Chapter Twenty-Seven
THE SOUND KEPT playing, and no one in the room dared to interrupt, that soft, unmistakable voice threading through the space in a way that didn’t belong here, didn’t belong anywhere near him, and for a few seconds that stretched too far, Drago didn’t move at all, just stood there with the phone in his hand, watching the video loop again and again like he was waiting for it to change.
The stillness wasn’t calm; it was something tighter than that, more dangerous, like everything inside him had locked down at once and was being held there by force instead of control, and it spread through the room without needing to be named, settling into the kind of silence that made it hard to breathe.
He didn’t say anything, didn’t look at anyone, just dragged his thumb across the screen and listened again, slower this time, like he was pulling it apart piece by piece, making sure it was real, making sure it wasn’t something his own mind was twisting into what it wanted.
“I thought she was dead,” he said finally, the words low, almost to himself, but heavy enough that no one missed them. “I want her back.”
Ruby flinched, I caught it, small but there, and Drago didn’t even glance at her, didn’t acknowledge her at all, his attention still locked on the phone, on that voice echoing faintly between us, and when he spoke again it wasn’t louder, but it hit harder.
“Now.”
The word snapped through the room, hard and final, and Kane hesitated just long enough for it to matter. “We’ll get her back,” he started, but—
That was all it took.
Drago moved fast, the lamp on the table hitting the wall before I fully registered what he was doing, the crack of it breaking through the silence as it shattered on impact, pieces scattering across the floor while the shift in the room came all at once, the tension snapping from contained to volatile in a single, violent motion.
“Now!” he snarled, dangerous now, his chest rising and falling harder as he dragged a hand through his hair, pacing once, twice, like he was trying to outrun something that had already caught him.
“She’s alive,” he went on, louder now, not shouting but close, his voice rougher, edged with something that felt like it had teeth. “She’s been alive this whole time and there was no one in hell you two bitches didn’t know.”
Ruby shifted, her voice fearful. “Drago—”
That was the first mistake.
His head snapped toward her so fast it made my breath catch, his gaze locking onto her, and I saw his expression.
Pure hatred.
“You knew,” he said, not asking, not accusing, just stating it like it had already been decided.
Her face paled. “No—I didn’t—”
“Don’t,” he cut in, stepping toward her, and the way she stilled told me everything I needed to know about what he was capable of when he lost control like this. “Don’t stand there and fucking lie to me.”
“I’m not,” she said, her voice shaking now. “I swear—”
He backhanded her so hard she hit the wall and slid to the floor. And then, just as suddenly as he’d moved toward her, he lost interest. Like she was just a piece of trash he dropped.
His attention shifted… back to me.
And the weight of it almost sent me to my knees.
“You,” he said, quieter now, but there was nothing calm about it, his gaze moving over me in a way that felt different than before, more focused, more deliberate, like he was seeing something new.
My chest tightened as I fought the instinct to step back.
“You got close to them,” he went on, his voice steady again, but wrong, like the control had snapped back into place around something unstable. “Close enough to know their habits. Their people.”
I shook my head before I could stop myself. “I didn’t—”
“You did,” he said, cutting me off, and this time there was no room to argue, no space left for denial. “And you’re gonna tell me every fucking thing you know.”
The words hit like a trap closing.
“No,” I said, my voice breaking just enough to betray me. “I was only there a few times.”
“You better start talking,” he replied, stepping closer, and this time I did move back, couldn’t stop myself, even though it didn’t give me any real distance.
“Or I’ll let Kane do whatever it takes to get that lying mouth of yours to talk,” he continued, his voice low, controlled in a way that made it worse, “and you’re gonna tell me everything about Zeynep.”
My pulse spiked hard, panic rising again as I shook my head. “Mystic—"
That was it.
That was the word that did it.
Something snapped in his expression, fast and feral, his hand coming up without warning—and this time it landed.
The impact sent me sideways before I could brace for it, pain flaring across my cheek as I caught myself against the edge of the table, my breath knocked out of me in a rush I couldn’t control.
“Don’t,” he said, his voice low, dangerous again, stepping closer as I tried to steady myself. “Don’t ever use that name in front of me.”
My vision blurred for half a second as I forced myself to look back at him, my chest tight, my pulse racing, the reality of it settling in all at once.
It settled in slow and heavy that this wasn’t about me anymore—or even Ruby—but about her…
Zeynep, and whatever hold she had on him had twisted into something worse right in front of us, something that made my stomach drop because I could feel how far out of control it was getting, and Drago didn’t even look at me again, just turned away like I didn’t matter, pacing once before stopping short, his voice cutting through the room in a way that made it clear this wasn’t a request.
“Bring her back,” he said, like there was no other outcome. “I don’t care how long it takes or what it costs, you bring her here.”
His gaze flicked back once, landing on me for half a second, and there was something in it that made my stomach drop.
“Put these bitches in the hole,” he added, before hurrying out of the room.
“I guess you fucked up,” Kane said. “but don’t worry, when he calms down I’ll come for you.”