Skyscrapers and Starlight – The Dragon’s Daughter
By Lea von Löwenstein
Chapter 9: Whispers and Warnings
Part 1: The Calm Before
The Drake mansion’s conservatory basked in late afternoon light as Elizabeth Drake collapsed onto a Victorian fainting couch, hand pressed to her throat.
“Scotch,” she croaked. “Neat. Double.”
Eleanor simply raised an eyebrow, but rang the small silver bell beside her tea set.
Marcus hadn’t moved from the doorway, his phone still displaying James’s spectacular CNBC meltdown. “But if you didn’t do anything yet…”
“Psychology is a powerful weapon,” Alexandra said softly, rising to approach her husband. “Right now, James is destroying himself with fear. Every call he makes, every favour he begs, every promise he breaks trying to verify funding that’s perfectly intact…”
She reached him, straightening his tie with gentle fingers. “I haven’t touched a single account. Yet.”
“Then why…?” His hands found her waist, pulling her closer.
“Because watching him unravel himself is far more satisfying.” She smiled against his collar. “By the time I actually cancel the funding at the gala, he’ll have burned every bridge trying to prove I already did.”
Elizabeth made a strangled sound from her couch as the butler arrived with her scotch.
“Brilliant,” Marcus breathed, finally understanding. “Absolutely brilliant.”
“Terrifying,” Elizabeth muttered into her drink.
“Both,” Eleanor commented, watching the young couple with approval. “Most definitely both.”
Alexandra turned in Marcus’s arms to face the room, her back pressed against his chest. “Would you like to know the best part?”
“There’s more?” Marcus’s laugh vibrated through her.
“James just went on international television claiming all his funding is gone.” Her smile was pure silk. “When the banks check and find everything intact, he’ll look…”
“Paranoid,” Eleanor finished, raising her teacup in salute. “Unstable.”
“Utterly untrustworthy,” Alexandra agreed as Elizabeth drained her scotch in one go.
Marcus pressed a kiss to her temple. “I’m starting to think I should have believed you about being Alexandra Chen from the beginning.”
“Starting to?” Eleanor’s laugh chimed like crystal. “Darling, do catch up.”
Part 2: The Spider’s Web
The late afternoon sun painted long shadows across the Drake mansion’s conservatory as Alexandra settled back into her armchair, Marcus perched on its arm. Eleanor watched them over her teacup with calculating approval, while Elizabeth nursed her second scotch.
“Father’s assistant, Wei,” Alexandra began, her fingers intertwined with Marcus’s, “will make quite an entrance at the gala. Right when James is preparing for the signing ceremony.”
“Wei?” Marcus’s thumb traced circles on her palm. “The same Wei who—”
“Who manages all of Global Titan’s major contracts?” Her smile was razor-sharp. “The very same. He’ll walk in, bow politely, and announce that due to… certain irregularities, the signing must be postponed.”
Eleanor’s eyes gleamed. “And then?”
“Then he’ll announce the new signing date. At Global Titan Tower.” Alexandra’s voice dropped to a purr. “Where James will discover exactly who he’s been dealing with all along.”
Elizabeth made a sound somewhere between a whimper and a laugh. “You’re not just going to humiliate them. You’re going to own them.”
“I already do.” Alexandra turned to Marcus, her expression softening. “Your ex-fiancée’s family has been borrowing from Global Titan shell companies for years. They just didn’t know it.”
Marcus pulled her closer, something dark and appreciative in his eyes. “You’ve owned them this entire time?”
“Mmm.” She tilted her face up to his. “I like to know exactly who’s trying to take what’s mine.”
“And what’s yours?” His voice dropped to a whisper.
“Everything,” she breathed against his lips. “Including you.”
Eleanor cleared her throat delicately. “Perhaps we should discuss the gala’s seating arrangements? While you two are still… vertical?”
Elizabeth drained her second scotch.
Part 3: Hearts and Power
The conservatory’s crystal windows caught the dying sun, casting prisms across Alexandra and Marcus as they stood among Eleanor’s prize orchids. Elizabeth had finally retreated, scotch in hand, while Eleanor had tactfully excused herself to “examine her Rothko.”
“You’re something else entirely,” Marcus murmured, tucking a strand of hair behind Alexandra’s ear. “Planning global corporate takeovers while having tea with my grandmother.”
“Disappointed?” Her eyes caught the sunset, turning them to liquid gold.
“Enchanted.” His fingers traced her jawline. “Terrified. Completely captivated.”
She stepped closer, the silk of her dress whispering against his suit. “Still think I’m delusional?”
“I think,” his voice dropped to a velvet rumble, “you’re the most dangerous woman I’ve ever met.” His thumb brushed her lower lip. “And I can’t believe you’re mine.”
“Funny,” she breathed, fingers curling into his lapels. “I was just thinking the same about you.”
The kiss started soft, a gentle press of lips that quickly deepened into something more primal. His hands spanned her waist, pulling her flush against him as she gasped into his mouth. She tasted of Earl Grey and power, of promises and destruction. His tongue swept against hers as she arched closer, one hand sliding into his hair while the other gripped his tie.
Time dissolved like sugar in rain. The world narrowed to sensation – the heat of his palms through silk, the way his breath hitched when she nipped his lower lip, the thundering of their hearts creating a symphony of want and wonder.
When they finally broke apart, both breathing hard, the sun had set completely. The conservatory glowed with starlight and possibility.
“Well,” Eleanor’s voice drifted from the doorway, rich with amusement, “I suppose that settles the question of whether this marriage is real.”
Alexandra laughed against Marcus’s lips, feeling his smile.
“Very real, Grandmother,” he managed, not taking his eyes off his wife. “Very, very real.”
