or through you. Which is it going to be?” I snarled.
The one on the right was practically pissing himself as he remained frozen in fear.
“Fuck,” Julian growled a moment before the velvet curtain snapped open.
I pulled the knives away as Kaylani stormed out and tried to shove past Julian’s men. There was no fear on her face, only anger. She looked ready to explode.
“I think we need to calm down,” the one guard said, taking a dangerous gamble with his life. My fists tightened around my knives. I already knew how I would kill them both before they could draw their guns.
“Move. Now,” she ordered.
They glanced at each other, uncertain.
I held their stares, letting them understand this was their one shot to live.
“Julian, tell your guards to let me leave, or so help me God, you will feel the full wrath of my family and me.”
“Let her go,” he barked out. He didn’t bother to leave the box.
I glanced toward Julian. He was holding the side of his face, eyes wide with disbelief. I smirked at him and followed Kaylani as she stormed out, her strides long and angry.
With a twirl of the blades, I tucked them away under the hem of my suit jacket and positioned myself between her and anyone who thought stopping her was an option.
Her hands were clenched as we walked through the lobby and exited out the front door without slowing. Kaylani moved like a gale-force wind.
“Did he hurt you,” I asked under my breath.
She shook her head as we reached the VIP parking and spotted the limo. Her heels clicked against the pavement as we approached.
“Are you sure? I will rip his arms off if he did.”
“No, but he would have.” She stopped before reaching the car and looked up at me. Her breathing was fast, her body still shaking from the adrenaline.
“I know.”
“I swear to you, Goran, if you hadn’t been there. If it had been a different place, different time…” She shivered. “He’s dangerous.”
“I know.”
I yanked open the car door for her.
Kaylani climbed in, and the driver looked back at us.
“Charles, up the glass, get us out of here, and take us to Nathaniel’s house.”
“Yes, sir,” he said without hesitation.
As soon as the privacy glass was in place, I pulled Kaylani into my side and kissed the top of her head.
Behind us, the ballet continued. But ahead of us, a war waited.
And Dimitri Mikhailov was not going to let this insult pass quietly.