Chapter 9
Emerald
The second Malrik Drax held the black card out toward me, the entire room changed.
Nobody moved. Nobody raised their voice.
Nothing dramatic happened on the surface.
The air thickened so fast it felt like the office itself understood something dangerous had just walked in wearing an expensive suit and a charming smile.
I looked between the two men slowly, already irritated by whatever silent testosterone war was unfolding in front of me.
Honestly, men were exhausting. Especially powerful men.
Even worse, criminal men who acted like emotional repression was a personality trait instead of something they should probably seek therapy for.
Malrik stood near the center of the office looking entirely too comfortable for someone who had entered another predator’s territory uninvited.
His charcoal suit looked tailored down to the stitch, dark gloves tucked neatly into one hand while silver rings glinted beneath the warm office lighting every time he moved his fingers.
Everything about him looked polished. That somehow that made him feel worse, because violent people were one thing. People who smiled while violence brewed beneath their skin were another.
There was something deeply unsettling about him. Not unstable in an obvious way. Not loud. Not reckless. No, Malrik looked like the kind of man who could destroy someone’s entire life while sipping whiskey and holding a pleasant conversation.
His piercing eyes slid toward me, and that same calm smile curved across his mouth again. I hated it immediately.
“It’s only a phone number,” he said smoothly, extending the card slightly farther toward me.
Before I could respond, Nikolai spoke. “No.”
The single word cracked through the office hard enough to pull my attention toward him instantly.
He stood near the desk dressed entirely in black, one hand braced flat against the dark wood surface hard enough that the tendons in his forearm stood out beneath his rolled sleeve. His expression had gone dark in a way that sent warning signals straight through my chest. Not cold. Possessive.
My brows lifted slowly. “Excuse me? ”
“You’re not taking it.”
The bluntness alone irritated me.
“Oh, that’s cute,” I replied flatly. “You think that’s your decision?”
“Yes,” Nikolai replied.
Malrik looked openly entertained now. I ignored him completely while staring at Nikolai.
“What exactly is your issue?”
“My issue,” Nikolai said through his teeth, “is that Malrik Drax does nothing without a reason.”
Malrik gave a soft hum. “You make me sound manipulative.”
“You are manipulative.”
“Fair,” Malrik admitted.
I folded my arms across my chest before looking back toward Nikolai. “It’s a business card, not a blood oath.”
“You’re not calling him.”
“Didn’t say I was,” I said back.
“Then you don’t need it. ”
There it was again. That tone. That assumption that he could draw a line and expect me to obediently stand behind it because he’d decided something for me.
Unfortunately for Nikolai, I had spent most of my life reacting badly to control.
Roman did it too. Everyone did. Protected.
Handled. Sheltered. Like I was permanently one difficult conversation away from collapsing into dust.
My eyes narrowed slightly. “You know, the more you tell me not to take it, the more I want to.”
Something dangerous crossed Nikolai’s face immediately. “Emerald.”
“No,” I cut in before he could continue. “You don’t get to bark orders at me because your killer instincts got bruised.”
“This isn’t a joke.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
“Then stop acting reckless.”
The irritation simmering beneath my skin sharpened instantly.
“And stop acting like I’m stupid!” I yelled back.
Silence crashed through the office. Malrik’s gaze moved between us with obvious fascination now, like he was watching a live performance specifically designed for his entertainment. Which honestly made me want to elbow him directly in the throat .
Nikolai stepped closer. Not enough to touch me. Enough to remind me how much larger he was. How much space he occupied without trying. Dark eyes locked onto mine with enough intensity to make heat crawl unexpectedly beneath my skin despite the tension crackling between us.
“You don’t understand what he is,” he said quietly.
That almost irritated me more. “Then explain it.”
Nikolai’s expression hardened immediately. “No.”
I blinked once in disbelief. “Wow. Incredible communication skills. Truly inspiring.”
A soft sound escaped Malrik that suspiciously resembled laughter. Nikolai looked one second away from violence.
“You think this is about control?” Nikolai asked lowly.
“If the emotionally unavailable black button up fits—”
“It’s about keeping you away from people like him.”
The roughness in his voice caught me off guard for half a second. Not because of the words, because he sounded genuinely disturbed by the idea. As if Malrik standing near me physically bothered him on some primal level he couldn’t explain. That confused me more than anything else .
