Crown of the Empire

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

My phone buzzed like it had a personal vendetta against my peace. Again. And again. I flipped it face down on the velvet couch of Nikolai's cavernous living room, but it might as well have been screaming through the marble walls. Whoever it was clearly didn't care about the fact that I'd just survived a public corporate war with my father, been disowned in spirit if not in blood, and had moved into a billionaire's estate without so much as a toothbrush packed.

Spoiler: it was my best friends.

"Open the damn gate!" Solene's text lit up the screen, followed by a string of emojis that made my eyes hurt. 🚪🔥⚔️👭

Then Jules chimed in like the human alarm clock he was: "We know where you live now. Don't think you can hide in your Russian-Japanese tower with Dr. Hot-and-Cold Takedo. Invite us in before we climb the walls."

I groaned. Loudly. The kind of groan that felt like an opera singer warming up, complete with the hand-to-forehead dramatics.

Why did I ever give them the address? Oh right, because Solene has the persistence of a shark that smells blood in water, and Jules has the hacking skills of a bored genius. Between the two of them, my life had ceased to be private somewhere between "let's go for coffee" and "oops, we accidentally staged an intervention about your father."

The phone buzzed again. This time it was a call. I picked up before they got the bright idea to show up uninvited and scare the four hundred staff Nikolai casually admitted he had on payroll just for this estate.

"Mariya Vergara," Solene's voice rang, sharp as glass, "do you think you can live in your villainess castle and not host us? Unacceptable. I want a tour. Jules wants free champagne. And we both want to confirm that you're not secretly chained to a boardroom desk by Dr. Ice Prince."

"I hate both of you," I muttered, pacing to the window that overlooked the manicured gardens sprawling like something out of Versailles.

"We love you too, babe," Jules chimed in, sugary sweet. "Now invite us. Or we crash the gates and cause a scene. Imagine the headlines: Vergara Heiress Trapped in Fortress by Shady Fiancé, Best Friends Rescue Her With Glitter and Violence."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. God, they weren't bluffing. If anyone could stage an unnecessary but very convincing spectacle, it was these two.

"You do realize there are guards here with actual earpieces and possibly weapons, right?" I said. "This isn't your neighborhood Starbucks. You'll both get tackled before you can say 'cold brew.'"

"All the more reason for you to vouch for us," Solene said without missing a beat. "Come on, Riya. Don't make me pull the lesbian bestie card. Or worse, let Jules design a protest banner."

"I already started sketching," Jules added, far too delighted with himself.

Before I could retort, a low voice cut through the air like a scalpel.

"Let them come."

I nearly jumped out of my skin. Of course. Nikolai Takedo, materializing out of nowhere like he owned both the house and the element of surprise. Which, to be fair, he did. His footsteps were soundless against the polished floor, his presence so calm and inevitable it almost irritated me.

I spun around, phone still pressed to my ear. "You were listening?"

His dark eyes met mine, steady, infuriatingly unreadable. "Hard not to. Your friends are... loud."

From the phone, Jules piped up, "Hi, Dr. Ice Prince! We love what you've done with the prison mansion."

Nikolai didn't flinch. "I'll have the staff prepare for their arrival," he said smoothly, ignoring Jules' nickname like he'd been trained in the art of dignified dismissal since birth. Which, knowing his pedigree, he probably had.