Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Today’s the day.

Katherine had finally made up her mind to steal the document from Massimo’s room, the key to her freedom. After everything, she was done. Done with the mansion. Done with the games. Done with him.

But now… she stood frozen before the man who had haunted her every waking thought.

Massimo lounged on his massive bed like a king on a throne, exuding quiet, dangerous power. The same way he had two nights ago in the living room, when he had stopped her cold with nothing more than his voice, only to let her go when a call came in. She’d thought she was in the clear.

Until Ma’am Rachael approached her earlier with a message.

“He’s calling you.”

And that’s how she found herself here in his room like a criminal awaiting judgment, her legs aching from twenty minutes of stillness, while he sat in silence typing away at his laptop. Occasionally, his gaze would flick to her, dark and unreadable, then back to the keys. No words. Just tension.

Katherine’s mind raced. Maybe this is it. Maybe he’s finally ready to give me the divorce papers. If that were the case, she wouldn’t need to go through with Uncle Ryan’s plan anymore. She could walk out of this mansion today and never look back.

Massimo’s voice finally cut through the silence. “I didn’t call you here to talk about a divorce… though I imagine that’s what you were hoping.”

Katherine gasped softly. How did he know exactly what she was thinking?

A slow, amused smirk tugged at Massimo’s lips as he shut his laptop with a soft click.

“I called you here,” he said, voice turning to velvet laced with steel, “to give me a massage. That’s all.”

Katherine’s breath caught in her throat.

“But… why?” she asked, blinking in disbelief. “You have a wife now. And a daughter. I’m no longer needed here. Please, Massimo… just let me go.”

Her plea hung in the air. But Massimo didn’t speak.

He just looked at her. Long and hard.

Something in his expression flickered, anger, frustration, something else. Something deeper he didn’t dare name. He didn’t understand it himself. All he knew was that every time she opened her mouth, every time she looked away from him like she didn’t care anymore, something inside him burned. Yet, when she does, his heart fumes with anger.

And yet, he couldn’t let her go.

Without a word, he rose from the bed.

Katherine instinctively stepped back.

He stepped forward.

She backed into the wall with nowhere else to go. Her legs trembled slightly as he moved closer, filling the space between them with unbearable tension.

Massimo reached out and took a strand of her hair between his fingers, lifting it gently. He brought it to his nose and inhaled, slowly.

This was the closest he'd been to her since waking from the coma.

Katherine’s breath hitched as her heart pounded in her chest.

This man was her husband. Her enemy. Her undoing.

But right now, standing this close to him, she couldn’t decide which terrified her more…The hatred he once showed her and was still showing her, or the fire burning in his eyes now.

Why the hell does her hair smell so good?

Massimo inhaled again, the soft strands still between his fingers, as if trying to figure it out. The scent was infuriatingly addictive, faintly sweet, warm, and maddeningly familiar.

Katherine’s fists curled at her sides, her entire body taut. His scent surrounded her, dark, woody, masculine. But instead of seducing her senses, it churned her stomach. The pregnancy hormones again, she thought, swallowing back the sudden wave of nausea threatening to rise.

“You don’t get to tell me to let you go,” Massimo growled out, his voice low and possessive. “Not when you’re still deep in debt to me. Your entire family is. I own you, Katherine. You’re mine… until I decide otherwise.”

Katherine trembled, not just from fear but from the force behind his words, from the way he looked at her like she was something he owned, something no one else could ever touch.

Massimo’s hand moved to her jaw, his thumb brushing along her cheekbone with a touch that was surprisingly gentle, contrasting the storm in his eyes. He stared into her, devouring every flinch, every tremble.

God, he loved that look in her eyes.

Fear, defiance… him.

And then, without warning, he leaned in.

Katherine’s breath caught in her throat. What’s he trying doing?

Just before his lips could meet hers, his phone rang, shattering the tension in an instant.

Massimo pulled away with a hiss, yanking the device from his pocket. “Fuck!” he snapped. “I’ll be there right away.”

He ended the call without another word. The air in the room shifted into something dark and violent.

“Fucking Dalons. They won’t accept defeat, will they?” he muttered with a humorless chuckle, already storming toward the closet.

Katherine remained pressed against the wall, barely breathing, as he emerged moments later, fully dressed in black, radiating danger.

Before leaving, he turned sharply to her. “Don’t leave this room until I get back. Understood?”

She nodded quickly.

And then, he was gone.

Only when the door clicked shut did she finally exhale, as if she’d been underwater the entire time.

For a moment, she stood in silence, letting the adrenaline ease its grip on her. Then her eyes narrowed.

This was her chance.

She locked the door behind him and dashed toward the bedroom shelves. One by one, she tore them open, rifling through papers, files, hidden compartments. Uncle Ryan had said the document had been moved back here. If it was as valuable as they believed, it had to be well-hidden.

Seven drawers later, she was empty-handed.

Katherine stood in the middle of the room, breathing hard, eyes darting around.

Think, Katherine. Where would he hide something he didn’t want anyone else to see?

Time was ticking, and the devil she was married to could return any second.

“Where could he have kept it?” Katherine muttered under her breath, scanning the room again with frantic eyes.

Then she saw it.

A shelf that didn’t match the others, not quite. It blended seamlessly with the wall, cleverly designed to be invisible unless you were really looking.

She moved toward it, fingers brushing its surface. Up close, it was clearer now. A hidden panel. Her pulse quickened.

But when she tried to open it, a small screen blinked to life, and written boldly on it was ‘Password Required’.

“Fuck!” Katherine hissed, slamming her palm softly against it. “He didn’t say anything about a damn password.”

Her mind raced. Think. Think!

She started with the obvious, which was Massimo’s birthday. Nothing.

James’s birthdate. Still nothing.

His company name. Madam Elizabeth’s real name. The mansion’s coordinates.

Access Denied. Access Denied. Access Denied.

Frustration built in her chest. Her fingers hovered over the keypad, nearly trembling with the urge to scream. She was so close.

Then… a thought whispered through her mind.

Thelma.

Almost without thinking, she typed in Thelma’s birthdate.

And there was a click, a low mechanical hum.

The panel slid open.

Katherine gasped softly. Inside was the file, its distinctive blue cover exactly as Uncle Ryan had described. The proof. The weapon. The key.

Relief surged through her as she reached for it, fingertips brushing the edge.

But before she could grasp it, a voice cut through the air.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

She froze.