Chapter 10 - MERCY

Donovan did not summon Adeline that morning.That absence unsettled her more than his presence ever had.The villa moved as it always did—quiet footsteps, doors opening and closing with purpose, voices kept low as if the walls themselves listened. Adeline noticed things now: how guards never lingered, how Ethan appeared and vanished like a shadow, how the air felt heavier when Donovan was awake.Something told her that this was not the way prisoners were treated here. She couldn't help the thought that she was being treated specially. She sat at the edge of the bed, waiting for something to happen. Anything at allAnd it did.Ethan arrived just past noon. He didn't knock. He never did."Get up," he said, tone flat. "Dress properly."Her heart stuttered. "Where am I going?"Ethan's eyes flicked to her once, sharp and assessing. "You'll see."The word see wrapped around her chest like wire.—They led her through parts of the villa she had never entered before—wide corridors lined with art that felt too expensive to touch, windows that looked out over gardens trimmed with unnatural precision. Beauty used as camouflage. Control disguised as luxury.She thought then that Donovan had never kept her hidden because he feared discovery.He had kept her hidden because he chose to.They stopped outside a room guarded by two men she didn't recognize. The door opened silently.Donovan stood inside, jacket removed, sleeves rolled neatly to his forearms. He looked unhurried. Calm. As if this moment had waited patiently for him."Come in, Adeline," he said.Her name still felt strange on his tongue.She stepped inside.The room was simple. A table. Three chairs. A single lamp. Nothing else.And someone kneeling on the floor.Adeline froze.The man's hands were bound behind him. His head hung low. He was breathing—she noticed that immediately, desperately—as if her mind needed proof that this wasn't already over.Donovan watched her reaction with quiet interest."Do you know him?" he asked.She swallowed. "No.""Good."He gestured to the chair across from him. "Sit."Her legs obeyed before her thoughts could catch up.Donovan leaned back slightly. "This man," he said calmly, "sold information he was trusted with. Information that endangered people who belong to me."Adeline clenched her hands together. "Why am I here?""Because," Donovan replied, "you are learning how my world works."The kneeling man lifted his head then, eyes wide with fear when he saw her. He shook his head slightly, as if begging her for something she could not give.Adeline looked away.Donovan noticed."Look," he said softly.Her breath hitched. She didn't want to."I said look."She flinched, his voice was sharper this time.Donovan stood and walked to the man, placing a hand on his shoulder—not cruelly, not kindly. Possessively."This is where you think I will punish him," Donovan continued. "Where you think blood will be spilled. Where fear becomes loud."He turned back to her. "That is what you expect of me."Her throat burned. "Isn't it?"Donovan smiled faintly. "No."He nodded once.Ethan stepped forward, swift and efficient. He cut the man's restraints and pulled him to his feet.Adeline's eyes widened. "You're—letting him go?"Donovan approached her slowly. "Yes."Relief crashed into her so hard it made her dizzy.Donovan leaned down, close enough that she could smell his cologne, feel the weight of him without a single touch."Mercy," he said quietly, "is far more effective than cruelty."The man was escorted out, stumbling, weeping, alive.The door closed.Silence fell.Adeline let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "You didn't have to—"Donovan straightened. "He will live," he said. "But everything he loved is gone. His safety. His status. His future."He looked at her steadily. "And he will spend the rest of his life knowing that I chose not to end it."The room felt colder."That," Donovan continued, "is mercy."Adeline's relief curdled into something else—something heavy and wrong."You brought me here so I'd feel grateful," she said quietly.A pause.Then Donovan smiled."Yes."The honesty stunned her more than a lie would have.He stepped closer. Not threatening. Intimate."I could be worse," he said. "And you would never know how much."Her chest tightened. "Why are you telling me this?""Because you will stop hoping I am someone else," Donovan replied. "And start understanding who I am."He reached out then—not to grab her, not to force her—but to brush his knuckles lightly against her wrist.The touch was brief.Deliberate."People survive under me," he said. "Only when I allow it."She didn't pull away.That frightened her more than anything else."Take her back," Donovan told Ethan.As Ethan led her out, Adeline looked back once.Donovan was already seated again, composed, unmoved—as if nothing important had happened.But Adeline knew better.He hadn't shown her violence.He had shown her restraint.And she understood, with terrifying clarity, that restraint was his sharpest weapon.