Chapter 11 – Violet
The house is chaos.
From the moment the car rolls to a stop at the edge of the estate, I can feel the shift in energy—it’s sharp and tense.
Guards rush across the grounds, weapons drawn, voices clipped over radios.
Kaz doesn’t hesitate. He grips my hand and pulls me through a narrow gate on the side, one I didn’t even know existed, and we slip in through the shadows—away from the noise, away from the unknown.
We enter through a back corridor, his pace fast but controlled, and his grip never loosens from mine. I can barely keep up, my breath short, heart hammering against my ribs. Something is wrong. Deeply wrong.
Kaz doesn’t stop until we’re inside a bedroom I’ve never seen before.
His.
It’s colder than mine, more minimalist. Darker tones. Stark. Intimidating, just like him—but not in a bad way. The windows are heavily draped, the walls lined with shelves and security monitors. A fortress disguised as a bedroom.
He turns to me, jaw tight. “You stay in here. Lock the door behind me. Don’t open it for anyone but me. Understood?”
I nod—because what else can I do? But as he reaches for the door, panic wraps around my ribs and I blurt out, “Don’t go.”
He pauses.
And I do something I don’t even understand.
I step forward and wrap my arms around him from behind, pressing my forehead between his shoulder blades. “Please,” I whisper. “Just stay a little longer.”
He doesn’t move for a heartbeat.
Then, slowly, he pries my hands off, but only so he can turn around and hold me properly. One arm wraps around my waist, the other cradles the back of my head.
“You’re safe in here,” he says softly, and for once, there’s no hardness in his voice. “I swear it. I’ll come back for you.”
I look up at him. “Promise?”
His thumb brushes my cheek. “I never break my promises, Violet.”
And then he’s gone. I lock the door. And all I can do now…is wait. The fear starts with a bang. A sharp, echoing crack from somewhere deep within the house. Then another. Then gunshots.
Followed by shouting—muffled, chaotic, overlapping in a way that sets every nerve in my body on fire. I stagger away from the door, my chest heaving as I back into a wall, fingers curling into fists.
I haven’t heard sounds like that in…God, over a year. Not since my last on-the-ground murder report. Not since I thought I was brave enough to be anywhere near real violence.
But right now? I feel anything but brave.
I slide down to the floor, heart pounding so hard it hurts. Every yell feels like it’s happening just outside the room. Every footstep sounds like it’s coming for me.
I’m not that Violet anymore—the one who could handle blood and crime scenes and interviews with murderers in maximum-security prisons. That girl disappeared somewhere between the alleyway and this mansion.
But there’s something else, something sparking underneath the fear.
Adrenaline. Rising in my blood like a second pulse. Not because I want to run. But because Kaz is out there. And the thought of something happening to him—it knocks the breath out of me. I don’t know when it changed.
Maybe it was the first time he said my name with softness.
Or the way he looked at me like I was something he couldn’t lose.
Maybe it was when he kissed me and didn’t take it further, even when I gave in.
Or maybe…it was when he sank to his knees moments ago and brought me to an earth-shattering orgasm.
But whatever it was…it changed me.
I’m terrified, yes. But I’m not just scared for myself anymore. I’m scared for him.
My breath is ragged as I drag myself off the floor. I can’t sit here and do nothing.
The room is quiet except for the muffled chaos outside, but when I glance around, something catches my eye—hidden behind a wooden panel near the armoire, just slightly ajar. Curious, I walk over, hands trembling, and tug it open.
A monitor.
My heart drops.
There are feeds—dozens of them—switching between different parts of the estate. Hallways. Corridors. The armory. Even the front gates.
And then—
I find him.
Kaz.
He’s on the screen. His sleeves are rolled up, his knuckles bloodied, and he’s got someone pinned to the floor. A man, bulky, face already swollen from repeated blows. I hit the audio icon, and Kaz’s voice rips through the speakers like a thunderclap.
“Violet? Who the fuck gave you the right to say her name?”
He lands another punch. And another.
My hand flies to my mouth.
