Ch 10

Alessandro’s POV

She was pacing again.

Back and forth. Slow and measured. Like every step was calculated to punish the silence between us.

I watched her from the security feed on the far-left monitor. There is no sound. Just grayscale images of Rue in that black silk slip, bare feet whispering over the rug, arms crossed tightly over her chest. Her face stayed turned from the camera, but I could feel it, the fury in her jaw, the tension in her shoulders, and the way her silence felt more dangerous than screaming.

She hadn’t said a word since Celeste walked in and since shein asked my why I had brought her into my house, I don't need to give her any explanation, I only need to get her where I need her to be. Obedient.

I had expected her to make a big deal of what had happened, with the way Celest had put herself into her world. But she didn't.

She didn’t scream, she didn't even beg. She just looked at me, her eyes asking me for an explanation I was not willing to give.

She looked at me like she could see straight through the curated control I wore like armor and dug her nails into the truth beneath every armor.

I lit a cigarette, the familiar sting of smoke curling down my throat. I hadn’t smoked in months. Not since Istanbul. But tonight, I couldn’t stop my hands from twitching, my thoughts from circling around and all over the place, My father was right, the girl always finds a way to get under my skin. Always find a way to make me loose control.

Celeste was just a tool, a mask. She is a necessary inconvenience for what the world expected from a man like me. Rue wasn’t meant to see her, not yet.

But plans shift, and it didn't mean a thing to me, unexpected things are meant to happen.

And Rue’s reaction has been so quiet, cutting got under my skin in a way that made everything else feel too loud. And I hate the fact that I can see the hatred she has for me in her eyes. She had told Celeste she couldn't wait to get rid of me.

These things don't usually bother me at all! But it's different when it comes to her.

Anything is better than having her look at me like I am a predator, I don't want to be a predator to her. Not if I can't help it.

She had pleaded with me last night that she had never been with a man.

I suddenly want her to want me to be the first. I won't hurry her, without long she will beg me to have her.

I turned down the volume on the other monitors. The Russians. , the port shipment, the damn Zurich wire transfer. None of it mattered in this moment as I watched Rue press her forehead to the window, arms wrapped around herself.

Like she was trying not to break, like she was already gone.

A soft knock.

“Enter,” I said, not taking my eyes off the screen.

Luca stepped in, hands behind his back, voice neutral as ever. “Her measurements have been sent to the designers. Delivery by noon tomorrow.”

“Good.”

“They will include jewelry, handbags, and heels and she will wear what is chosen.”

“Yes, sir.”

I stubbed the cigarette out, the ash tray already cluttered with the evidence of my unraveling restraint. “No press getting into this and stressing her out.”

Luca gave a single nod. “As instructed.”

“She will be escorted?”

“Two guards and one maid.”

I nodded once and leaned back, finally dragging my eyes off the screen. “Nothing she wears should suggest modesty.”

Luca blinked. “Sir?”

“She’s mine. The world should see that.”

Another nod. “Understood.”

He left without asking what I already knew he was thinking. Why dress a woman like a queen when you plan to parade another one as your fiancée?

Because Rue wasn’t for the world, she was for me, only me.

Later that night, I opened her door without knocking.

She didn’t flinch, didn't even look at me right away as if she just knew who walked in.

She was seated stiffly on the edge of the bed, that same damned slip clinging to her skin like a second thought. Her spine was too straight. Her hands rested on her knees. Composed and controlled.

But her eyes, when she finally lifted them to mine, were anything but. She looked so worried that I was almost compelled to gather her in my arms.

“You’re going out tomorrow,” I said. “Shopping. Fittings. Smile for the right people and say nothing to the wrong ones.”

She didn’t blink. I stepped further in. “This isn’t a request. If you defy me, I will make you regret it.”

She didn't reply to me, as if her eyes and ears were not working.

Her gaze stayed locked with mine, calm, steady, and terrifyingly empty.

I had seen her rage, I had seen her fear. But I hadn’t seen this. Her silence hit harder than any scream, it makes me feel want, it makes me ache.

I almost said her name, but I stopped myself.

I turned, pausing at the doorway. “Try to run,” I said quietly. “You won’t get far.”

I left before I could see the way her expression changed. Or didn’t.

Morning

The knock at my door was too urgent. And it was still too early.

I knew before Luca even spoke. “She’s gone.”

My pulse froze, but I was still not thinking it was possible.

“What?”

“Rue. She’s not in her room. Her bed is untouched, no clothing is missing and the cameras in her wing went black at 12:07 a.m.”

I was already pulling on a shirt. “Check the staff logs.”

“Done. No one registered entering or leaving the east wing.”

“Any vehicles out?”

“All cars accounted for. The garage is locked down.”

I grabbed my phone, heart thudding now, mind slicing through possibilities like a scalpel.

“Then someone helped her,” I said coldly. That must be the only explanation, there is no way she could get to leave the mansion undetected without someone helping her out.

Luca nodded once. “Yes, sir.” confirming my thoughts

I stormed into her bedroom. The bed was as she had left it, smooth, and untouched. The slip dress still hung over the chair. The heels from yesterday were in place.

Like she had just vanished. But I knew better, Rue didn’t just vanish, she escaped.

And the question now wasn’t if I would find her. It was how much damage she could do before I did.

My jaw clenched as I turned to Luca.

“Lock the estate down. No one gets in or out. I want every security line rechecked. Sweep the perimeter. Talk to the staff, all of them. Someone opened a door they shouldn’t have.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And Luca?” I added before he left.

He turned.

“When I find her…” I exhaled slowly, the weight of it all settling behind my eyes. “She’s not walking away again.”