Phei looked down at her. "What’s what you thought?"

"Nothing," Soraya said, and before he could question her further, she pulled him down into a deep kiss.

This one was not for Victoria.

Not really.

It began as victory, perhaps, but softened halfway through into something warmer, something that belonged only to her and the man holding her. When she pulled away, she tucked herself against his chest and simply hugged him, breathing him in with quiet happiness. Phei’s hand rested at her back, and for a moment he allowed the silent wars behind him to fade. But he had heard the line beneath her teasing, the one she had aimed at Victoria but meant about him, and he pressed a slow kiss into her hair and murmured, low and only for her:

"You did not have to defend those eyes. But thank you."

He felt her go still against his chest, then hold him a fraction tighter, and understood that the barb at Victoria had cost her less than the truth underneath it.

The shopping continued.

By the time they were done on the second floor, Phei had bought at least two cars sometimes more, for each of his women who accepted them. Victoria accepted hers with rigid dignity and eyes that betrayed far too much.

Nastya refused entirely, her pride still too sharp to allow Phei’s generosity anywhere near her hands.

Sierra wanted only one specific car, because Sierra’s greed, unlike Maddie’s, was very elegant and specialized. Maddie chose two new ones for herself, then turned around and bought Phei one that cost more than what he had bought her combined, because apparently being spoiled by Maddie meant being financially ambushed with affection.

Cassiopeia’s interest settled on a newly improved Aventador in a hundred shades of grey, along with a Cullinan whose quiet bulk pleased her in a way she did not bother explaining.

Nastya’s refusal, in particular, drew a brief silent standoff. Phei looked at her. Nastya looked at the wall slightly to the left of Phei, with the magnificent composure of a woman pretending a man was not currently trying to give her a supercar.

"I have cars," she said.

"You have adequate cars," Phei corrected gently.

"I have enough cars," Nastya said, which everyone present understood to mean if I accept anything from you tonight it means something, and I am not ready for it to mean something, and which Phei, to his credit, did not push, only inclining his head and letting her keep the pride she was clutching like a life raft.

Victoria, who had taken her own car with rigid dignity precisely because refusing was harder, shot Nastya a look that was almost betrayal.

Nastya ignored it with the serenity of a saint and the guilt of a sinner.

Then Phei saw the PcLaren 750S.

Midnight-colored.

Quiet.

Sharp.

The car did not scream like some of the others. It did not need to. The shape itself looked like motion held hostage, a blade of darkness crouched under the lights with lines so clean Phei felt, the moment his fingers touched its body, that it would slice through air whether the world offered night or day.

Jade explained its rebuilt response systems, the heightened power delivery, the adaptive aerodynamic spine, the feather-light body, the improved cornering intelligence, the brutal acceleration hidden beneath its understated elegance.

It was less flashy than the others, yes, but its roar, its profile, its posture, everything about it spoke for itself.

If that was not flashy, Phei no longer knew what the word meant.

He bought it immediately.

Not for himself.

He asked Jade a few quiet questions about how it worked, how it could be maintained, how far it could be tuned, and whether its controls could be simplified without dulling the sharpness.

A present for someone, he told her.

’Hopefully, she would like it.’

Then there was the Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail.

It sat far from the others, alone beneath a different rotation of light, almost isolated like nobility refusing to mingle with the ambitious. Staff politely kept customers from approaching it, and even the air around the car felt more solemn.

According to Jade, this was not merely one of the four Droptails. This was called #0001, the truest one, the best one, the original noble among nobles.

As for the price, Phei preferred not to say.

What he knew was simple. Even at a hundred million, he would have bought it.

And just like the PcLaren, this one was not his either.

Eventually, the second-floor shopping ended with a Rolls-Royce Sweptail added to the list, because at this point restraint had clearly died several cars ago and no one had bothered holding a funeral.

Maddie, of course, immediately demanded to see the third floor.

Jade smiled politely and forbade it.

Maddie gasped as if betrayed by law itself, but Phei saw the glint in her eyes. She was not offended. The little menace knew the rules and had only wanted to tease Jade, to make that serene elegance crack for even half a second.

Too bad for Maddie, Jade was used to her.

As the girls drifted away to try their chosen cars, Jade discreetly led Phei toward the elevator.

"I hope I did not offend your woman by refusing access," she said softly once the doors closed.

Phei shook his head. "You did not. I understand."

Jade glanced at him, unsure whether he truly meant it.

Phei was known for being overprotective, and she respected that, even admired it a little. Still, she chose to believe him. Maddie, at least, had not been hurt. That woman had been fishing for a reaction and failed to catch one, which was probably the only reason she was still smiling somewhere behind them.

When the elevator opened, Jade led Phei into a completely dark room.

Phei could still see.

And because he could, his eyes widened.

Jade stepped beside him, then clapped her elegant hands once.

Lights conquered the darkness.

The shadows retreated.

And there they sat.

Jade pointed toward one of them.

"That one was ordered ten years ago," she said quietly. "Five years were spent on its body and parts alone. It was finally completed after nine years, and it has been sitting here for months, waiting."

She looked at him.

"Phei, this car was ordered to be made on your seventh birthday by your father, mother and the Empress."