Chapter 105: This Is My Own War
Stephanie's POV
"He is a vile bastard." My voice was calm, but the words carried the weight of a verdict.
"Oh?" Karon's brow arched. "That's all?"
"He came tonight to provoke me on purpose." I turned my gaze to the blur of city lights racing past the window, my tone cooling to ice. "Like a rabid dog catching the scent of blood."
Karon didn't answer right away. His fingers tapped the steering wheel twice, a slow, deliberate rhythm.
"Seems your early moves in the headhunting market have made certain people restless." His voice was even, but the precision of his words cut straight through the dark.
A flicker of recognition passed through me. I knew exactly who he meant—Bennett.
"So he came tonight to test you?" Karon continued. "To see how much you know about him?"
"Probably." I shrugged, letting a thin smile curl my lips. "But he's not worried about me getting in his way. He's worried I'll drag him off it completely."
The temperature in the car seemed to drop with those words. Karon glanced at me, and for a moment his eyes held something like pure admiration.
"Need help?" His question was direct, unflinching. "I know ways to make a man like him disappear without a ripple."
The offer warmed something deep inside me, but it also steeled my resolve.
"No." I shook my head, my voice steady. "This is my war.
"I'm going to drag him down from that pedestal he's built for himself.
"I'm going to make him kneel before me and beg for forgiveness for every single thing he's done.
"And I'm going to make him watch as everything he's built crumbles in front of me."
Karon didn't speak. He just kept driving, his silence a kind of acknowledgment. The black Maybach slid through the night like a predator, leaving the noise of the city far behind.
We drove in smooth, unbroken silence until the car rolled to a stop before the wrought-iron gates of my estate, the kind that required triple iris scans to open.
"We're here." He cut the engine but didn't immediately let me go. He sat still, his gaze drifting past me toward the illuminated silhouette of the castle beyond the gates.
"Karon," I broke the quiet first. "Thank you for bringing me home tonight."
"Stephanie." He turned his head, and under the dim glow of the dashboard his ice-edged eyes locked on mine. "Don't go to places like that again."
His voice was soft, but there was no mistaking the authority in it. "I don't like it."
The words had barely settled between us before he moved. Too fast. I didn't even have time to flinch.
One long arm reached past me toward the passenger-side door.
The door unlocked, but in that brief motion, his body came close—too close.
Close enough for me to breathe in the subtle cedar of his skin.
Close enough to feel the heat radiating from him.
Close enough to see the fine detail in his lashes.
My breath caught. My pulse went wild, hammering against my ribs so hard I was certain he could hear it.
His movement stalled for a fraction of a second. He turned his head, and his lips were only inches from mine.
Something flickered in his eyes—dark, deep, dangerous.
The air thickened, holding still.
His breath brushed my cheek, warm and slow, sending tiny sparks racing over my skin, down my spine, curling into my chest.
"Get out," he said, his voice lower now, edged with a rasp that made it sound almost intimate.
Then he pulled back, smooth and unhurried, as if the moment had never happened.
But it had. My face was burning proof.
I drew in a deep breath, trying to look composed. "I'll go then."
I pushed the door open, one foot already on the ground.
"Stephanie." My name stopped me. I turned back.
"Goodnight," he said, and there was something in his tone—something warm I couldn't name.
"Goodnight." I nodded quickly and slipped out.
Behind me, the car door shut with a soft thud. I stood there, watching the sleek black Maybach turn gracefully in the driveway before gliding away into the distance.
Only when the darkness swallowed it whole did I turn toward the cold gates. My fingers trembled slightly as I keyed in the code.
My heartbeat was still a mess.
Damn it. What has this man done to me?
Luke's POV
I carried the night's explosive news back to the garage, my phone buzzing in my pocket like it had a pulse of its own.
One glance at the screen told me exactly what I expected—our little group chat had detonated.
Marcus: [@Luke Where are you?! Get in here now!]
Leon: [@Luke Did Karon actually show up at Luna Bar tonight? I thought he hated those boring gatherings?]
A grin tugged at my mouth as my fingers flew over the screen.
I dropped a message: [I was there. Front row seat. It was a scene for the history books. Starring Karon, Bennett, and Lucas.]
The message was a depth charge. The group exploded instantly.
Marcus: [No way! Spill it! All of it!]
Leon: [Details! I want expressions, exact words—everything!]
I was just about to embellish the hell out of what I'd seen when a new message appeared.
From the one man who almost never spoke in the chat. The one whose name only lit up when he was issuing kill orders.
Karon: [Curious, are we?]
Seven words. Cold. Final. They hit like a hammer, smashing the chat's frenzy into dead silence.
I could almost see Marcus and Leon's faces through the screen—wide-eyed, pale, like they'd just seen a ghost.
Quietly, I deleted the long, colorful account I'd been typing.
And chose silence instead.