Chapter 7
SYDNEY
T he sound of the front door opening usually sends a thrill through me. Max coming home has become the highlight of my days. It’s the moment the tension in my chest eases and I remember what it feels like to be wanted. Possessed.
Cherished in that fierce, dominant way that makes my body hum even now, weeks into this arrangement. The moment the worry about Ben ceases and I know I’ll have another night of blissed-out sleep because Max has fucked my body into exhaustion.
But tonight is different.
I hear his footsteps in the hallway, heavy and purposeful, and something feels off. No familiar call of my name. No growl of anticipation.
I set down the book I’m reading on the couch and stand, smoothing the hem of the silk slip I’m wearing. One he bought me, of course. My heart picks up speed as he enters the living room.
Max looks... cold. His jaw is set, eyes distant in a way I’ve never seen directed at me. The man who usually pins me against the nearest surface the second he walks in barely glances at me.
“Pack your things,” he says flatly, not even bothering with a hello. His voice is low, controlled, but there’s no warmth in it. No hunger.
I blink, the words not quite registering. “What?”
“You heard me, Sydney. Pack. We have little time.” He doesn’t look at me as he says it, walking straight to the bar and pouring himself a drink. His movements are sharp, efficient. Like I’m suddenly an inconvenience.
My stomach drops. This isn’t the Max I know, the one who fucks me like he owns me, who whispers filthy praises against my skin while holding me like I’m precious. The adrenaline-fueled chemistry that sparked at the auction has only grown stronger every night. Until now.
“Max, what’s going on?” I step closer, reaching for his arm. He pulls away, and that small rejection stings worse than it should.
He finally meets my eyes, but there’s a wall there. “It’s not safe for you here anymore. You’re moving to my half-brother Alex’s place. He’ll keep you protected until this is over.”
Half-brother? Protected? The words tumble through my mind, none of them making sense. “I don’t understand. Safe from what? And since when do you have a half-brother?”
He downs the drink in one swallow. “We have the same father, but different mothers. Just pack. Clothes, toiletries. Leave the rest. Alex will be here soon.”
Betrayal blooms hot and ugly in my chest, and so does despair.
I let my apartment go last week, using the rent money plus the generous allowance he gives me to cover another chunk of Ben’s mounting hospital bills.
I have nowhere else to go. And now he’s shipping me off like unwanted luggage?
“I’m not some package you can just hand off,” I snap, my voice shaking.
Tears prick at the corners of my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall.
Not yet. “Talk to me. What happened to us? Last night you were?—”
“Last night was last night.” His tone is clipped, the possessive edge still there but buried under ice. “This is about keeping you alive. Alex’s house is secure. He’s a Kedrov enforcer. You’ll be safe there with him and Rosie.”
Kedrov. The name hits like a slap.
Everyone in this city knows who the Kedrov family is: the Russian mob. But how can Max be related to them?
He’s Maxim Volkov, the wealthy, intense finance guy who bought me at auction and made me feel things I didn’t know I could. Now it sounds like a lie.
I stand there frozen as he turns away, already pulling out his phone. The tenderness he’s shown me, the way he’d trace my skin after fucking me senseless, the quiet moments where he held me like I mattered, feels like a distant dream. Was any of it real?
The doorbell rings minutes later, sharp and intrusive.
Max opens it, and the tension in the room ratchets up instantly.
Alex is tall, about the same age as Max, and built like a weapon. He has the same dark hair and sharp features as his half-brother, but harder somehow. A woman with raven-black hair and sky- blue eyes stands slightly behind him, her expression soft but wary. She must be Rosie.
Two other men linger in the hallway, sizing each other up.
“Maxim,” Alex says, voice flat with obvious strain. The brothers don’t embrace.
“Alexei.” Max’s reply is equally cold. “Thank you for doing this. Keep her safe. No one in or out without your approval.”
Alex’s gaze flicks to me, assessing. “She’s the sugar baby?”
The casual way he says it makes my cheeks burn. I suddenly feel cheap and exposed. Like all the nights Max claimed me, his hands gripping my hips, his cock buried deep while he growled I was his, were just part of some transaction.
Max doesn’t correct him. Doesn’t soften it. “Yes. Sydney Noble. She stays at your place until I say otherwise.”
I want to scream. Instead, I force my feet to move, heading to the bedroom to pack. My hands shake as I throw clothes into a suitcase. The silk lingerie he loved seeing me in. The dresses he bought for our rare nights out. Everything feels tainted now.
When I come back out, the brothers are standing apart, the air thick with old resentments. Alex’s jaw is tight. “You could have given us a little notice. Rosie and I just got back from our honeymoon. This isn’t exactly convenient.”
“Deal with it,” Max bites back. “It’s family business. Kedrov business.”
Alex’s eyes narrow. “You haven’t been family in years, Maxim. What the hell is this really about?”
