CHAPTER 4: The Rules Of Marriage

I wasn't expecting to see Matteo again so soon

The black SUV pulled into our driveway just after noon, and my father didn't even bother asking if I wanted to go. He simply looked at me and said, "Get in the car."

No explanation.

No choice.

Just another order.

I should've been used to it by now, but every command still felt like another chain wrapped around my wrists.

I grabbed my bag and walked out without another word. The driver opened the back door for me, and I slid inside.

Matteo was already there.

He didn't look at me.

Instead, his attention stayed fixed on the passing streets outside the tinted window. His posture was relaxed, one arm resting against the door, his expression as unreadable as ever.

The silence between us stretched for several minutes.

It wasn't awkward.

It was... strange.

We were two people who were supposed to spend the rest of our lives together, yet we barely knew each other.

Finally, I broke the silence.

"So, do you always send a car instead of asking people if they're available?"

His eyes shifted to me for the briefest moment.

"I assumed your father had already made the decision."

I let out a quiet laugh.

"That's one thing we agree on."

Neither of us spoke again for the rest of the drive.

The De Luca estate looked even more intimidating in broad daylight.

The iron gates slid open without a sound, revealing perfectly trimmed gardens, towering fountains, and a mansion that looked more like a private palace than a family home.

Guards stood at nearly every entrance.

Some nodded respectfully at Matteo as we passed.

Others barely acknowledged my existence.

I couldn't tell whether they were protecting the house...

or guarding the people inside it.

Matteo led me through the grand entrance and down a long hallway until we reached a pair of dark wooden doors.

He pushed them open.

"This is my office."

The room was surprisingly simple.

Dark shelves lined the walls, filled with books instead of expensive decorations. A large desk sat near the window, and everything was perfectly organized.

There wasn't a single item out of place.

It suited him.

Controlled.

Quiet.

Impossible to read.

He walked to the desk, picked up a thin black folder, and placed it in front of me.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Our marriage rules."

A dry laugh escaped me.

"You've got to be kidding."

"I'm not."

Curiosity got the better of me.

I opened the folder.

The first page listed security procedures.

The second covered public appearances.

The third explained that if I planned to leave the estate, his security team had to know where I was.

By the fourth page, my patience had disappeared.

I shut the folder with a sharp snap.

"So this is what marriage means to you?"

I folded my arms across my chest.

"A list of orders?"

His expression didn't change.

"No."

He leaned against the edge of the desk.

"This is what staying alive means in my world."

I frowned.

"You actually expect me to believe that?"

"I expect you to understand it."

"I don't."

"Then ask."

I stared at him.

"Fine."

I took a step closer.

"Why do I need guards every time I leave the house?"

"Because people know who I am."

"And?"

"And people who can't get to me will try to get to the people around me."

His voice remained calm.

Matter-of-fact.

As though he were explaining the weather.

I searched his face for any sign that he was exaggerating.

I found none.

"You really think someone's going to kidnap me?"

"I think someone would use you if it benefited them."

The words sent an uncomfortable chill through me.

I wanted to argue.

To tell him he was overreacting.

But then I remembered the stranger at the engagement dinner.

"If you marry into this family... you'll never leave."

The memory made my stomach tighten.

Matteo noticed the change in my expression.

"What?"

I shook my head.

"Nothing."

"It wasn't nothing."

I looked away.

"I'm not ready to talk about it."

For a long moment, he simply watched me.

To my surprise, he didn't push.

Instead, he picked up the folder again.

"You don't have to like these rules."

"I don't."

"I know."

"But you do have to understand them."

I sighed.

"I've spent my whole life having people tell me what I can and can't do."

His eyes met mine.

"I'm not your father."

The words came so quietly that I almost missed them.

Something about the way he said them made me pause.

There wasn't anger in his voice.

Or pity.

Just certainty.

For the first time since we'd met, I wondered if he wasn't trying to control me at all.

Maybe...

Maybe he was trying to prepare me.

I still didn't know if I could trust him.

But for the first time, I wasn't completely sure I wanted to keep him at a distance either.

I still didn't know if I could trust him.