The man tries to speak, spitting blood, but Kaz grabs him by the collar and slams him against the concrete wall like he weighs nothing. His eyes are wild, sharp with rage, and I can see the way his chest heaves as he looms over him.
But it’s not the violence that rattles me.
It’s the fury. The protectiveness. The fact that he’s doing this because of me.
Because someone said my name.
And in his world, apparently, that’s a death sentence.
I should be scared. I should be repulsed.
But instead, I’m shaken by something else entirely.
The way his voice cracks—not with mercy, but with something darker. Something possessive.
And terrifyingly, I don’t look away.
“I—I didn’t know,” the man manages, voice shaking. “They just said…they wanted to take her. Sell her. She’s worth more alive.”
Sell me? I freeze. Kaz does too—but only for a breath. Then something inside him breaks. The man barely gets out another word before Kaz lunges.
He doesn’t need a weapon. His fists are the weapon. One hand wraps around the man’s throat, pinning him again to the floor, the other hammering down. Again. Again. Flesh slapping flesh. Bone cracking.
It’s brutal. Maxim, Milo, and Arina stand in the background. Still. Silent. They don’t interfere. They’ve seen this before.
But I haven’t. And yet—I can’t look away.
Kaz isn’t just angry. He’s unhinged. Possessed.
All because someone wanted to sell me. Like I was property. Like I was a thing.
When the man finally stops moving, Kaz stays there a second longer, chest heaving, blood on his knuckles, his breathing ragged.
And I know. He killed him. For me. Because someone dared to speak of selling me, of taking me away from him.
Suddenly, Kaz disappears on screen. For a second, I stay, watching as Arina and Milo drag the body away, wondering where he went. Until I hear the sound of his boots pounding up the stairs. He’s coming. Fast.
I rush to the door, my hands trembling as I unlock it. The moment it swings open, I gasp.
He’s there. His shirt is blood-soaked and torn across the chest, clinging to his skin, and he’s shaking—rage still pulsing off him like heat from a wildfire. His eyes are unfocused, wild, and he smells of sweat, smoke, and the sharp, coppery tang of blood. Not his.
“Kaz,” I whisper, stepping toward him.
He’s breathing like he ran a marathon, his fists still clenched at his sides, knuckles raw and split open. His jaw is tight, and for a moment I think he won’t speak. But then I do what I’ve never done before—not with him.
I reach up and hold his face in my hands.
His skin is hot under my palms. His lashes flutter like he’s startled by the touch. The fierce, ruthless man who just killed someone with his bare hands stands completely still under my fingers.
“What happened?” I ask, barely getting the words out through the knot in my throat. “Kaz, what’s wrong?”
His throat bobs. He looks at me. Really looks. And something in him gives.
“They were here,” he says, voice raw. “For you.”
My blood runs cold.
“Why?” I ask, stepping closer. “Why me? Why are people trying to take me?”
Kaz’s jaw tightens again. He hesitates for a second too long.
And then he says it.
“Because someone out there knows what you mean to me.”
The air between us shifts. My breath catches.
I don’t know what stuns me more—that someone wants me as leverage…or that Kaz just admitted that I mean something to him.
More than something. Enough to make men bleed.
Enough to make him kill.
“Kaz…” I whisper.
But he doesn’t let me speak. Not yet. His voice is still thunder in his chest when he says:
“They weren’t after you for ransom. They were going to sell you. Like property. Like you’re nothing.” He pauses, barely able to keep still. “And I won’t let that happen. I’ll burn this entire city before I let them touch a hair on your head.”
My heart is hammering now, too loud to ignore. “So…are you going to let me go now? I’m clearly bringing trouble to your door.”
Kaz doesn’t hesitate. He shakes his head and steps closer. “No,” he says hoarsely. “I’ll die before I let you go.”
The way he says it—like a vow, like a curse—makes my knees weak. His chest is rising and falling fast, blood still drying across his skin, but his arms wrap around me with a kind of desperate reverence.
