Alexandros Residence
Seraphina woke to silence that didn't belong to her.
The room was too large. Too still. The curtains were heavy velvet, drawn back just enough to let morning light spill across marble floors. The bed beneath her was unfamiliar, firm, untouched on the other side.
She sat up slowly.
This was not her parents' house.
This was not an hotel.
This was Alexandros Drakos's home.
Memory returned in pieces: the underground facility, the boy sleeping safely, Alexandros insisting she stay where he could protect her, exhaustion finally dragging her into sleep.
She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood.
The room had no personal warmth, no photos, Power and control lived here. Nothing sentimental.
Just like him, she thought.
Downstairs, the house was already awake.
Guards moved quietly through corridors. Screens along the walls showed live security feeds. The smell of coffee drifted through the air.
Alexandros stood near the kitchen counter, sleeves rolled up, jacket discarded. He looked like he hadn't slept.
"You should've woken me," Seraphina said.
He turned instantly. "You needed rest."
"I'm not fragile."
"I know," he said. "That doesn't mean I won't protect you."
The words settled between them, simple and direct.
She walked closer. "How long do you plan to keep me here?"
"Until the threat is contained."
"And if that takes months?"
"Then you'll be here for months."
She folded her arms. "You can't cage me."
His jaw tightened. "I'm not the one trying to."
They held each other's gaze, tension pulling tight like a wire.
Then Alexandros exhaled. "You'll have full access to your lab. Secure transport. Armed escort."
"That's not freedom."
"It's survival."
She looked away first.
The boy was awake when Seraphina entered the medical wing of the house.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, cleaner now, wrapped in fresh clothes. A nurse hovered nearby.
When he saw Seraphina, his shoulders relaxed.
She smiled gently. "Good morning."
No answer but his eyes followed her closely.
She checked his vitals, her movements calm and careful.
"He responds to you," Alexandros said from the doorway.
"He responds to consistency," she replied. "Someone needs to be here every day."
"I'll arrange it."
"No," she said firmly. "I will."
Alexandros studied her. "You're already a target."
"So is he," she said. "And he needs someone who understands what they did to him."
Silence.
"Fine," Alexandros said at last. "But you won't be alone."
The first attempt on Seraphina came that afternoon.
She was in the laboratory wing,her equipment flown in, security cleared when the lights flickered.
Then the backup generator kicked in.
Too fast.
Seraphina's instincts flared.
She stepped back from the table just as the glass wall exploded inward.
Alexandros's men reacted instantly, pulling her to the ground as gunfire erupted.
"Down!" someone shouted.
Alexandros burst through the doorway seconds later, weapon drawn, eyes wild.
"Seraphina!"
"I'm here," she gasped.
An attacker tried to retreat through the broken glass.
Alexandros didn't let him.
One shot.
Then another.
Silence followed.
Alexandros crossed the room in long strides and grabbed Seraphina's shoulders, checking her quickly for injuries.
"You're hurt?" he demanded.
"No," she said. "I'm fine."
His hands lingered a second too long.
They both noticed.
He stepped back first.
"They bypassed three security layers," his chief reported. "This was surgical."
Alexandros's face hardened. "Then this isn't intimidation."
Seraphina swallowed. "It's escalation."
That night, Seraphina couldn't sleep.
She stood on the balcony again, wrapped in a robe, the city spread below her like a living thing.
Alexandros joined her quietly.
"They won't stop," she said.
"No," he agreed. "Neither will I."
She hesitated, then spoke. "You asked me before what I was working on."
"Yes."
"I still can't tell you everything," she said. "But I need access to your father's full medical history. Not the public files. Everything."
Alexandros didn't hesitate. "You'll have it."
She turned to him, surprised. "Just like that?"
"You saved a child I couldn't," he said. "And you walked into my war without flinching. Whatever you're doing, it matters."
Guilt twisted inside her.
"I don't want to hurt you," she said quietly.
He stepped closer. "Then don't lie to me when the truth matters."
Her breath caught.
They stood inches apart now. Close enough to feel heat. Close enough to break rules they had written together.
She forced herself to step back.
"We agreed," she said. "Distance."
"Yes," he replied. "We did."
But neither of them moved away completely.
Later, Alexandros stood alone in his study, reviewing surveillance footage of the attack.
His phone vibrated.
A secure message appeared on the screen.
WE SEE HER.
YOU CAN'T PROTECT EVERY WEAKNESS.
Alexandros crushed the phone in his hand.
Weakness.
He looked toward the hallway where Seraphina slept.
They had made a mistake.
She was no longer collateral.
She was leverage.
And Alexandros Drakos had never allowed anyone to hold leverage over him not until now.