Chapter 358: Chapter 358: Adopted by the tiger

“I…” Rowan began, then cleared his throat, eyes flicking anywhere but the bed. “Apologies. I can come back.”

Dax’s voice went mild. “You’re already here.”

Chris, from under Tania’s smug weight, added, “Rowan. If you say ’urgent’ while I’m being crushed, I will haunt you.”

Rowan’s jaw tightened. “It is urgent.”

Killian closed his eyes for one second, like he was already tired of existing in a palace where tigers owned beds and men named Adonis refused to stay dead.

Dax shifted, the humor draining out of him in a clean line. “You have something on Adonis.”

Rowan nodded once.

“Yes.” Rowan said, and that alone made it worse. “It’s a paper trail that would help understand that the man is either a genius or mad.”

Chris didn’t move under Tania, but his voice came out flat. “Talk.”

Rowan took a breath, then delivered it like a report meant to stand up in court.

“A few months ago, an underground surgeon was found dead in Draxil. Officially it was filed as suicide. The story was simple: five patients died, the authorities came down hard, he was sentenced, and he ’couldn’t handle it.’”

Dax’s eyes narrowed. “Underground surgeon doing what?”

Rowan didn’t hesitate. “Scent gland removal. It’s pretty popular in Draxil’s underground.”

Dax’s expression turned flat with offense. “I should annex them.”

“No,” Chris said immediately from under Tania’s weight. “No war.”

Dax looked at him like Chris had just suggested something unreasonable, like peace.

“It’s not war,” Dax replied, calm. “It’s a correction.”

“It’s war,” Chris shot back. “A correction with artillery.”

Rowan’s mouth twitched, then he caught himself and went back to professional. “Your Majesty, if we could keep the foreign policy discussion for later…”

Dax didn’t move his gaze off Chris. “Fine. No annexation.”

Chris narrowed his eyes, suspicious. “That was too easy.”

Dax’s mouth curved. “For now.”

Chris made a sound of disgust. “You’re impossible.”

“And you’re crowned,” Dax countered, unbothered. “You can veto me.”

Rowan cleared his throat and pushed forward before they could start negotiating borders in a bedroom.

“The point is,” Rowan said, steady, “if Adonis did this, he chose a place where the procedure is common, the records are dirty, and the people involved are used to being paid to forget faces.”

Chris went quiet again, humor gone. “So he hid inside the mess.”

Rowan nodded once. “Exactly.”

Dax moved and rose from the bed, stretching his impossibly long frame like he was trying to bleed tension out of his muscles.

“That means our men, anyone, will have a harder time finding him,” he said. His gaze cut to Rowan. “Did the doctor really kill himself?”

Rowan straightened. “No.”

“There were defensive wounds,” Rowan continued. “Signs of a struggle. The local magistrate didn’t care. In his words, it was just another criminal dying from his own stupidity.”

Chris’s fingers tightened in Tania’s fur. The tiger purred, oblivious.

Rowan’s voice stayed level. “Our people reviewed the file. It doesn’t read like suicide. It reads like someone made sure the story stayed convenient.”

Dax’s eyes narrowed. “So Adonis.”

“That’s what the team believes,” Rowan confirmed. “After the operation, after recovery was considered stable, when the surgeon thought he’d been paid and was safe.”

He paused, then added the part that mattered most.

“The timing matches the intake record. The surgeon dies shortly after the window where Adonis would’ve been cleared to travel.”

Dax’s jaw tightened. “So he erased the only man who could confirm his face.”

Rowan nodded once. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Chris exhaled slowly. “And he did it as a ’normal man.’”

Dax’s gaze flicked to him, then back to Rowan. “Normal doesn’t mean harmless.”

Rowan’s answer was immediate. “No. It just means harder to track.”

Dax’s shoulders rolled once, decision settling. “Then we track the people around him.” His gaze stayed on Rowan. “Did the team check the illegal market for plastic surgery?”

Chris shifted, trying to sit up.

Tania made an offended sound, an actual scoff, then climbed off him like she’d been dismissed from duty. She padded across the carpet with smug purpose and went straight for Rowan.

Rowan froze.

The tiger began circling him, rubbing against his legs like a house cat that had decided to adopt a new servant.

Rowan’s voice stayed professional, but his eyes flicked down once, betrayed. “Yes. We did.”

Tania pressed harder into his shin. Rowan held very still, as if movement would trigger an international incident.

“We assumed that if he’s desperate enough to erase himself,” Rowan continued carefully, “then he’s desperate enough to change his face too.”

Dax’s eyes narrowed. “Results.”

Rowan cleared his throat, trying not to look like he was being flirted with by a predator. “There are a few clinics that match the timeline. None with clean records. Most take cash, favors, or protection.”

Chris glanced between Rowan and Tania, tone dry. “She likes you.”

Rowan didn’t look down. “This is not mutual.”

Tania purred.

Dax’s mouth twitched. “She respects competence.”

Chris snorted. “Or she’s claiming his ankles.”

Rowan’s jaw tightened. “Your Grace…”

Chris lifted a hand. “I’m joking. Mostly.”

Rowan continued, gritting through it. “We’re pulling a list of surgeons and brokers who could do a reconstruction without leaving a trail. If Adonis went that route, someone arranged it. And someone got paid.”

Dax’s voice stayed calm. “I want names.”

“You’ll have them,” Rowan said. “The Sahan list will be ready within the hour. Those are the ones we allow to operate – so we know exactly who’s trying to run circles around the government and who’s just hiding from it.” He hesitated, then added, “The international list will take longer.”

Chris stared at him for a beat. “You have an approved list of illegal surgeons.”

Rowan didn’t blink. “We have an awareness list. There’s a difference.”

Dax’s mouth twitched. “Barely.”

Chris looked at Dax, slow disbelief turning into reluctant admiration. “Every day I learn how terrifying you really are.”

Dax shrugged like it was nothing. “You married me.”

Chris sighed. “I didn’t realize it came with a black market directory.”

“It comes with a kingdom,” Dax corrected, unbothered. “The directory is a side effect.”

Rowan finally shifted his weight, and Tania immediately bumped into his leg again, purring like she was congratulating him on surviving.

Rowan’s jaw tightened. “Your Majesty, with respect, can we focus before I get adopted by the tiger.”

Chris deadpanned, “Too late.”

Dax’s eyes stayed on Rowan. “Send the Sahan list to my secure line. Then pull financial movements tied to any of them in the last six months – large cash deposits, sudden debt clearance, anything that looks like hush money.”

Rowan nodded once. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Chris watched Dax for a second longer, then muttered, mostly to himself, “I really did marry a problem.”

Dax leaned slightly toward him, voice low and amused. “You married a solution.”

Chris rolled his eyes. “Don’t get arrogant.”

Dax’s smile widened. “It’s too late.”

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