~ Blake’s POV
The sight in front of me made my blood burn. There wasn’t a single person on this earth who’d dare touch what belonged to me. I moved rhythmically, my steps thudding on the wooden floor of the cheap apartment. Franz stood up at the speed of light, standing away from Jane, who was still on the floor, her face tainted with tears.
My jaw locked when I found her bruised arm turning purple as she struggled to stand up. My steps took me to her without knowingly, and I bent down, balancing my weight on my toes. “Did they touch you?” It was hard to keep my voice neutral when all that went through my head was violence and rage…furiousness.
She stared back at me, her innocent gray eyes widened in both terror and relief. She nodded, and I let out a breath before holding her under her arms and helping her stand back up. My hands were screaming to land at the faces of the jerks standing all around me, but I remained still, my hands still on Jane’s trembling body. From the corner of my eyes, I saw her sisters moving, trying to flee without getting noticed, and my lips twitched. “Take another step, and I’ll personally sew your feet to the fucking floor.” My voice thundered through the room, and one look at them was enough to glue them to the ground.
I moved, making Jane sit on the bed, and turned around, placing my hands back into my pockets before I did something I might regret later.
When I turned around, the siblings were standing together in a straight line and another girl on the floor, her wide, teary eyes staring back at me. From the look of her face, I knew she recognized me. “You can leave now.” My voice was commanding enough to let the girl know that it was safe for her friend now and that she HAD to leave. She shared a glance with the girl sitting silently behind me and left without another word—exactly what I wanted.
“I was very clear about being territorial, wasn’t I, Mr. Miller?” My eyes darted to the oldest trash of a brother Jane had. He stared at his sister behind me, fury filling his eyes as he turned his attention back to me.
“She’s my sister as—”
“Not anymore,” I growled, taking another threatening step in his direction to let him know he didn’t have the power he was imagining right now. All he was right now was a lamb I was very willing to sacrifice to get what I wanted. “She is my fiancé and wife-to-be very soon, Mr. Miller,” I spoke and took another step forward, taking my hand out of my pockets and playing with a metal card that looked like five of hearts from a usual set of cards, which it wasn’t. “Do you know what that means?” My head tilted to the side, eyes glued to the shaking man in front of me.
How dare he touch what’s mine!
“That she’s your who—” Before Luca, Jane’s other brother, could finish the sentence, I flicked my fingers in his direction, sending the card flying towards him and slicing his cheek open in the process. He screamed as the card landed with a thud on the ground and his face started bleeding. The corner of my lips twisted into a smirk as I watched him whimper and land on the floor. I saw his sister reach out to help him when I stopped her.
“Don’t even think about trying…” She stared at me, her eyes widened with terror. All of them looked at me with such terror as if they’d come across a dead relative. A sense of satisfaction rolled through my body when I saw their fear; this is what filled me with pride and satisfaction. The look of helplessness that crossed their faces is what keeps my power burning.
“This is the last time you touched her with evil intentions, Millers,” I spoke, my eyes rolling through the siblings, including the one crying on the floor. “You’ll see wrath like never before if you ever cross me again…”
I may not be marrying Jane out of sheer will, but there was no way I’d let anyone insult a person tied to my name. I turned around and found her sitting still on the bed, her trembling eyes staring back at me with multiple emotions—shock, fear, relief, and maybe…hope. This was the first time I had seen someone stare at me with hope, the one emotion people seemed to forget whenever they crossed me, and I wondered if she was deserving enough to have it.
Without another word, I picked her up, and the corner of my lips lifted in a subtle smile when I realized she decided it was better to remain silent. I walked out of the apartment with her in my arms, silent and probably contemplating the entire situation. I picked up my card in between and placed it safely back in my pocket, making my way back to my car.
I carefully seated her in the car’s passenger seat and walked to the driver’s seat, the driver waiting outside. “Behind,” I told him, and with a single nod, the driver nodded and made his way to the car behind us. I took out my phone and texted a message before placing it back in the pocket. I moved inside the car and drove out of the place, one car moving in front of us and another following closely behind, the protocol Nana forced me to keep even though I was perfectly capable of protecting myself.
As I drove through the narrow streets and onto the main road, a silent, scared voice erupted from beside me. “Where are you taking me?” She had her hands tightly clenched in her lap as she stared at me, her eyes turned to my side, hair a bit disheveled but still graceful.
“Home,” I replied. I felt her body squirm a little in its place, and I knew she wasn’t expecting me to take her to my place. But then again, even I was unable to refuse Nana dearest. I let out a sigh, trying to soften my voice as much as I could to keep her from feeling scared even though she had lashed out at me just a few hours ago. “You’ll be safe there…out of their reach,” I explained, and she nodded even though I could see a million questions rummaging through her mind. I remained silent the entire ride. If Nana wanted her as her granddaughter-in-law, then she should be the one doing these uncomfortably awkward questions.
When we reached the place, I could see Jane’s wide eyes staring at the place. The last time she was on my property, it was a different ballroom I used to host events. It was her first time here, and pride filled my chest when I realized she was probably gawking at the mansion.
I stopped the car at the entrance and went to open her door. She hesitantly walked out of the car, standing in one place awkwardly, probably trying to find her place in the property. Thankfully, Leah was already at the entrance, waiting for us. I motioned for Jane to follow, and she did, stopping right in front of the old lady.
“Leah, this is Jane,” I told Leah, our head maid, who nodded in response and took Jane’s hand in hers, guiding her inside the mansion. Leah was already aware of the situation through Nana and my strict instructions, so she didn’t need any more information. When I saw them disappearing in the mansion, I motioned for Alex to follow me.
We made our way to the building next to the one where Jane was and went inside the dark building, filled with multiple chambers on multiple floors. “Did you get him?” I asked Alex, who nodded in response, his hands holding onto a phone as he typed away.
“He’s on the second floor, 4th chamber,” Alex said, and I nodded, taking off my coat and handing it to Alex, rolling up my sleeves as I climbed the stairs. I hated the elevators and the laziness they caused, so there weren’t any in our entire mansion, and everyone was supposed to use stairs. “Are you handling this one yourself?” Alex asked, and I turned to face him, my eyes narrowing at him, and he nodded instantly, taking the hint already. “Okay… fine, have fun.” Alex shrugged, placing his phone back in his pocket.
Before I could enter the chamber, I turned to Alex. “Did you get her things?”
“You think I’d forget the one thing you texted TWICE!?” Alex asked, his eyebrows raised in an accusatory manner, and I nodded, not in the mood to play with his hintful questions. I turned the knob on the door and walked inside the chamber, taking the seat in front of the whimpering guy in the chair.
“You’ll ruin the alliance if you do this, Knight.” His voice was trembling when he spoke to me, and finally, my lips lifted into a smile, and I leaned forward, staring at him dead in the eyes.
“Alliance is nothing but protection. I’m done protecting you, Luca Miller.”
