Chapter 89 Sleep Well, Angel
Chapter 89 Sleep Well, Angel
Elijah moved with an incredibly silent rhythm, barely making a whisper on the blood-red velvet carpet.
The masculine scent of sandalwood radiating from his tall body preceded his steps, instantly enveloping the radius of Elena's high-tech designer work desk.
He bent his tall frame beside Elena's ergonomic chair, propping his weight on the edge of the black marble counter with both elbows. That possessive movement automatically trapped Elena within an intensely intimate perimeter. His clear sapphire blue eyes dimmed in a blessing of absolute possessive obsession as he gazed at the details of Elena's tiara design glowing magically on the main computer screen.
"The Gothic carving details on the diamond core's protective section are truly extraordinary, Ángel," Elijah whispered, his low, husky, sexy baritone voice flowing slowly, sending subtle fluttering vibrations that instantly halted the movement of the digital pen in Elena's slender fingers.
Elena turned slightly, flashing her sweetest, most sincere lopsided smile. Elijah's presence by her side over this past year had always been the best anchor of calm amidst the storms of New York life.
"You like it, Elijah? The defensive arches around this pink stone I deliberately made to resemble the grip of a silver dragon's wings."
"Grandfather always used to tell stories about a guardian dragon that would never let its treasure be touched by the world's greed. I feel that concept is very fitting to represent the Blackwood clan's legal shield that we're fighting for."
Elijah suppressed the low laugh full of incredibly foolish irony inside his chest.
The silver guardian dragon Elena was referring to was currently leaning beside her, wearing his signature loose red plaid flannel shirt, and had just crushed Morgan Valdez's entire financial supply network in London a few hours ago.
"That silver dragon must be very honored that you're immortalizing his power in your masterpiece, Ángel," Elijah replied with a softened firm jaw, hiding his status as the highest Blackwood clan dragon perfectly behind an innocent smile.
He bent down deeper, landing a warm, long kiss on Elena's temple, channeling absolute safety into his contract lover's nerves.
"Now drink your hot chocolate first, my Employer," Elijah continued, sliding the porcelain cup across the corner of the table. "I don't want my best designer to run out of energy before dawn covers SoHo."
Elena nodded obediently, gently clutching the red plaid flannel fabric on Elijah's arm as he helped adjust her sitting position. Her simple logic as a Manhattan commoner was truly locked tightly inside the golden cage Elijah had built.
To Elena, all the protection and luxury of this studio was purely a form of compensation and guarantee from the mysterious "Wall Street client" where Elijah worked as a genius IT technician.
Meanwhile, time flowed through the thickness of night in the elite Upper East Side area. Inside his isolated private penthouse, Silas Blackwood stared blankly at the ceiling with the last remnants of his sanity nearly exhausted.
The satellite device in his hand had gone completely dead, but the echo of Elijah's icy-cold baritone voice from last night's intercepted connection continued to spin in his head like a death curse.
The mass liquidation of all his international port shares that morning had sent an acute panic signal throughout the entire Blackwood clan's branch families. No one dared to speak up, and no one dared to help. In New York, the highest dragon's anger was the certainty of a mass funeral for anyone's reputation and financial throne.
Tok! Tok! Tok!
The sound of very firm, cold knocks on the penthouse's front door instantly made Silas jolt violently. His trained spy nerves immediately detected danger. With steps unsteady as a living corpse, Silas opened his large teak door.
A young woman in a pristine white cashmere coat lined with mink fur stepped in without regard for the homeowner's permission. Vivian Sterling. Her beautiful face, usually filled with thick cunning and London aristocratic elegance, now looked stiff, filled with remnants of frustration and severely wounded pride.
"Uncle Silas," Vivian hissed, her voice very sharp, trembling violently as she held back explosive anger.
"All my personal banking access in lower Manhattan is still frozen by Apex Sovereign's system! My passport is being held by JFK authorities due to illegal 'cyber anomalies,' and my father in London just reported that Morgan Valdez has lost his entire Northern European business octopus within an hour! What exactly is happening with your damn nephew?!"
Silas Blackwood chuckled lowly—a frustrated laugh full of deep terror. He walked to the bar counter, pouring whiskey with trembling hands.
"Elijah Blackwood is not bluffing us, Vivian," Silas said in a hoarse, trembling voice.
"He has made that little designer named Elena Vance the absolute highest law in this New York. He crushed my port, he cut off Morgan's Red Viper mercenaries' necks last night on that SoHo rooftop, and he locked your visa here simply because you made his Elena jealous yesterday afternoon!"
Vivian Sterling's eyes widened perfectly, all the air in her lungs seeming to stop in an instant.
"He... he destroyed trillion-dollar financial castes just over a woman's jealousy?!" Vivian roared in disbelief. Her sky-high aristocratic ego in London crumbled completely before the destructive madness of the main Blackwood clan's crown prince.
"If you want to survive and restore all your Sterling accounts, Vivian... never step foot again within a one-block radius of that SoHo studio," Silas warned with a face as pale as cement paper.
"Let Alaric and Victoria handle that tiara matter within this one month. Because if not, Elijah himself will ensure the Sterling family lineage is erased from the world's stock exchange before sunrise tomorrow morning."
....
After ensuring the entire outer perimeter of the SoHo district was sterile and tightly guarded by the first-layer Apex Sovereign perimeter team under Marcus's command, Elijah finally led Elena home to their little paradise. The snowstorm that had subsided now once again left piercing winter air outside the balcony's glass windows.
Inside the dim bedroom, Elena had fallen into a very deep sleep under the thick velvet blanket. Her beautiful face looked so peaceful, hugging the pillow where Elijah usually rested his head with an increasingly thick dependence that locked their fate together.
Elijah stood still at the threshold of the balcony glass door, his red plaid flannel shirt swaying slightly from the remaining Manhattan cold wind slipping in. His encrypted smartwatch vibrated again with a private frequency from Marcus.
\[Young Master, the remaining lawyers from Morgan Valdez's side in London have passively signed the release claim documents for Grandfather Maximillian's inheritance. The international freezing documents will automatically activate once Miss Elena reaches the age of thirty in the next two and a half years. Absolute isolation scenario one hundred percent successful.\]
A very cruel and deadly predator's grin beautifully etched itself onto Elijah's marble-hard handsome face. This one-year grand charade was running with flawless calm and precision from behind the shadows of lower Manhattan's darkness.
He turned off his watch screen, then walked slowly toward the bed. Elijah lowered his tall, sturdy body beside Elena, creeping forward to once again hold his empress's slender waist tightly, pulling Elena's body until it pressed seamlessly against his marble-hard broad chest.
Elena stirred slightly in her deep sleep, instinctively seeking the warmth and masculine sandalwood scent from her contract lover's body, gently clutching Elijah's red plaid flannel fabric with absolute safety.
Elijah flashed his most charming and sexy lopsided smile in the room's darkness, kissing the top of Elena's head with tenderness full of absolute ownership.
"Just enjoy your entire world, Ángel," Elijah whispered, his low, deep baritone voice flowing so stiffly yet full of a protection promise that no storm in New York could ever penetrate.
"Because as long as you are in my embrace... I will not let a single parasite from your past ruin the little paradise I have built for you."