CHAPTER 17: Bind Or Break

 Emery’s POV

I didn’t slam the door as I stepped out of the hotel suite.

Oh, how I wish I did because I wanted to.

I wanted to leave a scar loud enough for everyone on the floor to hear.

But somewhere between the bathroom wall and Killian’s broken expression, my anger had turned to sorrow. The silence that followed me into the hallway felt more heavy than any scream could have been.

My heels echoed down the corridor like gunfire.

I had no idea where I was going. All I knew was that I couldn’t stay.

Not in a room where love felt like a battlefield.

Not in his arms, not where his ownership is coated as safety.

When I reached the elevator, I pressed the button, my hands trembling. It didn’t matter that my suitcase was still in the room. I didn't care. I just needed space. Clarity. Air that didn’t carry his scent.

But then—

“Emery.”

His voice was low and wounded, and it came from behind me.

I stopped. Frozen.

He didn’t sound angry.

He sounded broken.

But still, I didn’t turn around. “You don’t have the right to pursue me. Not this time.”

The door chimed open.

I stepped inside.

But his hand stopped the elevator door before it could close. Just like that, he was there—shoulders tensed, eyes dark and raw and… frightened?

“Please,” he whispered. “Don’t leave. Not tonight.”

I looked away, my jaw trembling. “You can’t beg for me to stay not while you are breaking me”

His breath hitched.

“I’m trying to keep you safe,” he replied.

“I don’t want your safety,” I retorted. “I need your truth. I need you to stop hiding behind business, control, and deceit.”

Killian remained, he didn't move. His body blocked the door—not with force, but with fear. “They sent me a picture. Of you. Leaving.”

I blinked in confusion. “What?”

He brought out his phone and showed it to me. There I was—just a few minutes ago—captured in a blurry image outside the suite door.

The caption below the photo sent chills down my spine:

You can’t protect what you don’t control.

My heart skipped a beat. “What in the hell is this?”

Was this how it was going to be now? The cruelty of his world crushed me. I don't want to be like that anymore. A weapon. The weak link. A pawn. Their plan B 

“Julian. Or someone close to him. Maybe Tobias. Maybe someone worse.” His voice was tight with anger. “They’re circling, Emery. You were never just a woman to them. They see you as a weapon. A weapon to tear me down.”

I felt my breath leave my lungs.

"They won’t stop," he said. "Unless I give them a reason to."

I shook my head in disbelief. "What reason?"

His jaw clenched tightly. "If you stay, I can make you untouchable. But if you walk away right now... I can’t protect you. They will come for you next."

A heavy silence hung between us like a sharp blade.

He wasn’t making a request.

He was stating a warning.

"You are saying I have no choice," I whispered.

His gaze dimmed. "I’m saying your safety is worth more than my very soul."

My heart ached. I wanted to scream. To weep. To rip apart his perfect lies and tell him that I wasn’t afraid.

But I was.

Not of them.

But of him.

Because at that moment, he wasn’t Killian Wolfe—the cold billionaire, the untouchable machine.

He was the boy hidden behind the steel mask. And for the first time, I saw the shadows he never lets out. 

He had always been guarded. Too scared to open too much. Too scared to close too tight. Balanced

But that day was different.

"I will stay tonight," I said softly, stepping back out of the elevator.

He didn’t smile.

He just nodded once.

As if he understood it wasn’t a victory.

It was a countdown.

I brushed past him and returned to the suite, back into the cage. My legs felt as heavy as stone.

As he shut the door behind us, he whispered, more to himself than to me, "I will put this to an end. Even if I have to become the monster they believe I am."

That’s when I realized.

I hadn’t escaped.

I had willingly stepped into the flames.

And now… there was no way to escape without burning everything.

I couldn’t find sleep.

Not even with the hotel room enveloped in a peaceful golden silence and the door had been locked from within.

Killian had gone to the suite's private lounge a few hours ago, claiming he had calls to make— no doubt he was putting out fires I couldn’t understand, reducing the dangers I wouldn't see coming. Yet, even in his absence, the atmosphere felt haunted by his presence. His scent lingered on the sheets. His voice rang in my thoughts like a lullaby twisted into a weapon.

I sat on the edge of the bed wearing one of his shirts, I pulled my knees closer to my chest, staring out at the skyline. The city sparkled as if nothing had happened, as if my world wasn’t wearing away thread by thread.

You can’t protect what you don’t control.

Those words from the photo played in my head over and over again. Was this the new reality of my life? Been watched. Been tracked. Been used. Protected by force, not of my own choice.

I thought I had left that behind with Tobias. But here I was once again—trapped, cornered, but this time… the prison was extravagant, and my captor adorned my heart like a royal diadem.

The door clicked open behind me.