I press a soft kiss to his cheek. Then another. And then another, right below his eye, where a bruise is starting to bloom. He exhales sharply, like he’s trying to hold himself together.
“Ruin me, then,” I whisper into his ear.
His whole body tenses. I take his hand in mine and start walking backward, slowly, never breaking eye contact. Guiding him. Toward the bed.
He follows like a man possessed, gaze locked to mine, jaw clenched like he’s afraid to even breathe wrong. But I see it in his eyes—that hunger, that fire that started the moment I stepped into his world.
He’s burning. And so am I.
And tonight, we burn together.
“Take me, Kaz,” I beg. “Please.”
I’ve hardly finished saying the words when Kaz envelopes me in his arms, his lips seeking mine.
There’s no gentleness in his touch, but it doesn’t scare me.
He seizes me, pulling me into his grasp, taking my breath away with his hard kiss.
I gasp as he lifts me up, hands gripping my hips.
I cling to him, wrapping my legs around his waist, my arms around his neck, holding on for dear life.
He lays me back on the crisp white sheets, him on top, his weight pressing down on me, constricting my chest. My lungs burn, the butterflies in my stomach flapping wildly, ready to take flight.
A strange thrill soars through me when he moves from my mouth, his lips trailing down my jawline, finding my neck. He kisses and licks, his teeth grazing the skin, as his hands hike up my dress, shoving it to my waist.
His hand slips beneath the flimsy fabric of my dress, fingertips grazing my clit. My back arches involuntarily as a gasp escapes my throat, the jolt of pleasure tearing through my insides.
“Kaz, please.”
As if my voice unfreezes him, he goes crazy. His hands are all over me, tearing off clothes, as his lips seek out every stitch of exposed skin.
The dress is yanked off and flung across the room, barely hitting the floor before he's leaving a searing trail of kisses down my stomach. Slipping his hands beneath me, he makes speedy work of my bra, tearing it off.
He grasps the sides of my panties, and I lift up instinctively when he tugs them down. He steps back, hands making work of his pants, unbuckling the belt and unzipping them, the sound seeming to echo through the quiet room. Soon, he’s as naked as I am.
He pries my legs apart and moves to the space between them. My eyes are drawn down his broad chest, following the trail of hair along his stomach, straight to his cock. My eyes widened when I catch sight of it. He plans to fit this inside me? I can’t even fit my finger in!
“Are you afraid?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Don’t be,” he says softly, kissing my stomach. “I’ll take it easy on you.”
“Okay.”
“Let me taste you, solnyshko,” he says. “Please.”
Next, he’s bowing his head, flicking his tongue over my clit. I almost come right there, right then. Kaz holds my legs apart, forcing me to stay still as he devours me like I’m his last meal on earth. I thrash around the bed, but Kaz doesn’t let me go.
Just when I feel like I’m about to orgasm, he rises, and the sight of his mouth glistening with my juices is so primitive and sexy, I moan.
“Please, Kaz. Now, please.”
He grabs the head of his cock and rubs it against my clit, earning another moan.
“I’ll take it easy on you, my sun.”
Before I can respond, he pushes himself inside of me, agonizingly slowly. I pause, nervous and anxious.
“Relax,” he grunts, trembling above me as he slowly pushes in, one inch after the other.
I’m starting to relax when he hits a resistance that has me tightening my body. He kisses my lips and brushes the hair back from my face, his icy blue eyes meeting mine.
“It will hurt,” he says. “But it gets better.”
I brace myself, but nothing prepares me for the sharp tinge of pain that blossoms in my body as he completely buries himself inside me. I scream out loud, almost throwing him off me.
“It’s okay,” he says softly. “My beautiful girl.”
He moves slowly, allowing me enough time to adjust to his girth inside me. He takes it slow, sure, and soft. It’s only a matter of moments before I start to feel the pleasure. He notices the change in my stance and finds a rhythm, hiking up my left leg to fill me in more deeply.
In minutes, I’m coming, pleasure filling my senses. Kaz comes with me, grunting and growling like a beast. We collapse against each other, tired and spent, but I know the night has just begun.