The Vane shipyards were loud and smelled like salt and diesel. As Cilian’s car pulled up, the guards stood straight, and their faces went pale with pure terror.

Ren stepped out of the car and felt the eyes of these rough men looking at him, trying to guess his identity. Then they saw the black collar, which Cilian made him wear after his bath, and knew he was the slave from the rumors. The last Pierce.

’Seriously, can he not make me wear the damn collar?’

It was as if Cilian had a collection of these things in different colors, making him seem more like the psychopath he was.

"How is it, Ren?" Cilian asked, emerging behind him. "We’re at the docks, like you wanted."

It wasnt like Ren wanted to come to the Docks specifically. He just tagged along wherever Cilian was going.

The men saw the way Cilian kept a hand on Ren’s back, his fingers constantly tapping a playful rhythm against Ren’s spine. But they were a bit conflicted. Ren was a slave, but it looked like their Boss liked him quite a bit, so how were they going to treat him?

Cilian walked through the rows of containers. He was polite to the executives waiting for him, but it was a scary kind of polite. He didn’t yell. He just pointed out mistakes in their books that they couldn’t explain, his voice remaining light and cheerful even as he ruined their lives.

"Mr. Aris," Cilian said to a man who was shaking. "This paper says the crate was empty. But the machine says it weighed four tons. Where did the four tons go?"

"I... I don’t know, sir," the man whispered.

"I think you do," Cilian said, smiling as if he had just told a joke.

Ren watched from the side. He remembered how his father used to do this. His father was loud and used his fists. Cilian was different. He was faster, and he saw everything without ever losing his cool.

I guess he didn’t win because he was cruel, Ren thought as he watched Cilian’s process. He won because he was smarter. And he had caught them off guard as well. If they knew he was coming, he wouldn’t have been able to wipe them off so easily.

They walked up onto a metal walkway. Cilian looked down at a crate with a small, round logo on it.

"Interesting," Cilian said, tilting his head.

Ren looked at the logo. He recognized it as belonging to a broker who worked for the Mordecai family. It seemed they already had a clue about what was going on. The Mordecai family were stealing Cilian’s supplies.

Hr looked at Cilian. How would he handle this? He can’t possibly go to war with the Mordecai family for something like this, right?

"Ren," Cilian suddenly called, turning to him with a smile. "Can you tell what’s going on?"

Ren went silent for a while. To think Cilian would ask him. He didn’t know if he was doing this to try to mock him or if he wanted him to make a fool of himself, but he wouldn’t give Cilian the satisfaction of either.

"They’re using your docks to move their own stuff," Ren told him.

Cilian looked at him, genuinely impressed. "You see the patterns so clearly, Ren. You really are more than just a pretty face."

Cilian turned to his guard, his voice losing none of its airy quality.

"Well, I guess the inspection’s done now. We’ve figured out our culprit," he said, and Ren followed him.

"What will you do now?" he asked. He was genuinely curious if he would actually start a war.

"What else do we do? We’ll freeze the accounts." He said and then announced to the others. "You have 12 hours. Find the broker and bring him to my house." But then he checked his golden deluxe watch and said, "Nevermind 12 hours." he dropped his hand, his smile frightening. "Do it now, before I get bored."

"Yes, Boss!" They responded and scurried away to start digging. Nothing good would come from Cilian getting bored.

"Ren, we’re done," Cilian said. He started to turn toward the stairs, his hand resting casually on Ren’s shoulder as if they were out for a stroll. "Should we go out for lunch from here?" he asked, his expression a mask of expectancy and curiosity. He was curious how Ren would react to his idea of a lunch date.

But Ren did not even put meaning to his words and simply nodded.

"Ah, sure. I’m already getting hungry." Because of the disappointment of having to have the collar on again, he didn’t eat a lot at breakfast. Thinking about his collar was such a good way to lose his appetite.

His response was both disappointing and relieving to Cilian. At least Ren did not look at him with disgust and reject his offer.

Ren followed him. He was watching Cilian’s movements. He was trying to find a weakness in that perfect composure, wondering, does he never fold? But then he recalled the previous night. Cilian’s composure had definitely faded for a while. He had been a mess. So, he wasnt exactly invulnerable. The problem was, he was only vulnerable during that, and he would very much like to avoid such an act in the future... if he can help it.

But at least he didn’t put it in.

Ren suddenly stopped walking, shaking his head to get all that unnecessary thought out of his head.

Cilian stopped and turned to him, wondering why he stopped.

"What’s wrong, Ren?" He asked, but Ren shook his head.

"It’s nothing." He began walking again, but Cilian did not walk, simply staring at Ren from behind and thinking about how cute he was being.

But then suddenly, he saw a flash of light in the high rafters of the building next to them. It was a reflection off a glass lens. A lens on high ground only meant one thing. A sniper. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Ren—" Cilian reached out, and the shot came right after.

Ren was late to react, but he expected Cilian to push him into the bullet and act as a shield to take the hit, being the cruel monster he was.

Instead, Cilian lunged at him. He didn’t run for cover. He threw his whole body in front of Ren, pinning him against the metal railing since the rifle hadn’t been pointed at him... it was pointed at Ren.

The bullet hit Cilian’s shoulder, and a grunt followed the pain in his shoulder. Ren felt the impact, even though the bullet hadn’t reached him. Cilian made a low, sharp sound in his throat, but he didn’t scream. His blood splashed onto Ren’s face, and Ren stood there... frozen. What... Just happened?