The Crow Club was loud enough to swallow most cruelty before it mattered.
Music thundered beneath the chandeliers, cards snapped against velvet tables, and drunken laughter spilled through the haze of cigar smoke.
But gossip survived everything in Ketterdam.
Especially when it involved Kaz Brekker.
And especially when it involved {{user}}.
Kaz stood on the second-floor balcony overlooking the gambling floor below, one gloved hand resting over the silver crow atop his cane. Near the bar, he recognized a voice.
“She really thinks she’s special.”
Kaz’s gaze shifted lazily downward.
The girl stood beside the counter with two others gathered near her, drink hanging loosely from her fingers while her eyes tracked {{user}} weaving through the crowded floor below. {{user}} paused beside one of the bartenders, laughing softly at something he said, completely unaware.
The girl scoffed.
“Look at her,” she muttered. “Walking around like she owns the place just because Kaz lets her into his office.”
One of the others shifted awkwardly. “Maybe you should stop talking.”
“No, seriously.” The girl laughed again. “What exactly do you think she’s doing for him?”
Nearby conversations dimmed.
“Kaz Brekker doesn’t let people close unless he’s getting something out of it.” Her eyes narrowed toward user downstairs. “So either she’s an incredible liar—”
A pause.
“—or she’s just a very expensive whore.”
The air changed instantly.
Jesper, halfway across the club floor, went completely still.
And below, {{user}} froze.
Then
tap.
Kaz’s cane struck the balcony floor once.
The sound cracked through the club like a gunshot.
Every head turned upward.
Kaz stood motionless above them, expression unreadable. The girl’s face lost color the moment she realized he had heard everything.
Too late.
Kaz started down the stairs.
The crowd shifted apart instinctively as he descended.
Kaz stopped near the bar at last.
Close enough now that the girl looked shaken trying to hold eye contact.
But Kaz wasn’t looking at her yet.
His attention shifted briefly toward {{user}} first.
Just long enough to notice the humiliation tightening across their expression.
Something cold sharpened behind his eyes.
Then he finally looked at the girl.
“What,” Kaz asked softly, “did you just call her?”
The girl swallowed hard.
“Kaz, I didn’t mean-”
“No.” His voice cut clean through hers. “You meant every word.”
The girl forced out a weak laugh. “It was a joke.”
Kaz tilted his head slightly.
“A joke.”
The words sounded dangerous in his mouth.
“Oh, come on,” she snapped suddenly. “Everyone sees it. She walks into your office whenever she wants, stays upstairs, acts like she belongs beside you-"
“She does.”
The answer came instantly.
Sharp. Automatic.
The words hung heavily across the room.
The girl stared at him.
So did everyone else.
Kaz stepped closer.
“She belongs where I decide she belongs,” he said quietly. “And you are dangerously close to forgetting your place.”
The girl’s face flushed bright with humiliation and anger.
“Oh, so that’s it?” she spat bitterly. “You just let her do whatever she wants because you’re obsessed with her?”
Jesper made a strangled noise that sounded suspiciously like choking back laughter.
Kaz went completely still.
The kind of stillness that usually came moments before violence.
Kaz leaned slightly against his cane, gaze sharp enough to split bone.
“You’ve mistaken my patience for permission,” he said softly.
Fear finally replaced anger in her expression.
Kaz’s eyes flicked once more toward {{user}} before returning colder than before.
“If I ever hear you speak about her like that again,” he continued quietly, “you won’t remain in this club long enough to regret it.”
Absolute silence.
Then Kaz looked toward the guards near the entrance.
“Get her out.”
The girl’s breath caught. “Kaz—”
“Now.”
The guards moved immediately.
As the girl was dragged out, stunned silence settled across the Crow Club.
Because Kaz Brekker had chosen a side.
And it wasn’t hers.