Saintess's Worthless Husband Turned Dragon Commander novel Chapter 215

CHAPTER 159 PART 1

The moment Marcus Steel stepped fully into the room, the temperature seemed to drop ten degrees. It wasn’t physical-the heating system still hummed quietly in the background-but every person present felt it. A pressure that made breathing harder, made hearts beat faster, made the survival instinct scream warnings that the rational mind struggled to process.

Atlas Lancaster’s face went from angry red to ashen white in the span of a single heartbeat.

He knew that face. Had memorized it after the Pearl on the Water humiliation. Had commissioned a full investigation that yielded almost nothing-just vague reports that Marcus Steel was connected to the Abbott Family, had somehow earned Miguel Abbott’s deference, and possessed wealth that didn’t appear in any public records.

But the investigation had also revealed something more disturbing. The Shadow Warrior Atlas had hired-the one sent to eliminate Marcus after the bunny costume scandal-had simply vanished. No body in the morgue. No admission to any hospital. No trace whatsoever.

Professional assassins didn’t just disappear unless someone made them disappear.

Someone powerful enough to erase evidence.

Someone dangerous enough to kill trained killers.

And now that someone stood in the doorway, dragon eyes fixed on Atlas with the calm focus of a predator that had cornered its prey.

“You,” Atlas breathed, his hand still pressed to his bleeding skull. “This was… you planned this.”

“Obviously,” Marcus replied, his tone suggesting Atlas was stating the painfully obvious. “Did you really think Nathan called you here because he’d succeeded? That your brilliant plan to kidnap Elize worked perfectly?” He paused. “You’re not that stupid. Or at least, I didn’t think you were.”

“Nathan,” Atlas turned to his hired muscle, still pinned against the wall by Curtis. “You… you called me. You said everything was secure. You said-”

“He said what I told him to say,” Marcus interrupted calmly. “After I made it very clear that his survival depended on following my instructions exactly.”

The betrayal clicked into place. Nathan hadn’t just randomly attacked Atlas-he’d been turned. Bought, or more likely threatened, into becoming a weapon against his own employer.

“You made him do this,” Atlas said, his voice shaking with rage now that understanding had replaced shock. “You threatened him. Forced him. This is conspiracy. Entrapment. My family will-”

“Your family will what?” Marcus asked mildly. “Sue me? Call the police? Explain to investigators why you hired criminals to kidnap a woman from a public venue?” He gestured around the room. “In front of two dozen witnesses from prominent families?”

Atlas’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly. He was trapped-every avenue of retaliation blocked by his own actions.

“Curtis,” Atlas finally managed, his voice hoarse. “Kill him.”

The bodyguard didn’t hesitate. Professional training overrode shock and fear-when the client gave an order, you executed. Curtis released Nathan, who slumped to the floor gasping, and turned toward Marcus with the focused intensity of someone who’d ended lives before and would do so again.

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Curtis was fast. Enhanced by years of combat training and natural talent, he covered the distance between himself and Marcus in three strides, his fist already launching toward Marcus’s jaw with enough force to shatter bone.

Marcus sidestepped.

Not hurriedly. Not desperately. Just… moved. As if Curtis’s attack was happening in slow motion and Marcus had all the time in the world to decide where to be instead.

Curtis’s fist whistled past empty air. His momentum carried him forward, off-balance, and Marcus’s palm strike caught him in the solar plexus-a blow enhanced by dragon power that made it feel like being hit by a car.

Curtis flew backward. Actually left his feet and traveled six feet before crashing into the expensive furniture with enough force to splinter wood. He tried to rise, gasping for air that wouldn’t come, but Marcus was already there.

The Dragon King grabbed Curtis’s extended arm and twisted-precise, controlled, devastating. The elbow joint bent in a direction nature never intended. The crack echoed like a gunshot. Curtis’s scream was hoarse and desperate and utterly futile.

Marcus released him, letting the broken man collapse, and turned back to Atlas as if nothing of consequence had happened.

“Anyone else want to try?” Marcus asked the room at large.

Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Even breathing seemed too loud, too risky.

Atlas stared at his bodyguard-his highly trained, highly paid, supposedly elite bodyguard-writhing on the floor clutching a shattered elbow. The entire exchange had lasted maybe five seconds. A professional killer reduced to a screaming invalid in less time than it took to blink.

“Now,” Marcus said, his dragon eyes returning to Atlas. “Let’s discuss what happens next.”

But before he could continue, Marcus’s gaze shifted to Elize, still huddled in the corner. His expression, already cold, turned actively contemptuous.

“Actually,” Marcus said slowly, “I’ve changed my mind about something.”

Elize looked up, hope flickering in her tear-stained eyes. “Marcus-”

“I’m not protecting you anymore,” Marcus interrupted flatly. “You had your chance. Multiple chances, actually. And what did you do with them? You mocked me in front of everyone. Accused me of being a cheater. Tried to expose me and Ives to cause drama.” He paused. “Why exactly should I care what happens to you now?”

The hope in Elize’s eyes died instantly, replaced by pure terror. “No! Marcus, please! I was just-I didn’t mean- ”

“You meant every word,” Marcus corrected. “You were angry and hurt and you wanted to hurt me back. Fair enough. But actions have consequences. And the consequence of trying to turn everyone against me is that I stop caring whether Atlas gets his revenge.”

The room fell into shocked silence.

Atlas, bleeding and humiliated just moments before, suddenly saw an opportunity. If Marcus was willing to abandon Elize…

“Mr. Steel,” Atlas said carefully, trying to keep the eagerness from his voice. “Perhaps we’ve been approaching this wrong. We’re both men of the world. We both understand that sometimes women cause… complications. If you’re no longer interested in protecting Miss Yarrow, perhaps we could come to an arrangement.”

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“What kind of arrangement?” Marcus asked, his tone unreadable.

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