Chapter Thirty-Two: Out of Control

Marcus's POV

The dining room doors flew open under my hand with enough force to rattle the hinges. Good. Let the whole fucking house hear my rage.

Silver place settings arranged with rigorous criteria on the table. Everything exactly as I demanded it. Except for one detail that made my jaw clench.

"Remove her place setting." My voice could have frozen hell itself that had the servants freezing. "Send her dinner to her room."

The servants scattered to comply, their movements quick and nervous as they whisked away the china and silverware meant for Sophie. Smart of them. They'd learned to read my moods over the years, to sense when the beast was close to the surface.

I watched them work, fighting the urge to check the surveillance feed on my phone. To see if she was still crying. Still clutching that damn photo album like it contained all the answers she'd been seeking.

Fuck.

I dropped into my chair, pouring myself a generous measure of bourbon. The familiar burn did nothing to erase the image seared into my brain - those tears sliding down her cheeks, each one like a personal assault on my control.

What the hell was wrong with me? Women crying wasn't new. I'd seen women cry many times before - seen them sob and beg and break. Usually it amused me, watching them break. But Sophie's tears... they made something in my chest constrict painfully.

The way her shoulders had shaken, trying to hold back those broken little sounds. How she'd tried to hide her face, that stubborn pride of hers refusing to show weakness even as she fell apart. It made my hands itch to... what? Comfort her? Punish her for making me feel this way? Maybe both.

She was supposed to be a pawn. A convenient way to control Alexander's succession plans while keeping Adam in line. The fact that she happened to be beautiful, defiant, and inexplicably addictive? That should have been a bonus, nothing more.

Instead, she was becoming my biggest weakness. The way she challenged me lit up every predatory instinct I possessed. But unlike the mindless prey I usually hunted, Sophie made me want to catch her and keep her. To break her down just to build her back up in my image.

"Thinking about her again?"

Victoria's voice was honey-smooth as she glided into the room. Any other night, her presence would have been a welcome distraction. Now it just felt like an interruption.

"My bedroom. Now." I didn't bother looking at her. "Unless you're no longer interested in maintaining your position."

"My position?" She laughed softly, settling into the chair beside me with elegant confidence. "I think we both know I'm more than just another pretty distraction, Marcus. I'm the only one who sees exactly what's happening to you."

"Nothing is happening to me." I shot her a warning look, but she simply smiled, reaching for the bourbon decanter.

"That's interesting. I mean, how quickly you fled that room upstairs. Almost like you couldn't bear to watch her cry."

"Careful." The word carried enough threat to make most people flinch. Victoria just poured herself a drink.

"Well I've seen you reduce women to tears countless times. " She swirled the amber liquid thoughtfully. "Usually with that little smirk of yours. But one sob from her and suddenly you can't handle it?"

My fingers tightened on my glass. "You're overstepping."

"Oh yeah?" Her eyes met mine over the rim of her glass. "Then why did you nearly break down her door when you heard her crying? Why does every little sound of distress from her drive you crazy when you usually thrive on it?"

"Get out." The words came out through clenched teeth.

Victoria took a deliberate sip of bourbon. "Make me." Her smile turned knowing. "Show me you're still the man who controls everything in his domain. That you haven't been completely unmade by a girl who dares to challenge you."

The crystal tumbler creaked dangerously in my grip. "You think you're irreplaceable?"

"No." She set her glass down with a soft clink. "But I am observant. And what I've observed lately is... she doesn't even realize the power she has over you. One defiant glare, one shed tear, and the most dangerous Alpha in the city comes apart at the seams."

Something in me snapped. With a sound more animal than human, I seized the edge of the heavy dining table and flipped it. Glass shattered. Silver clattered. Food and wine sprayed across the imported carpet like arterial spray at a crime scene.

But Victoria didn't flinch. She just rose with fluid grace, watching me with knowing eyes as I stood there panting, surrounded by the wreckage of my control.

"That's what I thought." Her voice was almost gentle now. "She's gotten under your skin in a way none of us ever could. And it terrifies you."

I wanted to deny it. To throw her out and prove I was still the cold, rulthless alpha who'd built an empire on broken bodies. Instead, I collapsed into the nearest intact chair, my head falling into my hands.

"Go." The word came out rough, stripped of its usual authority. "Just... go."

Victoria's heels clicked across the ruined floor, pausing briefly at the door. "For what it's worth... I've never seen you care about anyone like this. Maybe that's not such a bad thing."

The door closed behind her, leaving me alone with truths I couldn't escape. I collapsed back into my chair and pressed my fingers against my temples, feeling a headache building behind my eyes. The options were simple: claim her completely or cut her loose before she destroyed everything I'd built.

But I already knew it was too late for either. She was under my skin, in my blood, consuming my thoughts in ways that terrified the rational part of my brain. The part that had kept me alive and in control all these years.

"What the fuck are you doing to me, Sophie?" The words escaped in a harsh whisper.