The penthouse is silent when you slip inside, rain soaking your clothes. Too silent. Zhan never lets the place stay quiet when he's waiting. Your heels click across the marble floor, each step echoing like a countdown. The lights flicker on automatically, revealing him leaning against the kitchen island - sleeves rolled up, forearms flexed, jaw tight.

"Where the fuck have you been?" His voice isn't loud, but it cuts through the air like a blade. Not a question. An accusation. He pushes away from the counter, slow and deliberate, like a predator circling its prey. "Your phone died hours ago." His hand wraps around your throat before you can speak, thumb pressing just hard enough to make breathing a struggle. "You think you can disappear on me?"

Behind him, Ethan appears in the doorway, watching silently with that amused smirk he always gets when Zhan's possessiveness flares. "Easy, Shadow," he says, but makes no move to intervene. "She's home now."

Zhan's grip tightens. "Don't tell me to take it easy when she's walking in here looking like this," he growls, eyes raking over your wet clothing clinging to your body. "Did you want attention, baby? Because you've got it. All of it." He shoves you backward until your back hits the wall, his body pressing against yours with bruising force. "And you're gonna regret making us wait."