Max shakes his head. “I can’t tell you.” The secrecy only deepens the knife in my gut. He’s hiding everything from me. From his own brother.
Rosie steps forward, offering me a small, kind smile that doesn’t quite erase the worry in her eyes. “It’ll be okay. We have plenty of room.”
I nod numbly, clutching the handle of my suitcase.
Max finally looks at me then. For a second, something flickers in his gaze. Fondness? Regret? He reaches out and caresses my cheek, the touch tender despite everything. “This is temporary. I’ll come for you when it’s safe.”
I pull away. “Sure.” I don’t believe him. I know a breakup when I see one. It just hasn’t hurt this bad before.
The ride to Alex’s house is silent and tense. I sit in the back of a black SUV with tinted windows, flanked by a security guy. Alex drives with Rosie in the passenger seat.
Two more enforcers follow in another vehicle. I stare out the window, watching the city blur past, my mind reeling.
What happened tonight? I thought Max cared about me. But how could he if he’s passing me off to strangers on a moment’s notice? And who is he, really?
Alex and Rosie’s house is a fortress. It has high walls and gates that close with a heavy electronic hum.
Inside, it’s surprisingly warm, with what I assume are Rosie’s touches everywhere: soft throws, fresh flowers, photos of their recent wedding.
She shows me to a guest room, chatting lightly to fill the silence, but I can barely respond.
That night, sleep won’t come. I lie in the unfamiliar bed, replaying every moment with Max. The way he’d come home and devour me, tender at first, then dominant, fucking me like he needed me to breathe. “This pussy is mine,” he’d growl, thrusting deep while I moaned beneath him.
Was that real, or was he pretending?
The way my body responded to his possessiveness was real.
The next morning, I’m tired, blurry-eyed, and desperation claws at me. I need to see Ben.
I haven’t missed a day at the hospital since the accident.
I find Alex in the kitchen, nursing a coffee.
“I need to see my brother,” I say without preamble. “At the hospital. Today.”
Alex sets the mug down, eyes hard. “Not happening. Max said no unnecessary risks.”
“My brother is in a medical coma and the doctors have eased up on the drugs. He might wake up any minute, or he might never wake up. I’m not abandoning him because your brother decided he was done playing house with me and tossed me aside.” My voice cracks, but I hold his gaze. “Please.”
Tension ripples across his shoulders. After a long silence, he sighs. “Fine. But you go with me and two of my men. No arguments. You speak to no one else.”
Relief floods me, mixed with fresh dread.
The drive to the hospital is suffocating. Alex sits beside me in the back, two enforcers in the front. They move like trained killers, alert, scanning every car, every pedestrian. At the hospital, they flank me like a protective cage as we head to the fourth floor.
Room 417 feels smaller with them crowding the doorway. I sit by Ben’s bed, taking his limp hand, and the tears I’ve been holding back finally spill over.
“Hey, Ben,” I whisper, voice breaking. “I wish you could talk to me. Things are... complicated.” I hiccup and snort and the same time.
“Actually, they are fucked up. So fucked up.” I tell him everything in a hushed rush.
The auction, Max, the money that’s keeping the bills paid, the sudden upheaval.
The machines beep steadily. He doesn’t respond, but speaking it out loud helps.
One enforcer shifts, and I catch a snippet of quiet conversation between Alex and the other man near the door. “...Volkov’s girl. I guess he’s done with her. I don’t know him. All I know is that the Pakhan ordered me to keep her safe.”
My head snaps up. Why is Alex pretending he doesn’t know his own half-brother? And if they have the same father, they should have the same last name.
Everything clicks into place with painful clarity. All the secrecy about how he spends his days. The first week, I tried to ask about his work, but he always shut me down. So, I stopped.
The danger he suddenly insisted on. The way he never asked about my life before the auction, or my reasons for entering the event. I was convenient. A distraction.
A warm body to fuck while he played whatever dangerous game he’s engaged in until he no longer needed me. Until I became a liability.
My chest aches so badly I can barely breathe. The tender dominance, the dirty talk that made me feel claimed and safe. This tight little pussy belongs to me, Sydney. Only me.
It was all part of the undercover identity. He’s not even who he said he was.
I squeeze Ben’s hand tighter. “I fucked up big time, Ben. I’m so stupid.”
Alex clears his throat from the doorway. “Time’s up. We need to move.”
I stand on shaky legs, wiping my face. As we leave the hospital in the same heavily guarded formation as we entered, the full weight of the betrayal settles over me. Max bought me, used me, and now he’s discarded me into this new world of enforcers and secrets.
I don’t know who he really is. And the worst part? Some traitorous piece of my heart still craves the man who made me feel alive in his arms. But that man doesn’t even exist.
Back at Alex’s house, I retreat to the guest room and curl up on the bed. The luxury around me feels hollow. I’ve traded one cage for another, all while my brother fights for his life and my stupid heart shatters over a man whose real name I don’t even know.