로그인~~ Hazel's POV ~~I woke up slowly, still caught between sleep and consciousness.My head was resting on something warm. Something solid. I opened my eyes and realized it was Kai's chest.His arm was wrapped around me, holding me against him. We had fallen asleep like this. I didn't even remember when it happened. One moment we were talking, the next moment his warmth was all around me and sleep had taken over.I stayed very still, afraid if I moved he would wake up.He looked different when he was asleep. The sharp lines of his face were softer. The coldness that usually lived in his eyes was gone. He looked peaceful. Almost vulnerable. Not the ruthless mafia boss that made people tremble. Just a man. Safe. Real.Something shifted inside me looking at him like this. Something I had been trying not to feel for weeks now.Was I starting to like him?The thought terrified me and thrilled me in equal measure.I was still staring at him when his eyes opened.For a moment we just looked at
~~ Kai's POV ~~I heard her crying before I reached her room.The sound cut through the quiet of the house and I was moving before I fully processed what I was hearing. I took the stairs two at a time and pushed her door open.She was on the bed, curled on her side, her whole body shaking with it.I crossed the room in seconds."Hazel." I was already checking her. My hands moved over her arms, her shoulders, looking for injuries. Looking for blood. Looking for any sign of what had happened. "What happened? Did he hurt you? Tell me what he did."She didn’t respond.“I told you not to go see that man alone. What did he do to you? I’ll kill that bastard.”"I'm fine," she said through the tears. "There's nothing wrong with me.""But you're crying," I said. I was still checking her, my hands moving over her carefully. "Why are you crying?"She shook her head and didn't answer for a moment. Just sat there with tears streaming down her face like she couldn't stop them even if she wanted to.
I blinked. The restaurant came back into focus-the soft clinking of glasses, the low murmur of voices, the faint smell of wine and roasted garlic hanging in the air. The table between us felt suddenly too small, too fragile to hold everything that was happening. Damon’s hand was still on my arm. His fingers pressed into my skin, not hard enough to hurt, but firm enough to remind me that he still thought he could control me. I looked at him, and for the first time, I saw it all clearly. The cruelty. The indifference. The way he had chipped away at me piece by piece until I was willing to beg for scraps of affection. Until I had learned to make myself small enough to fit into his world. “I remember,” I said quietly. My voice didn’t shake. “I remember exactly how stupid I was.” His grip tightened slightly. His jaw flexed. “You were desperate. That’s all.” “Yes,” I said. “I was. But I’m not anymore.” I pulled my arm free from his grasp and stood up. My chair scraped against the floo
~~ Two Weeks Later ~~I knocked on his study door.My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might break through my chest. I had rehearsed this a hundred times in my head and every time it sounded insane, but I was desperate and desperation makes you do things you never thought you would do."Come in," Damon said.I opened the door and stepped inside. He was at his desk, working on something. He didn't look up immediately."I need to talk to you," I said quietly.He looked up then. His expression was neutral, waiting.I closed the door behind me and stood there with my hands shaking slightly at my sides."I want to be your submissive," I said.The room went completely still.Damon stared at me for a long moment, then he set down his pen slowly and leaned back in his chair."Are you okay?" he asked. Like he genuinely thought something was wrong with me. "Is everything alright? Did you hit your head or something?""No," I said. "I'm serious. I want to do this."He looked at me for anot
My hands still sting from the slap but l didn’t regret it. “Are you insane? What is wrong with you.”His hands came to grip my arms tightly again. I was trying to pull away but his grip was firm and he was smiling at me with that cruel smile. Then instead of getting angry, he laughed, a low, dark laugh that made my skin crawl."Have you forgotten?" he said, pulling me closer. "You used to beg me to hold you like this. You begged me to kiss you. You begged me to touch you." His eyes were cold. "You even begged to be my submissive."The words landed like a slap, because he wasn’t wrong. I used to beg him for this, used to beg him to touch me.It all started in our second year of marriage. Damon had been avoiding me for three weeks for something I didn’t know I had done.I knew the pattern by now. He would come home late, go directly to his study, and lock the door. I would hear him leave early in the morning before I woke up. The bed between us stayed cold.I had tried everything, bre
~~Hazel’s POV~~I walked into the restaurant at exactly 4:25 PM. The place smelled faintly of garlic and roasted tomatoes, the kind of scent that clung to the air and made the space feel heavier than it was. The low hum of conversations filled the room, glasses clinking, forks scraping against plates.A waiter passed by with a tray of steaming pasta, and for a moment the scent made my stomach twist.Damon was already there, sitting at a corner table. His shoulders were tense, his posture stiff, like he had been waiting too long. When his eyes landed on me, something shifted in his face. Surprise first. Then something else—something that looked like hunger.I had worn the burgundy dress Kai had picked out for me during that shopping spree. My hair was down, my makeup sharp. I looked nothing like the woman who had signed divorce papers two months ago. I knew it. And so did he.I walked to the table and sat down across from him without greeting.“Hazel.” He smiled. The kind of smile I had







