Titiana & Sofia started to make the move.
But
Lila wasn't the same girl they remembered.
Once, Tatiana and Sofia had seen her as nothing more than a trembling little pet, dragged into Viktor's world like a lamb into a den of wolves. They'd watched her, waited for her to stumble, whispered to each other that it wouldn't take long before Viktor tired of his new toy.
But Lila had been raised and turned herself into a monster. Her skin knew the weight of cruel hands before it knew warmth. Her ears knew the sound of bones breaking before they knew lullabies. Her innocence had been bartered before she even knew what innocence was.
And so she caught Tatiana's perfume lingering too long outside Viktor's office door that night…
And Lila knows that something is fishy. This is the smell of Titiana perfume.
When she spotted Sofia's lipstick print on the glass a soldier had handed her at dinner…When the guards' eyes shifted just a little too much, the way men's eyes do when they know something they aren't supposed to know…
Lila didn't panic.She didn't run.She smiled.
Because Lila had learned something in Viktor's bed.
The most dangerous thing a woman could be wasn't beautiful.It wasn't desirable.It was unpredictable.
—
The Red Room — The wives' sanctuary, their private war table, their kingdom carved out under Viktor's nose. Lila knew exactly where it was. She had overheard Viktor's men grumble about it the first week she arrived—The wives, always plotting in the red room. Blood and lipstick.
At midnight, Lila walked in without knocking.
Sofia had a cigarette between her lips, and Tatiana had a knife in her hand, skinning an apple into delicate spirals. They both froze when they saw her standing there, dressed in Viktor's silk shirt and nothing else, her bare legs gleaming under the dim light.
And say!
"Oh," Lila purred, voice soft as velvet. "Don't stop on my account."
Sofia's brow arched. "This is our room."
Lila leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, head tilted. "Funny. I thought this whole house belonged to Viktor. And last I checked…" She smiled, slow and cutting. "…Viktor belongs to me now."
Tatiana's knife stilled. "Careful, little girl."
Lila stepped inside, her bare feet silent on the floor, trailing fingers across the table until she reached the knife. She picked it up, turning it over, blade catching the light.
"I know what you're doing."
Sofia's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "And what's that, darling?"
"You think I'm stupid. You think I'm still that broken little thing you could swat away like a fly. But you're wrong." Lila's gaze lifted, and for the first time, they saw it—the thing Viktor had fallen for. The darkness curling beneath her skin. The same darkness that had killed Mikhail with her bare hands.
Tatiana leaned back, her voice low and bored. "And what are you going to do about it? Kill us?"
Lila laughed. Not sweet. Not soft. The laugh of someone who had already died once and come back hungry.
"No," Lila said, circling the table. "Killing you would be too kind." She stopped behind Tatiana's chair, bending until her lips brushed the woman's ear.
"But do you know what would break you?"
Tatiana stiffened.
Lila's smile sharpened.
"Viktor loves me. But you know what's worse? He wants me. Craves me.
I could make him do anything with just a look. I could make him send you away in the middle of the night, like you never even existed. And you know the sickest part?"
Tatiana's fingers gripped the table.
Lila whispered, voice sweet as poison. "You'd still come running back if he called. Because you're weak. Both of you. You need his name to matter. I don't."
Sofia crushed her cigarette into the table, standing abruptly. "Bitch."
Who the fuck you think you are, Little Bitch!
Lila turned to her, knife still in hand. "That's Queen Bitch to you."
And then, before either woman could move, Lila cut her palm, blood welling instantly, dripping onto the table. She held it up, the crimson drops splashing onto the white marble between them.
"A little offering," Lila said softly. "To remind you what happens when you come for me."
She turned and walked out, leaving a trail of blood and silk and power in her wake.
Behind her, Tatiana and Sofia sat frozen, no longer sure if they were hunting Lila—or if she was hunting them.
—
Later that night, Viktor found her in the bath.
Water red as wine, her hand resting lazily over the edge, still bleeding just a little.
"What did you do?" he asked, voice low.
Lila smiled up at him, innocent as sin. "I just reminded them whose house this is."
Viktor stared, torn between awe and terror, his little doll becoming something he couldn't leash anymore.
"You scare me,"he admitted, voice rough.
Lila reached for him, fingers wet, tugging him down until their lips met, copper tanging the kiss.
"Good."
That's what I want from you, Viktor. The temptation of being afraid.