Chapter 180
Vladimir:
I watched as Konstantin held his gun at my mate, and I knew that he was pressing on me to taunt me to know whether or not she is my weakness.
I looked at Elena, and I knew that despite the situation that she was in, she trusted me. She knew that I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her, and she knew to stay calm.
“Shoot her,” I said, keeping my eyes on the man. Elena’s heart didn’t even race, she knew that I was going to kill him if he dared press that trigger. But he had to believe what he wanted. “I am waiting.”
“You turned against my second hand for her, and now you are telling me to shoot her?” He asked, and I smirked, knowing that I got my way. The man was an idiot. He was strong, but was a coward, and that was something that the two of us knew very well.
“HE is nothing but an employee. He is to respect my presence and yours. But you are the boss here, and you control what happens and what doesn’t, and when it happens, when it does not.” I said, crossing my arms over my chest as I waited for what he was going to say.
“Your loyalty is mine.”
“I am surprised that you are doubting me,” I said, shaking my head in question. He put his gun back down. He unloaded it and put it back in his holster. Neither Elena nor me moved as we looked at the man.
“I doubt everyone who can be my side. For safety reasons, I doubt that you should be one to question them, Vladimir.” He said, and I nodded, choosing not to argue. Elena’s eyes met mine momentarily, and I nodded at her to leave.
She got up in silence, and Konstantin’s eyes were fixed on her as she did.
“I am surprised that you did not flinch.” He said, raising an eyebrow at Elena. “Anyone in your shoes would have run away easily. You would have been sobbing or even trying to hide. What are you depending on?”
“I am depending on nothing, Konstantin. But you know that I am not to move unless you or Vladimir permit it. I am thankful for being able to sit in your presence, addressed by your name as Vladimir as asked me to. I would rather not test my luck more than that.” My mate said, and he nodded.
“Indeed, you have been well trained. I must show you off to those rebellious slaves that tend to believe that they can get away with everything that they want. But then again, that would anger Vladimir. I would choose not to press on him with that topic.” He said, and I smirked. Elena looked at me and I saw her confidence in her eyes. A confidence that she only gained with me by her side.
Konstantin kept his eyes on her as she walked back to her room before he looked at me.
“I am wondering how you are managing things with her? She is…”
“I do not intend to hurt her for my own sake. I know how to get my way with things in an easy way.” I said, and he smirked.
“By making her fall in love with you.” He said, making me frown. “She trusts that you wouldn’t allow her to get hurt. I am curious about how she would feel when she sees that she is nothing but a consort in your eyes.”
“She is aware of it. Whether or not she falls in love with me is her problem. I am not going to bother myself with it, nor would I press on myself with her topics. But I am curious, why did you stick to her? I doubt that it is like you to shoot a man’s slave.” I said, choosing my words carefully. The last thing that I needed was for him to know that she was my mate. Him seeing her love in her eyes was one thing that I didn’t want, but considering that it’s been seen, there is nothing that I can do to change it.
“I wanted to know whether or not that love of hers was mutual. Had it been Killian, he would have jumped for Eleanor. I wanted to know whether she had you wrapped around her finger the way that Bernardi has Killian wrapped around hers.” He said, and I looked away from him. “There is no news about the child being born. She should be due by now.”
“I’ve been here for seven months, Konstantin. We found out about this pregnancy when I was here. I doubt that she would be a rabbit to give birth every few weeks.” I said, and he scoffed. “That is, of course, if she is still carrying the baby.”
“What do you mean?” He asked, and now was the time to play the game that he wouldn’t have expected. A game that Killian and I chose to play.
Flashback:
“You are going to need to hide her, Killian. She is going to be Konstantin’s target, and right now, we are going to need to keep her safe.” I said, and he nodded. “I want one of the maids to spread the rumor about her losing the baby. I will throw in the spark, Konstantin will search and when that fires his, he is going to hear what he wants to believe.”
“And do you think that it is going to work?” He asked, and I nodded.
“Nothing like a rumor spreading, especially when the Alpha’s wife disappears, is ‘depressed’ and hasn’t been seen in months…”
End of Flashback.
“Rumors have it that she lost the baby. Though I am not sure how true they are, word has been spreading, especially after she disappeared.” I said, and he frowned. “The one thing that has them not saying that she is dead is the fact that they can hear her voice and smell her scent in the house. But many say that she hasn’t been seen in months, and the two of us know how women can be when losing their children,”
He frowned, and I didn’t need to be told twice that I just hit a nerve when he remembered his own daughter. I was still going to have to deal with her mother. The woman shouldn’t be able to come here, not with Elena in the house.
“I’ll have my men look into it.” He said, and I smirked. “But if it is true. Then we have a major step ahead of Killian. And I have to admit, I am impressed by your skills of finding information. Keep going. You really are proving to be as good, if not better, than your mother described you to be…”