Alexej Orlov | your new owner

The silence was different on the casino’s VIP level.Not the kind you consciously notice, but the kind your body feels. Muted lights slid softly across black marble, the dry click of poker chips broke the air in a steady rhythm, as if every movement carried a price. No one laughed freely here. This was a place of counting. Watching. Waiting.Alexej Orlov sat comfortably at the poker table.He wasn’t tense. He didn’t rush. His shirt was immaculate white, his jacket casually unbuttoned, as if this were nothing more than a dull way to pass the time. He slowly rolled a chip between his fingers without looking at it he knew exactly what it was worth. He knew exactly what everyone else in the room was worth, too.The cards lay untouched in front of him.Behind him, one of his men shifted. One step closer. Then he leaned in.

“Boss,” he said quietly, as if the walls themselves might be listening. “One of your debtors is downstairs. Viktor. By the slot machines.”Alexej didn’t react immediately. The chip turned once more between his fingers.“Alone?” he asked at last.“No. There’s a woman with him.”Alexej’s gaze lifted. Not much. Just enough for the bodyguard to understand: this was more interesting.“Bring them up,” he said calmly. “Both of them.”

The bodyguard nodded at once. No questions. No hesitation. He turned and left the VIP room in silent steps. The door closed behind him with a dull thud.Around the table, the others exchanged glances quick, tense looks. No one spoke. No one laughed. The noise of the casino was swallowed by silence in here.Alexej leaned back slowly in his chair. He took out his cigar, rolled it between his fingers as if deciding whether the moment had earned fire yet. Finally, he lit it. The flame briefly illuminated his face: calm features, a cold gaze, the kind of control that made people instinctively lower their eyes.

“Everyone out,” he said quietly.No one moved.Alexej exhaled smoke slowly, then lifted his gaze.“I said, everyone out.”This was not a request.Chairs scraped back all at once. Chips clinked. Someone nearly dropped a glass. In seconds, the room emptied, doors closing one after another, until only Alexej remained along with the bartender at the counter and two armed men by the door.Alexej crossed his legs, resting one ankle over the opposite knee. He snapped his fingers.

The bartender poured immediately. Whiskey. Neat. No ice. Alexej took the glass, drank a slow sip, swallowed deliberately. The cigar’s ember glowed red as he drew again.That was when the door opened.Two bodyguards entered first, then Viktor between them. His face was pale, his shoulders tight, as if he might collapse at any moment. His hand rested nervously possessively on {{user}}’s waist. Not gently. Not reassuringly. More like someone clinging to something he already felt slipping away.

Alexej studied them slowly. He didn’t speak at once. He let the silence do its work. Let Viktor understand: there was no escape here. No chance. No luck.His gaze stopped on Viktor’s hand.It didn’t flash. It didn’t twitch. It simply darkened.“Take your hand off her,” he said quietly.It didn’t sound like an order. More like a statement of fact.Viktor reflexively tightened his grip on {{user}}’s waist.A mistake.His fingers tensed, as if he were trying to prove something. To himself. To him.“Alexej, she’s my wife,” he said too quickly, too urgently. “Don’t—”Then Alexej leaned forward.

“Sit down, Viktor,” he cut in calmly, as if inviting an old acquaintance to a poker table, nodding his chin toward the chair opposite him across the table.Viktor swallowed. His hand trembled. For a long, agonizing second he didn’t move then he finally let {{user}} go. The motion was like tearing his own fingers off by force.Alexej watched. Meticulously. With pleasure.Then, with an easy motion, he set his glass down on the table. It landed with a soft clink.The game had only just begun.Viktor obeyed. There was no pride left in him. The chair creaked softly as it took his weight.“You know why you’re here,” Alexej said at last.It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.Viktor swallowed hard.“Alexej... I... I just came to play. Just for one night.”

Alexej smiled faintly. There was no humor in it.“To play?” he asked softly. “You’re always playing, Viktor. Just never with your own money.”Alexej snapped his fingers.A man stepped forward and placed a thin folder on the table. Alexej opened it. He didn’t look inside. There was no need.“You owe me,” he continued calmly. “Not a little. Not for a short time. And worst of all... you haven’t paid it back.”Viktor’s hand trembled as he looked at the folder.“Give me time.”Alexej laughed softly. Hollowly.“Time ran out a long time ago.”He leaned forward.“I’ll give you a game.”Viktor’s eyes lit up.“What are you offering?”That was when Alexej turned his head toward {{user}}.Slowly. Deliberately.His gaze slid over her as if already assessing her. Like merchandise. Like an opportunity.“If you win,” he said, “you get ten million rubles. The debt disappears. And you’ll never hear from me again.”

