A Dance with Danger

Chapter Twenty-One

**Estelle's POV**

Estelle!” My face lit up as I saw Tiberius’s father, Ilya, walking toward me. Behind him stood his husband, Damien.

Ilya, originally from Russia, had moved to the UK years ago, where he met Damien Kavouris, the powerful Don of the Greek mafia. Their love story is quite a tale, but who am I to judge?

“Ilya,” I greeted, giving him a knowing look. “You know I can't stand this whole 'Mr. Sokolov' or 'Mr. Kavouris' thing.” He rolled his eyes playfully.

Damien, noticing the exchange, cleared his throat to pull Ilya’s attention back. “My bad,” Ilya murmured, smiling a bit too innocently. The subtle way he softened around Damien always made me wonder at the intensity of their relationship.

Despite their contrasting backgrounds, they seemed an unbreakable pair. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to live a life in that kind of union, built on loyalty, respect, and maybe an edge of shared danger.

They looked at each other with that quiet understanding, and I felt a pang of something I couldn’t quite name.

After my early morning visit to Tiberius’s room, I had sworn to myself I wouldn’t interact with him for the rest of the day. I kept my gaze fixed firmly on the plate in front of me, as if it were the most fascinating thing in the world.

Tiberius took the last open seat at the table. “How was your sleep?” Damien asked him casually.

“Alright,” Tiberius replied, throwing a quick glance in my direction. I could feel his gaze, and I stole a quick look from the corner of my eye.

“And yours, Estelle?” Ilya asked, pulling me into the conversation.

“Good,” I answered simply.I couldn’t resist a quick glance from the corner of my eye, though I immediately regretted it. He caught me looking, that maddening glint in his eye revealing far too much.

Leaning close, Tiberius whispered in my ear, his voice low and teasing. “Did you enjoy the show this morning?” My cheeks instantly flared with heat.

“No!” I whispered back, half-yelling in embarrassment.

I risked a quick glance at Ilya and Damien, who were completely engrossed in their own conversation, oblivious to our exchange. Tiberius leaned back, studying my reaction, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Are you sure? You stood in my room for a good five minutes, just watching me.”

How did he—

“You were awake, weren’t you?” I glared at him, my voice laced with accusation. Tiberius just smirked.

“I’m not a heavy sleeper, Estelle. You should have known by now.”

“So you pretended to be asleep, just to mess with me?”

“Pretty much,” he replied, his tone casual. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s rude to touch someone who’s asleep?”

“Don’t lecture me,” I hissed, but the thought nagged at me. Hadn’t Harmony once warned me about waking someone up unexpectedly? Especially when dealing with people from...let’s say, unique backgrounds?

My mind wandered to that time Harmony asked me to wake her up at dawn for a photo shoot, only to go into a sleep-fueled rage that nearly broke a vase in her room. Perhaps I should have learned from that morning escapade, yet I had never anticipated being in such a situation with someone like Tiberius

“Good thing my hands didn’t reach for my gun this morning,” he said, half to myself.

Tiberius chuckled quietly, his smirk never faltering.My cheeks were still warm from Tiberius’s teasing, and I couldn’t quite shake the embarrassment.