Chapter 16
Nikolai
The second I stepped inside Malrik’s estate, something in the atmosphere felt wrong in a way I couldn’t immediately explain.
The place carried the kind of quiet that only existed when people were waiting for violence to happen.
Guards lined the hallways in tailored black suits with weapons hidden beneath their jackets, their eyes following every movement I made as they escorted me deeper into the building.
None of them spoke. None of them needed to.
Men like Malrik trained silence into people until it became another form of obedience.
Pain still burned through my side every few steps. Viktor had dug the bullet out himself just yesterday while I sat there half conscious and bleeding across my own floor. Every movement reminded me that somebody had tried to put me in the ground. Somebody had failed.
A guard opened the office doors and stepped aside.
I walked in without waiting to be invited.
Malrik sat behind a massive dark wood desk with a glass of whiskey resting near one hand.
The office looked exactly how I expected it to.
Expensive art hung across the walls beside weapons displayed like trophies.
Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city below while warm amber lighting softened the brutality of the room in a way that almost made it feel civilized.
Malrik leaned back slightly in his chair when he saw me, his expression unreadable for all of half a second before amusement settled across his face.
“Nikolai,” he greeted smoothly. “You look terrible.”
“I’m not here for commentary.”
“No,” he agreed calmly. “You usually only come here when something has gone catastrophically wrong.”
The door shut behind me with a heavy click. I remained standing while he stayed comfortably seated, and the imbalance felt intentional. Malrik enjoyed power in every form. Conversations with him were never conversations. They were games designed to remind everyone else who controlled the room.
“We need to talk.”
A faint smile touched his mouth before he lifted the whiskey to his lips. “You already had an opportunity to talk things through with me. I offered you a compromise weeks ago.” His gaze sharpened slightly. “You decided not to take it seriously.”
Confusion mixed with irritation so fast it nearly snapped my restraint in half .
“You wanted expansion,” I replied evenly. “You wanted access to the western routes and protection through the ports Lucien controlled. We were already discussing terms.”
“We were?”
“You had open communication with me.”
“Yes.”
“Then explain to me what changed.”
Malrik swirled the whiskey slowly before setting the glass back down. “People change. Circumstances change. Business changes.”
“That answer is bullshit.”
His eyes flickered with amusement at the disrespect. “You’ve always lacked patience.”
“And you’ve always enjoyed hearing yourself talk.”
Silence settled between us for a moment, though tension filled every inch of the room so heavily it almost felt visible. I studied him carefully. Malrik looked relaxed. The kind of relaxed that came from somebody sitting three steps ahead of everyone else.
“You know,” he remarked casually, “Lucien used to stare at people exactly like that right before deciding whether they were worth killing. ”
The mention of Lucien scraped across my nerves like broken glass.
“Lucien is dead.”
“Yes,” Malrik replied softly. “Which leaves quite a large power vacuum, doesn’t it?”
Something about the way he said it sent warning bells through my head immediately.
A day ago somebody shot me in the middle of the road and took Emerald while I bled out in the rain.
Every instinct I had told me the attack connected back to this room somehow.
Men didn’t suddenly become this comfortable unless they believed they’d already won.
I stepped closer to the desk. “I was shot just yesterday.”
Malrik’s expression didn’t change. “That sounds unfortunate.”
“A group intercepted me outside the city.”
“Dangerous world.”
“They took Emerald.”
For the first time since entering the office, something shifted in Malrik’s eyes. The reaction disappeared quickly enough most people would have missed it completely, though I had spent too many years around monsters not to notice the smallest cracks in their masks.
“That is tragic,” he answered .
My fingers curled slowly at my side. “I’m sure you don’t know anything about that.”
“No,” he replied smoothly. “I don’t.”
Rage spread through me so violently it almost blurred my vision. Every excuse leaving his mouth sounded rehearsed. Every movement felt calculated. He sat there pretending ignorance while Emerald was somewhere inside this fucking building.
I pulled the gun from my waistband so quickly one of the guards near the door inhaled sharply. The barrel pointed directly between Malrik’s eyes.
“I know you have her. Give her back.”
The room exploded into movement. Weapons clicked around me instantly as guards aimed at my head from every direction, though neither Malrik nor I reacted to them. Fear had no place in rooms like this. Men survived this world by learning how to look death in the face without blinking.
Malrik stared down the barrel of my gun without flinching.
“You seem emotional.”
“I know you took her.”
“You have no proof?”
“I don’t need proof. ”
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “You love her that much already?”
My finger tightened against the trigger. “I’ll kill every man in this building before I walk out without her.”
The smile on his face widened enough to make my skin crawl. He leaned back in his chair and glanced toward one of the guards near the door.
“Bring her in.”
The words slammed into me harder than the gunshot had. My heartbeat turned uneven instantly. A faint commotion echoed from somewhere down the hallway moments later before I heard her voice.
“Get your fucking hands off me!”
Every muscle in my body locked. Emerald.
The office doors opened again, and the world around me stopped making sense.
Emerald stood between two guards wearing a black dress that looked soft enough to belong at some rich man’s wedding instead of inside this nightmare.
The fabric wrapped around her body elegantly while red details shimmered beneath the lights.
Somebody had styled her hair. Somebody had tried making her look beautiful for this.
Fear sat behind her eyes anyway. Real fear.
The kind she fought desperately to hide.
A baby rested in her arms wrapped tightly against her chest while one of the guards kept a brutal grip on her upper arm.
She held the child protectively enough to tell me immediately somebody had threatened it already.
The sight nearly pushed me past rational thought entirely.