I didn’t turn around. I knew who it was. Killian. I had so much in live his space that I could identify him just by his footsteps

His footsteps were soft—deliberate. The predator had become careful

“You should sleep,” Killian said softly, his voice roughen from exhaustion.

I tightened my grip around my knees. “You threatened me, Killian. No matter how beautifully you tried to disguise it, that’s exactly what it was.”

"I spoke the truth to you."

I turned around, meeting his gaze from across the room. His suit jacket was gone, sleeves rolled up, tie loosened. He looked… shattered. Yet, he maintained a calm demeanor, as if nothing could disturb him except maybe me.

"That I’m in danger if I walk away?" I snapped. "That you are the only thing standing between me and whoever is trying to harm me?"

His jaw tightened. "I didn’t mean to scare you."

"But you did."

He looked down at the floor, then back at me. "Because I am scared for you. I know and have seen what people like Julian and Tobias can do. They don’t go for the jugular first. They go for the heart."

"And I’m just your heart now?" I asked

A brief flash of pain crossed his features. "You are more than that. You are the only thing that makes me feel human."

The impact of his words knocked the breath from my lungs. I didn't want to believe him because I don't want to feel too comfortable and forget that I had given too much and might no longer have anything to give anymore. I don't deserve this but I should. I don't want this but I should

"I never wanted this," I whispered. "I didn’t want to fall for someone like you."

He stepped closer. "Then stop falling. Just stay."

"Stay and do what? Pretend this is love while I live in constant fear?"

His voice lowered, eyes burning. "I would rather lose everything than lose you."

I rose to my feet. "Then stop treating me like I’m something to possess."

For a long moment, silence hung heavily between us.

Then—softly, brokenly—he murmured, "I don’t know how."

I gazed at him, and all I saw was only a boy raised behind steel walls, who was taught that love was a weakness and control was a means of survival. And in his twisted way, this was love. Chaotic. Harsh. Unyielding.

"Then learn," I replied, my voice trembling. "Or I will walk away, Killian. And next time, I won’t stop at the elevator." 

I had to learn to always choose myself. I had to stand on my ground. I wouldn't bend for him. Not again

His breath hitched, but he nodded. Just once.

I walked past him, slightly brushing against his shoulder as I moved.

And for the first time since our paths had crossed, he didn’t stop me.

Didn’t seize me.

Didn’t confine me.

He let me go.

Just for the night.

But I felt the promise in the air like a storm brewing:

This battle between us wasn’t finished. It was merely the beginning.

I found myself standing at the suite's door, my hand wrapped around the cool metal handle.

Just one twist. That was all that was needed.

One step outside, and I could reclaim everything I had fought to rebuild—the remnants of my life no longer controlled by a man with fire running through his veins and shadows lurking in his gaze. The version of myself that existed before Killian Wolfe.

But there was something that rooted me in place.

His words, I should be.

His threat, without a doubt.

But it was more than just that.

It was the way he had said my name, as if it were both a plea and a sentence. It was that look in his eyes—not one of control, but of despair. Like if I left, my departure would carry the last piece of him with me.

"You think I don't know what this is doing to you?" he had said, his voice rough like shattered gravel. "I hate what I’m becoming to keep you safe. But I would set the world ablaze twice and more before I let them harm you."

And that was the catch, wasn’t it?

He wasn’t just trying to own me. He was trying to keep me safe.

But he didn’t understand how to love without causing ruin. He didn’t know how to hold something delicately without crushing it.

And I wasn’t sure I could survive being held that tightly for much longer.

I let go of the handle, my hand trembling as I stepped back into the suite. The air felt heavy, as if it had been poised to explode.

He was still there—sitting on the edge of the couch now, leaning forward with his hands clasped, head lowered. He didn’t even look up my way when he heard my footsteps.

"You win," I murmured softly. "I’m not going anywhere. At least not tonight." 

He lifted his head slowly. His gaze met mine, and I could feel it all—the guilt. The rage. The desperate, dangerous love he was clueless about. He did know how to express his love without crushing without becoming dangerous correctly.

"I never aimed to win," he murmured. "I wished for you to stay with me"

I took a step towards, then I took another step. Until I stood right in front of him, my arms wrapped around myself like a protective shield.

"If I choose to stay," I said, "it will be on my terms. I refuse to be just another puppet on a string."

"I understand."

"Then prove it. No more hidden truths. No more deceit."

His eyes flickered, and something cold and dark passed through them.

"There are things you don't understand yet," he replied.

“Then make me understand.”

He nodded. Slowly. Reluctantly. But still the promise was there.

A delicate ceasefire. A line drawn in the sand.

But even as he extended his hand and I allowed him to take it, I was acutely aware of one truth.

This was not the end.

This was the calm before the storm 

And whatever that would come next—it would either tear us apart…

Or bind us in ways we could never undo. 

Bind. Or. Break?