LOGIN**Nadia**I stood alone in the penthouse bathroom and stared at the small plastic stick in my hand.Two pink lines. Clear. Bright. Positive.My breath caught hard in my chest. The test felt heavy between my fingers. I sat down slowly on the cold tile floor. My back pressed against the bathtub. The room stayed quiet except for the faint hum of the air system. I held the test with both hands and looked at it again. Positive.Twenty minutes passed. Maybe more. I did not move. My legs went numb against the hard floor. My mind raced in circles. A baby. Dominic’s baby. Our baby. The word felt too big. Too real. I had spent three months building a life with him. Working. Loving. Fighting and making up. Now this.I pressed a hand to my stomach. Flat. Warm. No different on the outside. But inside, everything had changed. The nausea from the last week made sense now. The tiredness. The way my body felt off. Not stress. Life.I stood up finally. My knees ached from sitting so long. I rinsed my f
**Nadia**Three months of marriage felt like breathing for the first time.I woke to the smell of coffee and the soft clatter of Dominic in the kitchen. His warmth still clung to my skin. I stretched under the sheets, smiling before I could stop myself. Life had settled into something steady. Good. Mine.I walked into the kitchen barefoot. Dominic stood at the counter in gray sweatpants, hair still tousled from sleep. He looked different these days. Lighter. The tension that used to sit in his face had eased.When he saw me, his expression shifted. That private smile, the one meant only for me.“Morning, wife.”He pulled me in and kissed me slow. His hands settled on my hips like they belonged there. I kissed him back, tasting toothpaste and familiarity and something deeper that had grown between us.We still argued sometimes. Quick sparks over small things. But we never stayed apart. We always found our way back, closer than before.I poured coffee and opened my laptop at the island.
**Nadia**Dominic's hands moved over my skin like I was something sacred.We lay in the middle of the big bed. The sheets felt cool against my back. His body pressed warm and heavy on top of me. The wedding vows still echoed in my head. Cherish. Stay. Trust. Love. Tonight every touch felt like a promise kept.He kissed me slow. Deep. His lips trailed down my neck. My collarbone. The curve of my breast. I arched into him. My fingers slid into his hair. I felt powerful. Confident. The woman who had taught him to kneel now lay under him and knew exactly what she wanted.Dominic reached for the small bowl of ice on the nightstand. The cubes clinked softly. He picked one. His eyes met mine. This time the ice play felt different. Tender. Both of us fully present. No games of control. Just us.He dragged the ice cube across my nipple. Cold bit sharp. I gasped. The contrast with his hot mouth when he followed made me moan. He circled the tight peak. Sucked gently. The melt water ran down my s
**Nadia**The four of us stood in the private living room as the sun dipped low.No guests. No crowd. No flashing cameras. Just Dominic and me, Lisette and Raffael. A simple officiant spoke quiet words. The air felt thick with everything we had survived. My hands shook a little as I faced Dominic. He looked at me like I was the only light in his dark world.I breathed in deep. The scent of his skin mixed with the faint smell of fresh flowers Lisette had placed on the table. This was real. Small. Honest. The most honest thing either of us had ever done.Dominic took my hands. His palms felt warm and steady. His voice came low and rough when he spoke his vows."I promise to cherish you, Nadia. Not control you. Not own you. I will value every touch, every word, every moment you give me. You taught me what it means to feel. I will spend the rest of my life proving I learned the lesson."The words hit me straight in the chest. Raw emotion swelled inside me. Not tears of weakness. Tears of
**Nadia**The words still hung in the air between us.I stood inches from Dominic. My chest rose and fell fast. The fight had left my skin hot. My heart pounded hard against my ribs. He did not say it back right away. Instead he reached for me.His arms came around me tight. He pulled me into his chest. No words. Just the solid press of his body against mine. His skin felt warm through his shirt. His heartbeat thumped steady under my cheek. I breathed him in. Musk and heat and the man who had become my everything.He held me for a long time. Minutes stretched. His hands stroked slow down my back. Up again. The touch grounded me. The frustration from the lockdown still simmered low in my belly. But this hold felt different. Deeper. Like he needed the contact more than air.I wrapped my arms around his waist. My fingers dug into the muscles of his back. The silence wrapped around us. Raw. Real. No rush to fill it. I felt every layer of what we had built. The power I had claimed. The bou
**Nadia**Dominic gave the order that morning. Full lockdown. No leaving the penthouse without armed escort. Every exit covered. Every movement tracked. I stood in the living room and felt the walls press in. My skin crawled with the need to move. To breathe fresh air. To step outside without eyes on me.Dominic watched me from across the room. His face stayed hard. Unapologetic. He crossed his arms and waited for the fight he knew was coming.I paced the floor. My bare feet slapped against the cool tiles. The frustration built fast in my chest. I had fought for my power with him. It felt like chains all over again."I am not a prisoner," I said. My voice came out sharp.Dominic did not flinch. "You are if it keeps you alive."The words landed heavy. I stopped pacing. Heat rushed through me. Not fear. Not tears. Raw anger mixed with the deep ache of being trapped again. I had grown. I had set boundaries that made him kneel. But Garrett's photo through the window had changed everythin
**Nadia** I lay beneath Dominic in the dark bedroom, my body still trembling from the way he moved inside me tonight. This time was different. Slower. Deeper. More present than any night before. His weight pressed me into the mattress, but he held himself with careful control. Every thrust sank
**Lisette** I slid into the passenger seat of the black SUV and slammed the door harder than I needed to. Dominic’s orders had stuck me with Raffael for the entire afternoon on protection detail, and the proximity already felt like a trap. My cousin Nadia was safe inside the penthouse, but I was
I stood in the kitchen with Garrett’s text still burning on my phone screen. The words would not leave me alone. “He’s been watching us for months. Ask him how he found you so fast in Vegas.” My thumb hovered over the message. I had deleted the others, but this one stuck like a knife. It mixed wit
I stepped into the quiet coffee shop with Raffael close behind me. The rich smell of fresh beans hit me first, but it did nothing to calm the knot in my stomach. Dominic had been even more protective since the rumors started, and Raffael’s presence felt like a second shadow I couldn’t shake. I o