Emerald’s eyes found mine across the room.
Everything inside her broke open at once.
Tears filled her eyes so quickly she had to bite down hard enough on her lip to stop herself from falling apart completely.
She looked like she wanted to run to me.
The only thing stopping her was the guard holding her in place.
His hand on her made murder bloom through me instantly. I wanted his spine ripped from his body. I wanted every person in this building dead.
“Emerald...” My voice came out rougher than intended.
Relief flickered across her face so painfully it nearly hollowed me out. She looked exhausted. Terrified. Fragile in a way I had never seen before. The baby shifted softly against her chest, and her entire grip tightened instinctively.
What the fuck was happening?
I looked toward Malrik slowly. “What is this?”
Malrik folded his hands together calmly. “Insurance.”
“Let her go.”
“You aren’t in a position to make demands. ”
“I’ll give you whatever you want.” The words came out before I had time to think. “Routes. Money. Properties. Weapons. Every Voss asset still standing after Lucien’s death can become yours. Name it.”
Malrik watched me carefully for a long moment. “There is nothing you can personally give me that interests me.”
Confusion cut through the rage. None of this made sense anymore.
“You wanted the empire?”
“I still do.”
“Then take it!”
His gaze shifted toward Emerald slowly. “She understands.”
I looked at her immediately. Tears slipped down her face now despite how hard she fought them.
“Emerald,” I said carefully, “tell me what the fuck he’s talking about.”
She shook her head once like speaking itself physically hurt. Malrik’s tone hardened. “Tell him.”
Her breathing turned uneven. The room felt impossibly silent waiting for her to speak. She looked directly at me, and I watched something inside her completely unravel .
“I’m Lucien’s daughter.”
The words hit me hard enough my mind genuinely stopped processing for a second.
No…no.
“That’s not possible.”
Fresh tears slid down her cheeks. “It’s true.”
My thoughts turned chaotic instantly. Everything I thought I knew twisted violently together until none of it made sense anymore. Malrik watched me carefully like he was enjoying every second of it.
“Continue,” Malrik instructed her.
Emerald’s voice cracked this time.
“He said if I don’t marry him…” She swallowed shakily. “He’ll kill you.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “That’s why you’re doing this?”
She nodded helplessly. Rage slammed through me so violently I almost fired the gun straight into Malrik’s face right then.
“I already told you,” I snapped at him. “Take the empire.”
“You still don’t understand. ”
“I don’t care about understanding!”
“I do.”
Malrik stood slowly from behind the desk before walking closer.
“Emerald neglected to mention something very important.” His eyes remained fixed on mine. “She is Lucien’s only biological child. I knew for many years Cecelia never terminated her pregnancy. I knew one day it would be leverage against Lucien. Too bad he is not here to see it.”
The world tilted sideways. Every sound in the room distorted. Every memory I had involving Lucien suddenly felt poisoned.
His only biological child.
My grip on the gun weakened before I even realized it.
“No...”
Malrik smiled faintly. “You aren’t Lucien’s son, Nikolai.”
Something inside me shattered so completely it felt physical. Years. My entire fucking life. Everything I survived. Everything Lucien made me become. Every brutal lesson. Every beating. Every order I obeyed. Every body I buried for him. Every drop of blood on my hands suddenly felt meaningless .
“You see this child right here?” Emeralds hands tightened around the infant in her arms, while Malrik continued. “This child’s situation is no different than yours. Taken from one family and placed in another. Lucien needed an heir, so he bought one.”
The gun slipped from my fingers and hit the floor loudly. I barely heard it. Pain tore through me so violently I couldn’t breathe correctly anymore. My legs gave out before I could stop them, and suddenly I was on my knees staring at the floor while my entire identity collapsed around me.
Lucien was not my father. The realization ripped through every part of me like a blade. I wasn’t even a son to him. Just a weapon. Just something he shaped into violence because he could.
A broken sound escaped Emerald somewhere across the room, though I couldn’t bring myself to look at her. I couldn’t look at anyone. My hands shook. Everything hurt.
“Just kill me,” I said hoarsely.
Silence followed. Malrik crouched slightly in front of me.
“That would upset Emerald very much.”
I laughed once under my breath, though nothing about the sound held humor.
“Fuck you. ”
“You see,” Malrik continued calmly, “people would never accept me taking control of the Voss empire directly. Lucien spent too many years building loyalty around bloodlines and appearances.” His gaze flickered toward Emerald.
“Marrying Lucien’s legitimate heir, however, solves that issue beautifully. ”
Murder burned through me again. I looked up slowly.
“If you touch her—”
“I already have.”
The sentence nearly made me lose my mind.
Emerald shook her head violently through tears. “Nikolai—”
Malrik straightened before looking toward the guards. “Tie him up.”
Every instinct inside me screamed to fight. Two guards moved instantly, grabbing my arms while another kicked the gun away across the floor. Pain ripped through my healing wound as they forced me backward into a chair, though I barely reacted to it anymore.
Emerald started struggling immediately.
“No—stop—”
The baby in her arms startled softly at the sudden movement. Malrik turned toward her with cold irritation .
“If you would like to continue pretending to be a mother for the next forty-eight hours, I suggest you shut your mouth.”
The entire room went still. Emerald froze instantly. Malrik stepped closer to her, his voice dropping lower.
“I have absolutely no issue killing that child in front of you and finding another one for the arrangement my clients requested. Do you understand me?”
Horror flooded her face so completely it almost made me physically sick. Her arms tightened protectively around the baby while tears streamed silently down her face.
“Yes,” she whispered.
The sound destroyed something inside me.