Chapter 5 INDEBTED FOR LIFE II
Julian's POV
I watched the feelings leave his face. Shock first, confusion second, and fear last. All of it crossed his white face like a silent tempest, and for one moment, I could almost savor the air between us — electric, charged, beautiful.
Rain still clung to his shirt and hair, dropping onto the marble floor, tick tick tick, a beat that synchronized with his shaking. He was so small in my office — a rain-soaked, desperate stray who'd wandered into a lion's den. I leaned back in my chair, king on his throne.
"Marry me," I said again, slowly, savoring every syllable, "or triple this by dawn."
His lips parted, trembling. "W-what? That's not… that's not legal. You can't just—"
I leaned in my head and released a low laughter, black as the tempest raving outside. "Legal?" My voice hacked harsh with laughter. "Do you think laws reach me? I am the one who funds them, breaks them, rewrites them. The world bows to my command, Mr. Winslow."
He recoiled as if struck. Stunning.
I nodded once, and two of my warriors stepped out of the shadows — massive figures taking up the space like pillars on legs. The boy was driven back by their mere presence, but I wasn't finished.
"Thirty seconds to decide," I breathed, pulling my phone out of my pocket. The flash of the timer lit up my hand like a ritual flame. "Marry me secretly now, or come to me threefold by dawn. Deal or no deal?"
He looked at me, eyes brimming, lips shaking. "I don't… I don't want to make a deal."
As if anything he wished mattered.
"Thirty…" I started counting, my tone low, almost bored. "Twenty-nine…"
He flinched again, his eyes flicking between me and the guards.
"Twenty…"
"Stop," he pleaded, his voice breaking. "You can't do this, Julian! I returned the money!"
I smiled without showing teeth, leaning a little closer. "And yet you were late. I explained my rules. And in my kingdom, rules are the very lifeblood."
"I don't deserve this!" His roar echoed off the walls. Fists were clenched, his chest rose and fell like a caged beast's.
"Oh, but I do love a good fight," I whispered, letting the grin finally emerge.
"Fifteen…" I counted on, watching his rising panic.
The guards moved in, shadows merging with mine, the shape of inevitability.
"Ten…"
He thrashed once, then twice, his voice breaking into a shout. “You’re insane! This is insane!”
“Seven…”
They caught his arms. His heels scraped the marble. The sound was glorious.
“Five…”
His head snapped back toward me, eyes wide with a terror he could no longer hide.
“Four…”
His lips parted. He hesitated.
“Three…”
His breath came ragged now.
“Two…”
Finally, the dam broke. “I’ll do it!” he shouted, the words torn from him like a confession. “I’ll marry you!”
I raised a hand. The guards stopped instantly, releasing him. He stumbled forward, catching himself against my desk, palms flat on the wood as though it might keep him from drowning.
I rose slowly from my seat, striding around the desk to stand in front of him. The scent of rain and desperation clung to him. My hand caressed his chin, and I pulled his face to mine. His skin burned hot, fevered by fear.
"There," I breathed, quietly enough so he alone could hear. "The words I wanted."
He swallowed hard, shame carved deeply into the creases of his face.
But me? I smiled, feeling my length harden I loved it when they had no other options
I loved it when they got submissive.
Because this was never about the money.
I clicked my fingers once. The two men stepped forward again, like phantoms. "Take him," I said.
Eli's head whipped up, eyes going wide. "W-what? Where are you—"
"Quiet," one of the guards snarled.
They seized his arms once more. This time he struggled harder, his voice breaking into a hoarse scream. "You can't do this! Julian!"
I turned away from him, going back to my desk to close the file I'd been reading when he made his theatrical entrance. "I told you, Mr. Winslow," I said coolly, "I don't like to be kept waiting. Since you've agreed to my offer, you'll be escorted to your quarters. We'll complete the… arrangements… tomorrow."
The guards began to haul him out. He dug his heels into the rug, which was shining with rage. "I'm not your property! You hear me? I'm not!"
I didn't even look up. "You're learning," I grumbled to myself, not to him.
I watched them take him down the corridor from the glass doors of my office. He was still shouting, his voice echoing off the steel and glass. By the time they'd made it to the private elevator at the end of the hall, the sound was muffled as the doors shut.
Below, the black car waited — one of mine, sleek and deadly, its engine purring quietly like a sleeping creature. I pictured, in my mind's eye, the guards shoving him in, the door shutting, his wet clothing stuck to the leather seats. His slamming fists on the tinted glass as the car rolled into the rain.
I liked when they snapped. Not all at once — that was boring. But like this: piece by piece, pride peeled away until what was left was something soft, something mine.
I smoothed my cuffs, closing the drawer over the unopened envelope of cash he'd brought home.
It was almost laughable. He thought he'd come here to settle a debt. He didn't realize yet that he'd made a bargain much bigger than numbers.
I tied up in the office in haste, barking orders at my last employees curtly. My mind was already a step ahead, following the black car threading the city roads.
With the final employee departed, I lingered in the stillness of the office, listening to the rain hammering on the glass. Then I zipped on my coat and headed out, the beat of my own footsteps echoing through the empty hall.
The penthouse called to me,the silence, the storm. And far beneath, struggling need to assert my desire to dominate him and ruin him,he would be too shattered to know what was left already was right, to realize he was ‘Mine’ now.
A boy who didn't yet realize that he'd saved me too from my own boredom,and later revenge for the things his father did to me.