The gala had found its rhythm. Laughter rang brightly through the room, glasses clinked in celebration of deals well struck, and the air hummed with the electricity of powerful people growing more powerful together. Everyone was overjoyed. Everyone was happy.
Adrian moved through the crowd with a glass in his hand, his eyes fixed on Lucian, who stood apart from the celebration.
Lucian's gaze swept the room restlessly, searching, his expression distant and unreadable as if someone were missing, and it was consuming him.
"Congratulations," Adrian said, stepping up beside him with a faint grin. "You changed the narrative into your favour."
Lucian held his own glass, but Adrian could tell he was barely present, distracted, haunted by whoever he could not find.
"Yeah," Lucian replied, his voice flat and entirely devoid of humor. "It is called business."
Adrian's grin faded. "Just so you know, the assassins you hired for Kefas to kill me failed. I suppose your team is not as competent as you think."
Lucian let out a quiet scoff, as if Adrian had just told him an amusing joke. He turned to face him fully.
"Adrian." A slow, cold smile spread across his lips. "If my men were sent to eliminate you, you would not be standing here talking about it."
He finished his drink in one swallow, tapped Adrian firmly on the shoulder, and walked away.
Adrian followed.
"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, quickening his pace as they descended the stairs toward the lower rooms of the yacht.
Lucian did not turn around. "Now you look like my little brother."
And it was true. Adrian was walking directly behind him, matching his stride, following his footsteps like a child trailing after a father.
Lucian came to a sudden halt and turned, and Adrian walked straight into him—their foreheads knocking together. They stood nearly the same height, both tall at 6'4", though Lucian had the slightest edge by half an inch.
Lucian pressed his hand to the spot on his forehead where pain emanated, his expression twisting into irritation. "That hurt. Why did you do that?"
Adrian touched his own forehead, wincing. The pain throbbed deeper than he expected. "You blame me? You stopped right in front of me."
"Yes, because you are following me. In my footsteps..." Lucian's voice sharpened, his teeth gnashed. "What do you want?"
Adrian's expression faltered. Why had he followed Lucian down here?
Lucian watched him flounder for a long moment, then turned away in frustration, pulling out his phone. He dialed, pressed it to his ear, and waited. The call went to voicemail as he tried again. Voicemail straight it went.
Adrian caught a glimpse of the screen; Star's name was bold with a grey heart emoji beside it.
He leaned back against the wall, a smirk spreading slowly across his face. "Are you looking for my wife?" It's like he waited his whole life to say just that.
Lucian halted mid-step on the stairs and turned. Slowly.
The look that settled on his face was cold and dark, and for a single, fleeting second, Adrian wished he could take the words back. He did not know Lucian well, but he knew enough to recognize the face of a man who had killed before.
"You married her?" Lucian descended the stairs, step by measured step, closing the distance between them.
"Yep." Adrian replied without a flicker of hesitation. He knew exactly what Lucian felt for Star, and he savoured the opportunity to strip that smug composure from his face.
Lucian stopped directly in front of him, one hand buried in his pocket, his features carved deep with a frown. "Star does not have a lawyer. The marriage is contracted, is it not?"
"I got her one ready the moment I proposed my offer to her." Adrian's grin widened as he straightened, looking Lucian directly in the eye.
Lucian stood perfectly still, but inside, something was splitting apart. She had married Adrian. Tonight, just like she said she would. He fought to keep his face stoic, but the disappointment and hurt were too vast to fully conceal. The frown was all he could give.
He imagined his hands wrapping around Adrian's throat. Squeezing until that grin collapsed. He bit the inside of his mouth, his fist clenched inside his pocke as his eyes narrowed into slits.
"Where is she?" His voice was flat and dangerous.
"She left a long time ago. Before you even started your ridiculous, emotional blackmail of a speech." Adrian glanced down at his watch, his expression smug. "She is pregnant with my child, you see—"
He looked up and his grin vanished. Lucian was already gone.
"—the f—" Adrian cursed under his breath, irritated. Worse, he had missed the look on Lucian's face. Did he even hear what he said last?
Lucian strode back into the gala, where the celebration still pulsed with soft music and warm light. But none of it reached him. There was a sting in his chest—not just the sharp, bitter pain of knowing Star had married Adrian, but something deeper. Something restless. Something wrong. He knew this feeling. It only ever came when Star was in danger.
"Mr. Throne." A woman stepped directly into his path. "You are a very slippery man. I am Bonita Stark. We spoke on the phone back in Randora."
Lucian pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, frustration flickering across his face. He remembered the call, but he was in no mood for conversation.
His mind was on Star, only Star. But before he could step rudely past her, another voice cut in.
"This is so awkward. I just hope the past can stay in the past."
He turned. Tiffany.
"Where is Star?" The words came out hard and serious as he closed the space between them.
Tiffany stepped back, visibly shaken. "I do not know. I spoke to her earlier, and I have not seen her since."
"What were you talking about?" Bonita asked, beating Lucian to the question.
Tiffany's hands rose in defense, sweat glistening on her forehead. "She was rambling about me stooping low, threatening to kill Adrian just to get to her. I did not do that!"
Adrian appeared behind them, his voice cutting through the tension. "What are you all talking about? Star is in the Lamborghini. She felt nauseous."
Lucian was already moving. "I need to see her. Now!"
He pushed through the doors and strode outside down the carpet, Adrian close behind. The Lamborghini sat parked at the marina's edge, waiting.
Lucian's heart pounded. It raced with a pain that was not his own, a pain he had learned to recognize. Star was in danger, but he prayed he was wrong this time.
He pulled open the door of the Lambo, and his heart stopped.
"Where is Star?"
The driver turned, fumbling to lower the volume on his phone as he was watching a football match played on the screen. He blinked in confusion. "Excuse me?"
Adrian rushed to the other side and yanked open the passenger door. His face fell into an immediate frown. "Jarvis, where is Star?"
The driver's confusion deepened. "I—why—" The last time he had seen her, she had been walking down the carpet with that man in the silver suit.
Lucian's voice was cold and absolute. "She never came here, did she?"
Adrian pulled out his phone and dialed, "What do you mean she never came down here?"
A ringing tone cut through the night air, close and sharp, just meters down the marina. They ran toward it and found Star's phone resting on a stone pillar, its screen still lit.
Their faces darkened.
Lucian reached it first. The screen displayed a video, paused and waiting. He pressed play.
Star appeared seated on a chair, her wrists and ankles bound behind her, a cloth tied tightly across her mouth.
Behind her, bound to another chair, was Safe—terrified, trembling.
But Star did not look afraid. She looked almost pleased. A grin stretched beneath the gag, her face shadowed and dark.
Adrian watched the screen, and the strength left his legs. He stumbled backward, nearly toppling into the black water below. Lucian's hand shot out and caught him just in time, dragging him back onto the deck.
"You are not allowed to die," Lucian said, his voice cold and absolute. "Not yet."