Chapter 52: The Price Of Breath
LEON’S POV
The ash in my throat didn’t wash out, no matter how many times I rinsed my mouth at the sink after Orion left the restroom.
It’s either he knows something or he suspects enough to make me a liar or someone who simply omitted the truth. His threat isn’t just implicit anymore.
It has physical weight now. There’s a phantom hand still pressing against the nape of my neck.
Even after the restroom door clicked open and he strolled out, humming that horrific, cheerful tune, the ghost of his fingers remains, freezing my muscles in place.
I stood before the mirror for a full three minutes, staring at my own pathetic reflection. Blond hair slightly disheveled, blue eyes wide and red-rimmed with panic.
I am twenty-three years old, an adult by every legal definition, yet Orion can still reduce me to the trembling twelve-year-old child who spent a week waiting for his mother to execute him.
I couldn’t go back to the table. I couldn’t look at Louise’s sharp glare— she would dissect my terror in seconds and use it as leverage later.
And I certainly couldn’t face Adrien under Orion’s watchful, Cheshire grin. I’d throw up from nerves alone.
So, I slipped out the side exit of the restaurant, the cold night air hitting my face but doing nothing to cool the feverish panic blooming beneath my skin.
My knees knock together as I walk down the alleyway. My fingers shake so violently that it takes me three attempts to unlock my phone.
I dial the only number that either offers me a lifeline or ties the noose completely.
Niko.
Orion’s shadows don’t move without Niko knowing. As Orion’s right-hand man, Niko even filters secrets before they reach the ears of the crazy bastard.
If anyone had spilled my meet up with Adrien at Mother’s birthday party— if anyone had told Orion that Adrien and I acted familiar or had any conversation— it would be him.
Or it could be worse. Maybe Niko had seen it himself and delivered the information on a silver platter. I wouldn’t put it past him.
The phone rings three times before it’s picked up. There’s no greeting, just the heavy, rhythmic sound of breathing on the other end.
"Niko," I breathe, my voice cracking instantly. How humiliating. I can’t even manage to sound steady. "I need to see you now...please."
A low, amused hum vibrates through the speaker. "Is the little rabbit running?" He chuckles. "Did Orion scare you at the dinner, Leon?"
"Please," I whisper, leaning my head against the cold brick wall of the alley. "Just tell me where you are."
An address flashes onto my screen a second after he hangs up. It isn’t his high-rise apartment or the usual hotel, it’s a private lounge in the lower district instead.
A place hidden behind unmarked doors and exclusive memberships. A place where things happen in the dark.
The drive across the city felt like a blur of neon lights and rising dread. By the time I push open the heavy Ma hoodie to the private suite, my chest is tight, my breathing shallow.
The scent of expensive bourbon, bitter tobacco, and worn leather hit me first. Then, the visual.
Niko is sprawled on a low sofa. His massive 6’3" frame dominating the entire room. He looks entirely at ease, a glass of liquid, the color of his eyes, resting loosely in his hand. I want that hand around my throat.
His blonde hair is slightly messy, and his crisp white shirt is unbuttoned at the collar, revealing the thick, intimidating thickness of his throat.
But he isn’t alone.
Sitting on the plush rug between Niko’s spread knees, looking flushed and entirely overwhelmed, is a man I don’t know. He’s pretty, dark-haired, and completely consumed by Niko’s toxic orbit.
Looking at the way he keeps his shoulders hunched, his eyes wide and compliant, one would think Niko’s favorite hobby is forcibly violating the man, but I for one know it isn’t.
He’s a terrifying lunatic, but he despises sexual crimes. A pet peeve, he calls it.
Niko probably subconsciously conditioned the man to be compliant. That’s what he gets when he goes for a man who isn’t fully a masochist.
"Leon," Niko purrs, his voice a deep, gravely vibration that instantly makes my stomach flip, sending a sharp, familiar spike of heat straight to my groin. His amber eyes lock onto mine, gleaming with a cruel, intelligent amusement.
"You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Or a cousin."
"Niko," I say, shutting the door behind me. The click sounds exactly like the restroom door from an hour ago, sealing me into another trap of my own making.
My survival instincts tell me to turn around and run, which means, of course, that my broken, masochistic nature forces me to take three steps forward instead.
"I need to ask you something...alone."
Niko laughs, a low chuckle that vibrates through the floorboard. He reaches down, his large, calloused hand cupping the other man’s jaw, tilting the younger man’s face up with casual dominance.
The man trembles into the touch, leaning into the palm despite the fear in his eyes. "Alexis doesn’t mind secrets, do you, pet? He’s just here for the ride, aren’t you, Alexis?"
Alexis. So, that’s his name.
Alexis swallows hard, his eyes darting to me briefly before snapping back to Niko. "Yes, Niko."
"Please, Niko." I plead, stepping closer, hatred for my own cowardice burning in my chest. Why can’t I ever take a strong hand with these people? Why do I always have to cower and beg?
I hate how easily I beg, how naturally the desperation pours out of me whenever I am around men who could break me. "At my mother’s birthday party, did you see me with Adrien? Did you tell Orion anything?"
Niko tilts his head, amber eyes narrowing into slits of pure, sadistic delight. He loves this. He feeds on vulnerability and fear.
"You’re asking if I saw you?" He sighs. "The garden is very large, Leon. There are a lot of shadows there at that time of the day. Maybe I saw something, maybe I didn’t."
I never said anything about the garden, and going by that sharp grin on his face, he knows I didn’t.
He’s toying with me.
"Niko, don’t play with me! This isn’t a game. Orion just threatened me. He told me I could never break my engagement with Louise, and then he brought up Adrien. Did you tell him anything?"
"If I told him," Niko murmurs, leaning forward, his chest nearly touching the back of Alexis’s head, "would you be standing here right now? Or would you be in a hell of your own making?"
"Or maybe...just maybe...Orion likes watching you squirm so much that he decided to let you keep squirming just to see how much stress your little heart can take before it stops."
"That’s not an answer!" My hands are shaking again. I shove them into my pockets, trying to hide the physical manifestation of my weakness, but Niko’s gaze drops to them instantly.
His smirk widens.
"You never did learn how to ask nicely," Niko says softly, his voice dropping into a dangerous, quiet tone.
He taps Alexis’s cheek twice— a silent, practiced command. Alexis immediately stands up, his limbs slightly stiff, and steps back towards the edge of the sofa, though his dark eyes remain glued to us in fascination and terror.
Niko stands up. At 6’3", he towers over my 5’8" frame, casting a massive shadow that completely swallows me under the dim amber lights. I don’t know why the lunatic is vain enough to pick a private room that matches his eye color.
He walks over to me until he’s inches away, the sheer heat radiating off his body makes my skin prickle with anticipation.
"You want answers from me, Leon?" Niko asks, his fingers reaching out to trail down my jawline, his grip tightening enough to bruise if he presses any harder.
"You know the price of admission in this room. You don’t get anything for free from me. You never have, and you never will."
My breath hitches.
I am a coward, a pathetic yielding creature who craves the very degradation Niko deals out so casually. I am to be engaged to a vulture of a woman, yet I keep coming back to bend over for a man.
I don’t want this thing between us to ever stop. The thought of losing this escape— the one place where my weakness is validated and turned into disgusting, beautiful pleasure— terrifies me more than Orion’s wrath.
If I obey, he’ll keep using me. If I obey, I can forget the outside world. If I obey, I get to finally breathe.
"Get on your knees," Niko commands softly.
It’s like the most beautiful note of music to my ears.
I sink to the floor instantly, my knees hitting the plush carpet right at the tips of his polished, leather shoes.
