Chapter 54 The King's Rage

• Pain was nothing new. It lived beneath Ivan’s skin, coiling like an old friend, a constant hum beneath the surface of his control. But this? This was different. Blood still soaked his shirt, dried and cracked against his ribs. The bullet had grazed him—nothing vital—but the betrayal? That had cut deeper. Selene. He should have killed her the first time she hesitated.
• His fingers curled around the edge of his desk, knuckles white, rage simmering beneath his skin like a slow-burning fire. Jax stood near the window, arms crossed, his gaze flicking toward Ivan’s wound but not commenting on it. “Madeline saved your life,” Jax muttered, his voice careful, measured. “What do you make of that?”
• Ivan exhaled slowly, pressing his tongue against his teeth. She had saved him. But not because she wanted to. Because she wasn’t done with him yet. His lips curved—not in amusement, but something colder. “She wants to win,” Ivan murmured. “She wants to prove she’s more than a pawn.” His fingers tapped the desk, slow and deliberate. “But she’s wrong.”