But for the first time, I wasn't completely sure I wanted to keep him at a distance either.

The silence between us lingered.

It wasn't uncomfortable anymore. It felt like we were both trying to figure each other out without asking the questions we really wanted answered.

Matteo closed the folder and slid it back across the desk.

"Do you have any other questions?"

I hesitated.

There were hundreds.

Who was he before he became the head of the De Luca family?

Did he ever want this life?

Why had he agreed to marry me?

Instead, I asked the safest one.

"Do you even want this marriage?"

His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly.

"No."

The answer was so immediate that it caught me off guard.

"But I accepted it."

"Why?"

He looked out the window overlooking the estate.

"In my family, duty comes before feelings."

I laughed bitterly.

"Looks like our families have something in common."

His eyes returned to mine.

"You and I have more in common than you realize."

I wasn't sure how to respond to that.

He barely knew me.

Or maybe...

He knew enough.

"You think because both our families forced this marriage, we're somehow the same?"

"I think we're both paying the price for decisions we didn't make."

His words settled heavily in my chest.

For the first time since this nightmare began, someone had acknowledged what I'd been feeling.

Not dismissed it.

Not ignored it.

Acknowledged it.

Before I could say anything, there was a sharp knock at the office door.

Three quick knocks.

Urgent.

Matteo's expression changed instantly.

"Come in."

The door opened, and one of the guards from the front gate stepped inside.

He looked tense.

"Boss."

"What is it?"

"We've got a situation."

Matteo straightened immediately.

"What happened?"

The guard glanced at me before looking back at Matteo.

"It's regarding Miss Romano."

My heartbeat stuttered.

"What about me?" I asked.

Neither of them answered.

Matteo's voice became colder.

"Speak."

"We intercepted someone outside the east gate."

The room fell silent.

"He was carrying a camera."

A camera?

"He'd taken dozens of photographs."

The guard swallowed.

"Most of them were of Miss Romano."

Every muscle in my body went rigid.

"What?"

The guard reached into his jacket and placed a thick brown envelope on the desk.

Matteo opened it.

His expression darkened with every photograph he pulled out.

I stepped closer before he could stop me.

The first picture showed me leaving my university.

The second showed me walking into a café with a friend two weeks ago.

The third...

I stopped breathing.

It was taken outside my bedroom window.

At night.

Someone had been watching me.

For weeks.

Maybe longer.

My hands began to shake.

"Who took these?"

"We don't know yet," the guard answered.

"But the man refused to talk."

Matteo looked at the final photograph.

His jaw clenched.

"What else?"

The guard hesitated.

"He had this in his pocket."

He handed Matteo a folded piece of paper.

Matteo opened it.

His eyes narrowed.

"What does it say?" I whispered.

He didn't answer.

"Matteo."

Still nothing.

Frustration bubbled inside me.

"What does it say?"

Without a word, he handed me the note.

My fingers trembled as I unfolded it.

There were only six words written in black ink.

She's already marked. You're too late.

The paper slipped from my hand and fluttered to the floor.

A cold wave of fear washed over me.

Marked?

For what?

I looked up at Matteo.

For the first time since I'd met him, the calm expression he'd worn like armor was gone.

He turned to the guard.

"Lock down the estate."

"Yes, Boss."

"No one leaves."

The guard nodded and hurried from the office.

Within seconds, alarms began echoing faintly through the mansion.

Doors slammed somewhere in the distance.

Men shouted orders outside.

The peaceful estate transformed into controlled chaos.

I stared at Matteo.

"What is happening?"

He picked up his phone and spoke into it without taking his eyes off me.

"Double the security around the house."

A pause.

"No exceptions."

He ended the call.

My pulse hammered in my ears.

"Matteo..."

He took one slow step toward me.

His voice was calm again.

Too calm.

"The rules I gave you..."

He paused.

"They're no longer optional."

I swallowed hard.

"Why?"

His gaze locked onto mine.

"Because whoever sent those photographs..."

Another alarm sounded outside.

"...isn't watching you anymore."

My heart stopped.

"They're coming for you."