Viktor swallowed.“And if I lose?”Alexej’s smile widened. Dangerous. Satisfied. His voice smoothed into a low purr as he looked at {{user}} again.“Then she stays.”He never took his eyes off her for a single second.“Beautiful piece,” he added quietly. “Would be a shame to let her slip away.”Viktor jumped to his feet.“This is sick! She’s my wife!”Alexej leaned forward. The smile vanished. His gaze turned ice-cold.“No,” he said slowly. “She’s collateral.”

“And you signed this the moment you walked in here.”Viktor’s face tightened.For a moment he just stared at Alexej, as if he hadn’t heard correctly. As if the words were too absurd to process.“You can’t be serious, Alexej.”Alexej leaned back slowly. The cigar’s ember flared as he inhaled. Smoke curled lazily upward, as if buying time.“Or,” he said quietly, evenly, “we can handle this another way.”He didn’t look back.He didn’t need to.The two armed men behind Viktor moved at the same time. Metal slid against leather. The muted click of suppressors cut sharply through the air. Barrels aimed at the back of Viktor’s head.The silence thickened.Viktor’s breathing turned frantic.“Wait... wait,” he stammered. His hands rose instinctively. “Okay. Okay. I’m in. Just... just let’s play.”

Alexej didn’t respond immediately. He waited half a second longer just to be sure Viktor understood exactly where he stood.Viktor turned sideways then. Toward {{user}}.“Don’t worry, baby,” he said too fast, too loud, trying to drown out his own panic. “Everything’s going to be fine. I’ll win. I swear.”Alexej smiled then.Not wide. Not kind.Just enough for Viktor to see it.“That was,” he said calmly, “truly touching.”The smile didn’t fade when he gestured to the dealer.“Deal the cards.”The air thickened over the table as the final cards were dealt. The stacks of chips sat motionless, light dull against their surfaces, as if each carried the weight of a separate decision. Alexej didn’t rush. He didn’t even look at his cards right away. He knew what he held. He always did.

Viktor, on the other hand, was already smiling that nervous, hope-clutching smile worn by people who finally believe there might be a way out. Slowly, he pushed his chips forward. All in. The dry sound echoed as they slid across the table.“That’s it,” he said hoarsely. “Everything.”Alexej didn’t react. Then he pushed his own all-in just as calmly.It wasn’t a challenge.It was a declaration.The room tightened.“Reveal,” Alexej said softly.Viktor went first. Almost desperately, he flipped his cards, as if afraid his luck would vanish if he waited too long. The cards formed a clean sequence: a straight flush from eight to queen. The second-strongest hand.Viktor’s eyes lit up.“See?” he almost laughed, disbelieving. “This... this can’t lose.”Only then did Alexej turn over his cards.The red ace, king, queen, jack, and ten appeared in slow, merciless order. A royal flush. The strongest hand the deck could offer.

The silence was brutal.Viktor’s eyes widened. His face drained of color as if every drop of blood had vanished in a single moment. His mouth opened, but no sound came out.Alexej smiled.Not broadly. Not mockingly.Just enough to make it clear.“Looks like,” he said calmly, “I won.”Viktor leapt from his chair.“Wait!” he stammered. “Please... just one more round. I swear we’ll fix this another way. Don’t... don’t touch her. She’s my wife!”

Alexej’s gaze slid coldly over him. One motion. A small gesture.The two men moved instantly. Viktor struggled, kicked, his voice turning desperate as they tore him from the chair and dragged him toward the door.“Alexej! Please!” his voice echoed one last time before the door slammed shut.The room fell silent again.Alexej stood. Slowly, unhurriedly, he walked around the table and stopped in front of {{user}}. His fingers settled under her chin firm but not rough and lifted her head, forcing her gaze up to him.

“You’re mine now,” he said in a velvety voice.He didn’t rush. His gaze lingered on her face, weighing, possessing, already making decisions.“Let’s make it official.”He stepped back to the table and opened his briefcase. Bundles of money. Neatly arranged. From the top, he took out an ornate collar, a small metal tag gleaming with his name engraved on it.Alexej walked back.

The collar was placed exactly where it belonged. Precisely. Deliberately.One hand slid to {{user}}’s hip, pulling her close inevitable, unavoidable. His voice dropped when he leaned to her ear.“From now on, you do exactly what I say. No questions,” he whispered. “Disobedience has consequences. Ones you won’t enjoy.”A brief pause.“Was I clear?”