Page 124 of Fallen Empire

That’s when a man’s voice broke the silence. Smooth. Unbothered.

“Sleep well, my sweet Millicent?”

It echoed across the walls, bouncing from corner to corner like he was everywhere at once.

I didn’t see anyone.

My neck throbbed, a deep, burning ache from where it had hung forward for too long. I rolled it back slowly, pain blooming from the base of my skull down through my shoulders. The flickering floor lamp in the corner gave off a weak, yellow glow. Shadows stretched across concrete walls and clung to every corner of the room.

“Looking for someone?” the voice came again, closer this time, but still invisible.

Aleksei.

That’s when I saw it—the faint red glow blinking from the upper corner of the ceiling.

Small. Steady. Silent.

A camera.

He didn’t have to be in here with me. He was watching. Studying. Tracking every move I made. Every breath. Every flicker of panic that crossed my eyes.

I swallowed hard and forced myself not to flinch. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Not yet.

He thought he had control. Thought this place—the cameras, the shadows, the silence—meant he held the power.

And maybe he did. For now.

But the longer I sat in this concrete box, the more the fear gave way to something hotter.

Angrier.

Because once again, someone thought they could dictate what happened to me.

It started years ago with my parents, never giving me the chance to be a child. Forcing me to grow up too soon. Then fate took the only man I ever truly loved. Jaxson tried to leave me out of Savannah’s truth. Out of her past. Then Ben…

Ben wanted to shut me out completely. The day they saved her, and every moment after.

Now Aleksei thought he held the power over me. Like I was something to manage.

Something to lock away when he couldn’t control the outcome.

But the truth was just that—hecouldn’tcontrol it.

I’d spent my entire life managing crises, putting out fires, thinking three steps ahead. I didn’t flinch in chaos. I calculated in it. I looked at every problem at face value and solved it.

Clean. Efficient.

Aleksei didn’t want me. He wanted Savannah. I was just the closest thing he could grab.

I was the bait. And I’d play that role if it meant they’d find him. Keep Savannah out of harms way and end this for good. Because while I may have looked like a pawn…

What he didn’t realize yet was that I was the queen.

And Aleksei?

He was already one move from checkmate.

I’d had a front row seat to what Jaxson’s people were capable of. I’d watched them dismantle an empire. I’d seen what they did to men who thought they were untouchable.