Nikolai knew dangerous people. He was dangerous people. Yet from the second Malrik entered the estate, something in Nikolai had shifted into outright hostility. Not business hostility. Personal hostility. Like instinct and hatred. Like some part of him recognized danger before logic could catch up.
My attention shifted slowly back toward the card resting between Malrik’s fingers.
“What exactly does he know that bothers you this much?”
Something flashed across Nikolai’s face immediately. Raw frustrated helplessness that looked almost painful for him to admit.
“You think I know every secret Lucien buried before he died?” Nikolai asked harshly. “Because I don’t.”
The room quieted instantly. Even Malrik’s amusement faded slightly around the edges. Nikolai’s gaze stayed fixed on mine.
“My father built his entire empire on lies,” he continued. “Half the time I don’t know what was real and what was manipulation. I’m not hiding things from you, Emerald.”
“The second Malrik realizes he can get inside your head, he will,” Nikolai said flatly. “That’s what he does.”
Malrik gave a quiet hum of amusement. “You say that like it’s a flaw. ”
“It is a flaw.”
“No,” Malrik replied smoothly. “It’s a talent.”
The tension in the room thickened instantly. Nikolai’s gaze never left mine.
“He enjoys finding weaknesses,” Nikolai continued coldly. “He enjoys turning people against each other. The second he sees an opening, he uses it.”
My brows pulled together slightly. “And you think I’m just going to fall for whatever game he’s playing?”
“I think you’re curious,” Nikolai said sharply. “And men like him survive off curiosity.”
Something in his expression shifted then to frustration.
The kind that looked almost painful beneath all that control, like he hated not being able to explain himself properly without revealing too much in front of the wrong person.
That affected me more than anger would have.
From the moment I met Nikolai, he rarely looked uncertain about anything.
Yet standing here with Malrik watching us like a wolf circling prey, there was something restrained in him. Something tense beneath the surface that made the entire room feel unstable.
My chest tightened unexpectedly. Not because I fully understood what was happening, but because I could tell this genuinely mattered to him .
Malrik looked absolutely delighted by the entire interaction.
“Well,” he murmured smoothly while adjusting the sleeve of his jacket, “this has certainly been illuminating.”
Nikolai’s gaze moved toward him slowly enough to make the room feel colder.
“Leave.”
Malrik tilted his head slightly. “Possessive. Interesting.”
“You’ve overstayed your welcome.”
“And yet,” Malrik replied casually, “your little bird looks curious.”
I almost told him never to call me that again. Instead, I reached forward and took the card directly from his hand. The reaction was immediate. Nikolai moved so fast it nearly startled me.
One second, he stood near the desk. The next he was directly in front of me. “Emerald...”
I looked up at him without backing down. “Nobody tells me what to do. ”
His eyes searched mine like he was trying to figure out whether strangling me or kissing me would solve more problems. Honestly? Difficult choice.
The heat from his body wrapped around mine immediately in the small space between us while tension rolled off him hard enough to feel physical. Malrik looked like Christmas came early. Which should’ve been enough warning for everyone involved.
“You took it anyway,” Nikolai said quietly.
I lifted a brow. “You’ve met me before, right?”
“That doesn’t mean I enjoy watching you make reckless decisions.”
“I took a business card, not hard drugs.”
“From Malrik Drax.”
The way he said the name sounded personal.
Like poison. My irritation softened slightly beneath the confusion twisting through me because this reaction still didn’t fully make sense.
Nikolai wasn’t a man who frightened easily.
Violence followed him like a shadow. Yet something about Malrik had him looking ready to tear apart the entire estate with his bare hands.
Maybe that should’ve scared me more than it did, instead, it made me curious. Which was probably a character flaw.
Malrik slid his hands into his pockets casually before stepping backward toward the office doors .
“I’ll let the two of you continue this privately,” he said smoothly. “Though for the record, Emerald, curiosity is rarely a bad thing.”
Nikolai didn’t even glance toward him. “Get out.”
A faint smirk touched Malrik’s mouth before he inclined his head slightly toward me. “If you decide you’d rather hear the truth than be protected from it,” he murmured, “call me.”
Then he left. The office doors shut behind him with a soft click.