[Flashback]
Lola leaned against the headboard, a tablet resting on her lap, fingers dancing over the holographic map of the Ravah Territory. She zoomed in, added routes, annotated blind spots — every detail counted. But after a moment, her hands stilled, her eyes losing focus on the glowing screen.
Atlas, who had been reading beside her, caught the shift in her breathing before he even saw her expression. Slowly, he closed his book, turning not just his head, but his entire body toward her. His arm slipped behind her shoulders in a subtle protective gesture.
"Something bothering you?" he asked softly, though he already suspected the reason.
Lola pressed her lips together before determination flickered in her eyes.
"I need to go," she said.
Atlas blinked once. "Where?"
She tapped the map. "Here. Ravah."
"No."
She sighed. "Baby—"
"No," he repeated, this time with razor-sharp firmness. "I’m not sending you to Ravah, Lola."
"Why?" she pushed, though she already knew. "Why wouldn’t you?"
"Lola." He held her hand, his voice deepening. "You are my wife. I’ll take the risk before you ever go somewhere like that."
Vito sent her to that place as her burial site, but not him. Even when Lola already has experience, he wouldn’t risk it.
She looked at him with stubborn conviction. "Atlas, that’s exactly why I need to go because I know that place. Better than anyone else in the Order. With Haji and me in it, we can take everyone home alive."
"You know it enough to plan. That’s as far as it goes." His tone brooked no argument. "You strategize. They execute."
Lola exhaled in frustration. "You’re underestimating the unpredictability there. Maps change. Plans collapse. Ravah doesn’t care about calculations — it eats people who rely only on them. Our men will die."
"Then they die." He said it without a blink. "The moment they agreed, they already knew they might not come back in one piece."
Maybe his answer carried a very cold logic, but definitely a husband’s instinct.
Her gaze sharpened. "Atlas."
He leaned closer, their foreheads nearly touching. "Lola," he murmured with unwavering finality, "I will not agree."
She narrowed her eyes, heart pounding with irritation and something dangerously close to challenge.
"So you don’t trust my skills?" she pressed.
His answer came fast — too fast. "I trust you more than every single person in my command."
"Then—"
"But my trust in you doesn’t erase my fear." His voice dropped. "My fear of losing you. Please let’s drop it."
Her breath hitched. She hated how easily he could disarm her with sincerity. But tonight, she was not losing this argument.
She placed the tablet aside and moved, turning fully toward him.
"Let’s negotiate."
Atlas shook his head. "My decision is final."
Lola’s brows lifted slowly. "Really?"
He raised a finger. "No. Even if you dance, the answer is the same."
A dangerous glimmer sparked in her eyes.
"Oh?" she purred.
Before he could react, Lola climbed onto his lap, palms flat against his chest. He stiffened, refusing to react. Temptation would not manipulate him or change his mind — never. Or so he thought.
"No," he said again, though his voice wavered ever so slightly.
"Are you sure?" she whispered, leaning in until her breath tickled his lips.
Atlas swallowed like a tiny crack in his iron wall. "Yes."
She smiled. "We’ll see about that."
Her lips brushed his, a teasing stroke that left him breathless far too quickly. She kissed him again — and again — each kiss a bit longer and bolder. Her fingers traced along his shoulders, sliding to the side of his neck, drawing him with irresistible invitation.
Atlas clenched the sheets beside him, trying to remain composed. Trying not to give in.
Lola chuckled softly against his skin, fully aware of what that grip meant.
"Still, no?" she whispered.
Atlas exhaled sharply. "Not even close," he lied.
A light chuckle slipped past her lips as she kissed him harder and felt his resolve shatter.
With a deep groan, Atlas’s hands suddenly framed her waist, guiding her beneath him with one swift, fluid motion. Her back hit the sheets, their faces inches apart, breaths uneven.
"You are unbelievably cruel," he muttered, voice hoarse.
She dragged a finger along his jaw. "Promise me, and I’ll stop."
He stared at her, eyes dark with conflict and desire.
"You want to go that badly?" he asked quietly.
"Yes," she breathed, her voice equally soft and fierce.
His thumb brushed the corner of her mouth. "You won’t drop this...?"
"No," she admitted. "And I won’t do what I just did now ever again."
No more blowjobs for the rest of his life was what she meant.
Atlas sighed, but the fondness in his expression softened his refusal and revealed how close he was to giving in.
He leaned down, forehead pressed against hers. "I’ll have conditions," he murmured.
Her eyes gleamed with triumph. "I’ll take them."
But before she could celebrate, he didn’t give her the time.
His kiss swallowed the smirk off her face, deep and heated, claiming every bit of her challenge and giving his answer through the way his arms wrapped around her possessively.
Their negotiation ended in a way that left no room for doubt:
Atlas may not have wanted to let her go... but he would burn all of Ravah down before he’d lose her there.

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