I had the drive in my pocket, tucked under my coat like it weighed nothing. But the truth? It weighed everything. Every document, every signature, every photograph on that thing could ruin her life. Her family’s life. And maybe the kingdom’s. One wrong leak, one misstep, and the world she’d been groomed for would crumble.

I didn’t plan to give it back. Not unless she came with me.

I watched her from the shadows as she stormed down the street toward my car. The gold in her hair caught the sunlight, brushing against the wind like she was untouchable. Her blue eyes narrowed when she spotted me, sharp enough to cut glass. I could feel her calculating, weighing the risk of stepping closer, even as her fists curled at her sides.

“Cassius,” she said, voice steady but venomous. “Where’s it?”

I slid the drive out and let it glint in the sunlight. She flinched anyway.

“Not so fast,” I said. “It’s not yours.”

Her jaw tightened. “It’s mine if it belongs to my family. Hand it over.”

“No,” I said flatly. “Not until you do what I say.”

Her blue eyes burned into me. “You’re insane.”

I shrugged, careful not to show that I didn’t entirely disagree. “Maybe. But you’d be even more insane to keep trying to get it without listening.”

She took a step closer, skirts brushing the pavement. “And what exactly do you want?”

“I want you to come with me.”

Her laugh was short, sharp, disbelief coating every note. “You’re blackmailing me. That’s… that’s insane. I should call my guards—”

“Then they’ll have to chase us,” I interrupted, watching the flash of fury in her eyes, the flare of her nostrils. And for a fraction of a second, I wondered if she’d hit me. Part of me hoped she would.

That fire, that raw, untamed edge she hid beneath her polished exterior, it drew me in like a magnet. Dangerous. Irrational. Perfect.

She’s dangerous. She doesn’t even know it.

“I’ll kill you,” she said instead, words soft but lethal.

I smirked — dangerous, real, and dark. “Maybe. But you won’t. Not if you want the drive back.”

Her eyes narrowed further. The curve of her lips, tight and unyielding, made me want to erase all her defenses just to see her let go. But she wouldn’t. Not yet.

“You’re sick,” she whispered.

“Maybe,” I said. “But I’m honest about it.”

She paused. Her chest rose and fell in sharp, shallow breaths, and for the first time, I saw hesitation flicker behind those bright, calculating eyes.

The drive felt heavier in my hand now, not because of what it contained, but because I knew how badly she wanted it back. And I knew she’d come. She always did.

Her fingers itched toward me, though she didn’t move. I could practically see her deciding if she hated me enough to walk away, and if I’d let her.

I leaned just slightly closer, letting the heat of the sun hit my face, daring her to step forward. “You know I don’t bluff,” I said.

Her gaze dropped to the drive, then back to me. Silent.

I knew she’d choose, because she always did. She’d walk into my trap, furious and defiant, and I’d watch her navigate it like she always managed to do. Beautiful, untouchable, and impossibly stubborn.

I pocketed the drive, just out of reach. “Well?” I asked. “Are we moving, princess?”

Her jaw clenched. She hesitated, but the decision was already made in her eyes, she’d follow, because what’s worse: losing control, or losing everything?

And I? I would savor every second of watching her wrestle with it.