I thought my billionaire boss would fire me when he saw my bruises, but instead he locked the kitchen door and asked, “Who hurt you?”

The heavy oak door swung open with an eerie, measured smoothness, revealing the grand corridor beyond.

Standing on the polished marble floor of the estate hallway was Daniel. He wore a scuffed leather jacket, his dark hair unkempt, his jaw set in a rigid, aggressive line. In his right hand, he held a heavy iron wrench he had picked up from a gardener's cart outside.

When the door opened, Daniel took an eager, menacing step forward. "Emma, get your stuff—"

He stopped dead.

The tall, dark figure standing in the doorway was not a frightened maid or an elderly butler.

Adrian Blackwood stood at his full height of six-foot-two. His white dress shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, his dark sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing thick, corded forearms. His expression was not angry; it was entirely devoid of human emotion—a mask of carved granite.

"Who the hell are you?" Daniel demanded, shifting his grip on the wrench. "Get out of my way. I'm taking my girlfriend home."

Adrian did not blink. He did not glance at the iron weapon in Daniel's hand.

"You are trespassing on private property," Adrian said, his voice dropping into a low, terrifying baritone that seemed to vibrate through the floorboards. "And you have three seconds to lower that weapon before I permanently alter the course of your life."

Daniel forced a harsh, nervous laugh, though he took a half-step back. "Look, buddy, this is a domestic matter. She's my fiancé. She owes me money, and she's coming with me."

Behind Adrian, Emma stepped out from behind the steel counter, her body trembling violently. "I don't owe you anything, Daniel! I paid your debts! I gave you my entire savings!"

"Shut your mouth, Emma!" Daniel yelled, pointing the wrench at her. "You don't talk to me like that!"

Before Daniel's arm could fully extend, Adrian moved.

It was not a hurried motion, but a swift, devastatingly precise display of force. Adrian closed the distance in a single stride, his left hand clapping around Daniel's wrist like a steel vise. With a sharp, sudden twist, he leveraged Daniel's arm downward.

The iron wrench dropped onto the marble floor with a deafening CLANG.

Before Daniel could cry out, Adrian drove his right hand forward, gripping Daniel by the throat and slamming him backward against the opposite stone wall. The impact rattled the framed oil paintings lining the corridor.

Daniel gasped, his feet dangling two inches off the floor, his eyes bulging in sudden, desperate panic.

"Listen to me very carefully," Adrian whispered, leaning in so close his cold breath brushed Daniel's cheek. "If you ever raise your voice to her again, if you ever step onto this road, if you even think her name in your sleep... I will personally ensure that you spend the remainder of your natural life in a windowless cell."

"I'll... I'll call the cops..." Daniel choked out, his hands clawing uselessly at Adrian's iron fingers.

Adrian's lips curved into a dark, ruthless smile. "Please do. My personal security detail is already standing outside the gate with two county deputies. But they won't be saving me from you. They'll be saving you from what I'm about to do if you don't answer my questions."

Adrian loosened his grip slightly, allowing Daniel's heels to hit the floor, though his hand remained firmly clamped on the man's throat.

"How much money did you take from her?" Adrian demanded.

"Nothing... it was a loan..."

Adrian tightened his grip. Daniel gagged.

"Ten... ten thousand dollars!" Daniel choked out, tears of pain forming in his eyes. "Ten grand! That's all!"

"And the bruises on her face?" Adrian asked, his voice dropping an octave lower, reaching a frequency of pure, unchecked danger. "Where did those come from?"

Daniel looked past Adrian at Emma, looking for pity, but he found none. "She... she wouldn't give me her paycheck... I just pushed her..."

Adrian did not hit him. He simply stared into Daniel's eyes until the man began to sob out of pure, instinctual terror.

"You are a pathetic worm," Adrian said softly. He shoved Daniel sideways onto the floor.

Two large, muscular men in black tactical suits stepped out from the side entrance, their eyes fixed on Adrian for orders.

"Take him to the security office," Adrian commanded, wiping his hands with a linen handkerchief from his pocket. "Hold him there until Marcus arrives with the legal documentation."

"Yes, Mr. Blackwood," the head of security replied, picking Daniel up off the floor as if he were a sack of trash.

As Daniel was dragged down the hallway, screaming threats that grew fainter with every step, Adrian turned back toward the kitchen.