Caspian was watching the view outside when the door suddenly opened. Zayden didn't enter. He strided toward him. Caspian turned at the sound and Zayden crushed him against his chest, hugging him so tightly that Caspian felt his breath leaving his lungs.

"Hmm, Zay! What happened?" He asked, his hands pressed against Zayden's chest. He was caged in his arms, but Zayden didn't answer, nor did he loosen his hold. He just held him like that, taking long breaths to calm himself. Caspian smelled his pheromones mixed with fear, anxiety, and things he couldn't understand.

"Love, just stay with me." Zayden whispered near his ear. Caspian tilted his head and looked at him.

"I won't leave." He said, watching Zayden's sudden appearance in confusion. Zayden leaned over his face. Caspian closed his eyes and Zayden kissed his eyes — first the left, then the right. Caspian slowly opened his eyes and their gazes met. He looked again at those pale blue eyes with brown flecks. Suddenly he felt no fear looking at them up close.

"Zay, it's fine. I won't leave." Caspian patted his back lightly while staring at him worriedly. Zayden didn't answer. He kissed him. The kiss was aggressive, like Zayden wanted to pour everything he felt into it. Caspian felt his legs giving out, but Zayden held him tightly. He bit his lips; his tongue roamed inside Caspian's mouth. Caspian tried to breathe, but Zayden didn't let go. He kept kissing him.

"Za... hmmm... can't... mmm... bre..."

Caspian tried to speak, but he wasn't listening. He didn't know what had happened to him, but whatever it was, it wasn't good. When Caspian thought he was about to suffocate, Zayden let go. Caspian collapsed against his chest, breathing heavily. Zayden also took deep breaths to calm himself. Then Caspian heard him whisper:

"I will definitely not let it happen again." Caspian tried to understand what he meant, but he was exhausted, so he just focused on breathing. Suddenly a knock pulled them out of their thoughts. Zayden looked toward the door.

"What?" He asked irritably.

"Boss, it's me, Darius." Zayden let go of him. Caspian took deep breaths to calm himself. He himself didn't understand what had just happened. Zayden helped him sit on the couch.

"I'm sorry. Did I scare you?" Zayden asked worriedly, watching him breathe irregularly.

"No, I'm not scared. It's just... the kiss was so deep, I thought I would suffocate." Caspian shook his head as he explained between calm breaths.

"Boss!!" Darius knocked again.

Zayden looked toward the door.

"I'm coming. Just wait downstairs." He turned his gaze to Caspian.

"Love, I have to go to the office. Something came up, so I need to tell you something. Listen to me, okay?"

Caspian watched him in confusion.

"What happened to him?" He was perfectly normal when Caspian left him with Noah, but he still nodded lightly.

"I... I'm mafia. You know that, right?" He crouched down in front of him and held his hands. Caspian nodded again. "So you know mafia have a lot of enemies, right?" Caspian's eyes widened in surprise.

"Did Uncle do something?" He asked timidly.

"Who?" Zayden asked, confused. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Uncle... Uncle Silas." Caspian repeated timidly.

"That old geezer is your uncle!" The words slipped out before he could stop them. Shock and surprise appeared on his face at the sudden realization. Caspian watched him for a while, then asked the question he thought was very smart to ask at a time like this:

"Ah, yeah, but Zay, what is 'old geezer'?"

Zayden snapped out of his thoughts at his question.

"Ah, it means 'good old man.'" He told him shamelessly without even blinking. Caspian didn't doubt him.He quickly believed it and stored it in his memory.

"So... did Uncle do some trouble?" He asked again nervously.

"No, no, of course not. I'm not talking about him. It's someone else." Zayden squeezed his hands and continued.

"So, about five or six years ago..." Zayden lowered his head as he explained. "I... I had some conflict with him at that time." He looked up and locked gazes with Caspian. "And now he's back, and he's not a good guy." He lifted Caspian's hands and kissed them.

"So if..." He looked out the window like he knew someone was watching Caspian from a distance before he had walked into the room.

"If something happens and you see a person with a sharp tattoo on his face, stay away from him, and tell me immediately, no matter where I am, okay?" Zayden asked him calmly, trying to be cautious as he tried to protect him.

"Hmm, I will. But my phone... I left it at the palace." Caspian suddenly remembered his long-lost phone. Zayden just smiled lightly.

"Don't worry. Elara will bring it to you. She won't stay there long. I'll also call her to take your phone. Okay?"

Caspian nodded. Zayden cupped Caspian's face and kissed his forehead.

"Just stay safe." Caspian just blinked at him.

"Okay then, I have to go. I'll be late, so don't wait for me, okay?"

Caspian nodded again. Zayden stood up and left through the door without looking back. Caspian just stared at the locked door, thinking:

"What happened to him?"

---

Caspian walked to the window and watched the cars leaving. He suddenly felt like someone was watching him. He lifted his gaze but didn't see anyone. The person smiled from far away...

"So now you're playing games with me. Let's see who lasts till the end."

Buzzzz, buzzzz. Suddenly his phone started ringing.

He took out the phone and saw the name on the screen:

"Amanda!!..."

---

"Mom, I'm going to brother's palace," Elara yelled from the door. Without waiting for a reply, she went outside and was about to get into the car when...

Buzzzz... buzzzz. Her phone started ringing. It was Zayden.

"So you finally remember to call me, huh?" She scoffed.

"Just take Cas's phone to him. He left it at the palace." He asked urgently and cut the call without another word. Elara stared at the phone for a while in confusion.

Then she went inside, took thirty minutes to find his phone, then got back into the car.

"To Volkov Palace." The driver had already started driving before she spoke, because they all knew there were only a few places Elara visited consistently.

Their car started moving toward the palace, not knowing that danger was already waiting for them.

---