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But more than my advisers, these two men were my best friends. I spent most of my life with them. We grew up together, studied together, and trained together, knowing very well that we would rule the city in the future.

“Should I handle the city matters as well?” Marcus questioned, eyeing me expectantly. We were less than a year apart, but my brother was too timid for real work. It didn’t stop him from being eager to be a part of the inner circle. But he was better off overseeing the company.

Stormhold Technology was our family’s legacy. We’d made weapons for generations, even before the legion was born. It was our pride. Marcus was the CEO, and no matter what, stepping down from that position was out of the question.

I shook my head. “No, you’ll take care of Mother and the business. I trust you to do that.”

He nodded as sadness crept over his face at the mention of Mother. He was Mother’s favorite son after all. Mother loved her four sons and two daughters equally, but she doted on her second the most because he was a sickly child, and the bond between them was special. He took what happened to Mother the hardest and was thirsty for revenge even though he had never involved himself in family matters.

“Great. No work for me, right? Because I can’t be bothered,” my youngest brother drawled, grinning as he side-eyed me while he lay casually sprawled on one of the Chesterfield sofas in my office.

Jon was a menace with a split personality. He was either the charming lover boy who had women obsessed over him, or he was a ruthless killer who showed no mercy. There was no in-between. As the family’s handler, he did the job well, but his unpredictable nature made him unfit for anything other than killing.

“Yes,” I told him dryly. “Stay put for now. And stay out of trouble.” I firmed my tone with the last sentence. Jon’s penchant for stirring the wrong kind of trouble, and I had no time to deal with it now.

“Works for me.” His grin widened before he went back to animatedly typing on his phone.

“If that’s all, I’ll leave you men to see yourself out,” I said, already out of my seat.

The men in the room didn’t bother to reply. Some were already on their feet, and some were lingering for a nightcap. Recently, our counsel meetings had become far more frequent than I liked. But I was closer to an end than I was yesterday, and soon, this would just be a long-forgotten memory.

Even before I was born, my fate was decided. As the eldest, there was no other option for me than to one day become the head of the family. Instead of love, my father raised me on duty and responsibility. And now I was having a real taste of that feeling because one man in that room betrayed the family.

I exited my office, turned right, and went down the long, curved staircase. Mikhail shadowed me till I reached the hallway outside my bedroom.

“Did you get my message?” he asked in his usual stoic tone.

“I did,” I replied, opening my bedroom door. “I’ll take it from here.”

I entered the code and slipped into the lone door deep in my closet. It opened into a small hallway with a single elevator that led down to my workspace, or “cave,” as Belle called it.

It was the only place where I felt like I didn’t have to carry the burden of the outside world.

“I don’t like strangers coming into my bedroom.” My little visitor’s sweet voice carried through the loft. Ever since Mikhail informed me ten minutes ago that Ms. Esteal had once again invaded my home, I had been itching to see her.

I didn’t stop walking till I rounded the corner and met her beautiful eyes. The moon glowed off her radiating skin, while she casually sat on my couch with my traitorous dog huddled by her feet like he was depraved for attention. She wore her usual black dress and gold heels. Only my blanket that I left on my couch early this morning was now curled snug around her.

Something about her so comfortable in my personal space made it feel like she belonged here.

No one had ever dared to enter this space, not even my closest friends or my own blood, but not Bellerose Esteal. She had been here. Twice. And especially not by the only entry through the elevator. She simply flung herself onto a rope over a rough ocean and a high cliff, like she was some kind of acrobat.

“I could say the same,” I added and slouched down next to her. I stretched my neck on the back of the couch and squeezed my lids shut, not even caring that an outsider was here. Father instilled in me that anyone who wasn’t our blood or part of our circle was an outsider, but in recent times, I couldn’t care less. When power and money were involved, loyalty was a thin river. It didn’t care about blood.

“You’re tired.” I could feel her frowning at me.

“Exhausted,” I muttered, blinking my eyes open. She had since leaned closer, and her face was only a few inches away from mine.

I watched as a swallow worked through her throat, but she didn’t move back. “I hope you don’t mind me borrowing this.” She gestured to the blanket. “I got cold.”

She was so close to me that I could see the golden flecks in her eyes dancing in the low light.

I raised a brow. “Really? I never would’ve guessed,” I said dryly. “Must be the tiny dress you’re wearing on a cold January night.”

She shrugged. “I usually keep my heart rate up to heat my body, but you weren’t here, and I had to wait.”

“About that.” I narrowed my eyes. “Why are you here?”

Her eyes fixed on me. “I’m here about the note you left in my bedroom,” she said. “It wasn’t very informative, and I really don’t like strangers in my bedroom,” she added.