Tangled In His Web

Lia’s POV

“Lia, meet Selene Blackwell,” Kade said, stepping forward, unfazed, his voice calm like always. Selene? Even her name sounded like silk wrapped around a blade. 

“She’s my ex-fiancée,” he added, then after what felt like an intentional pause. “And my business partner.”

Business partner?

What kind of ex sticks around to still keep a professional reputation with the man who used to screw her? But Selene didn’t spare me another glance, she turned to Kade, arms crossed.

Her posture was flawless as was her face. “You’re slipping, aren’t you? I mean…she doesn’t look like your type at all…” I stepped closer to her, anger surging through me like a wildfire.

“I’m not a toy, Miss Selene. And certainly not his.” I snapped, my voice harsher than I intended. “And I sure as hell am not his type either.”

That made her pause briefly, turning her head slowly, almost as if she couldn’t believe I had spoken. Her eyes finally settled on me…cold, calculating, and dripping with hate.

“You’re right. You’re not his type.” She looked up and down, her lips twitching into a smirk. “Kade usually goes for women who…. turns him on in a heartbeat.”

But I took a step closer, I sure as hell won’t let her say whatever she pleases to me. “And yet he left you.” Her smile immediately faded, just slightly. A crack in her so-called mean demeanor.

She blinked once, taking a slow step in my direction…her heels clicking with deliberate control. “He didn’t leave me, sweetheart. We just grew bored with each other.”

“Or maybe,” I shot back, holding her stare. “He got tired of screwing the same thing over and over again.” That made her laugh, but nothing was as funny about it.

“You’re so cute. But naive.”

I folded my arms across my chest, making sure she was seeing that I wasn’t scared of her, because she damn sure wasn't Kade. “You think you scare me?”

“Oh no, darling. Scaring you would be too easy. I’m just trying to understand how someone like you even ended up in his bed. It’s almost… embracing.”

She leaned in closer, her voice a deadly whisper. “Let me give you some advice, girl to girl. Kade Valen doesn’t ever fall in love with any woman he sleeps with. He consumes, he’ll devour you, play with what’s left… and when he’s bored with you..”

“He’ll leave your heart in a pretty little box and send it back to whatever gutter you crawled out of.” I didn’t flinch at her words, couldn't let her see how much it affected me.

She straightened her posture, the expression on her face calm again, as if she had just remembered who she was…and who I wasn’t. “You believe you’re going to be any different than any of the women he’s fucked?”

“That’s adorable.”

I was finally done with this, I’m going to slap this fucking bitch across the face. “Don’t you dare…” but Kade cut me short before I could finish my words.”

“Enough of your drama ladies. There’s no need…to fight over me.” He spoke, that sick annoying smirk forming on his lips. Her heels turned on the marble floor, and she walked away like she was leaving a game she’d already won.

“You’ll learn soon enough, Lia. There’s only one woman Kade ever feared losing. And it damn sure wasn’t you.” She said, looking over her shoulder just before she reached the door.

“I’ll see you later, Kade.” She hissed. And then she was gone, but the silence she left behind wasn't peaceful at all. It was suffocating, and I hated the fact that despite how much I tried to hide it. Something in her words left a crack in my armor. But then Kade turned to me…and just like that, the room became ten times colder.

“She’s not wrong,” he said flatly.

I looked at him. “Excuse me?” 

He took a step forward. “You want the truth right? Fine.”

“You were never meant to be anything but a temporary problem with benefits. But now…things have changed.” Immediately, he pulled out something from his pocket— a thin black Chain with a pendant.

It was a necklace. Elegant, but something about it terrified me. “Start wearing this from now on.” He said, tossing it at me like it meant nothing. “It has a tracker. GPS, I’ll use it to track your location 24/7.”

I didn’t catch the necklace, I just let it fall to the floor. “Why the hell should I wear that?” He ignored me, as if I had just asked a question of a ghost. 

“From now on you won’t be able to contact your friends. Your phone has been hacked by my team anyway. And that's your little art studio downtown? He smirked. “It’s been shut down.”

“You can’t just…”

“I can.” He spoke, cutting me off. “And I just did.”

“You said I had freedom..”

“No, I said you had privileges. And you’re lucky it’s because of the deal you agreed on.” I stepped back, every word he said telling me that I am now stuck with a possessive monster.

“This is insane. You’re…”

“Cold?” He offered. “Yes. If you were smart enough you should have known that by now.” My throat dried up, every word I wanted to say to him drying up with it.

“But here’s the part you’ve been too blind to see, Lia.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “This isn’t about the contract. Or even the sex.”

I trembled as he leaned closer. “Your brother stole something priceless from me. A digital Ledger. You know what was on it?” I didn’t answer, I couldn't.

“Every goddamn dealing my organization has ever made. That ledger could destroy me if it lands in the wrong hands.”

“Which means that now, you and your fucking not only have pissed me off…but you’ve become a threat to people far worse than me.”

I couldn’t breathe. Not with everything I had just found out now. Why did Noah have to get involved with someone as ruthless as this?

“You’re moving into my penthouse. Immediately.” His voice was sharp, final, and commanding. “You’ll sleep under my roof, eat what I give you, and follow every damn rule I tell you to. Because if I can’t protect you…” 

“They’ll rip you apart…and trust me, I won’t be the one cleaning up the mess.” I let out a bitter laugh, but God knows that deep down I was so afraid. “So I’m your prisoner now?”

He stepped closer, his lips almost meeting mine. “No,” he said, his voice low and lethal. “You’re my collateral.” I blinked, most especially because his eyes were locked onto mine. God. Those eyes.

“What the hell does that even mean…”

“It means little princess, that I own  your life now.”

“If you try to escape from me, I won’t negotiate like I did for your brother's life.”

“I’ll end your life.”