We get it Salve, he's your man.
SALVEThe room was quiet, too quiet for a night meant to be a celebration. The applause, the champagne, the carefully rehearsed smiles—it was all over now. Behind the locked door of my suite, the world no longer saw the don with the perfect bride at his side. It was just me. And the weight of what I had done.I sat on the edge of the bed, loosening my cuffs, stripping away the trappings of the husband I had pretended to be. The ring gleamed dully in the lamplight, mocking me with its permanence. Lia’s ring, her vows, her silent resentment—all of it bound to me now. But she wasn’t the reason I had agreed to this.The marriage wasn’t for her.It wasn’t even for me. It was for us. For him.The door clicked open. I didn’t have to look up to know who it was. Dimitri never knocked. He leaned lazily against the frame, his shirt half undone, his smirk still clinging to his lips from the chaos of the night. “Brooding already?” he teased.I let out a low breath. “You never tire of mocking me.”“
LIA“He’s family.”The words cut deeper than any blade. Dimitri lounged at the foot of my bed like a cat who had cornered his prey, his shirt half-open, his grin sharp enough to draw blood. Beside him stood the man I thought had saved me—the man who gave me hope, only to drug me and drag me back.Dimitri’s smirk widened as he draped an arm across the stranger’s shoulders. “Quan,” he said lazily. “My cousin. Though I’m sure you’ve already met from your little stunt.” His eyes gleamed with cruel delight. “I only suggested you might try running, kotyonok. I didn’t know you had it in you.”The air left my lungs. My body shook with rage and humiliation. I wanted to scream, but my throat locked.Quan’s face remained unreadable. He gave me the smallest of nods—acknowledgment without warmth, without apology. Like I wasn’t even worth his time. Then he left the room without a word, as though my humiliation was finished business.Dimitri chuckled, low and venom-sweet. “Lesson learned, little rab
LIAThe house was too quiet at night.The walls felt alive, humming with secrets I wasn’t meant to know. I sat on the bed that wasn’t mine, silk sheets cold against my skin. The chandelier above me cast golden light, as if mocking me. I didn’t belong here. I never had.The diamond ring on my finger caught the light and burned. No matter how I turned my hand, the stone seemed to follow me, glaring like an eye. A shackle dressed as a jewel. Half a billion dollars. That number had repeated in my head since the auction. Over and over, like a curse. That’s what they paid. That’s what I was worth. To them, not as a person—but as a body and a womb.I pressed my hands to my ears, trying to drown the memory out. But it came anyway. The gavel slamming down. The men in suits shouting, laughing. My stepmother’s voice, bright and greedy. “Virgin, untouched, perfect.” The way she smiled as if she were proud.I had been standing there under the lights, trembling, naked in their eyes even if I wore a
LIAThe dining hall felt like a throne room. A long table of polished oak gleamed under the chandelier’s light, silver platters steaming with food I couldn’t pronounce. Crystal glasses caught the glow like they were mocking me. Everything was elegant, beautiful, perfect. Except me.I sat stiff at one end of the table, the diamond ring burning on my finger, my fork untouched. Across the table sat Salve, Beside him lounged Dimitri, his jacket abandoned, his shirt unbuttoned just enough to tempt scandal. He poured himself wine like a king who owned the vineyard, smirk dancing at the corner of his lips.I had never felt smaller.The silence pressed in until Dimitri shattered it with a laugh.“You look like a nun at a feast, kotyonok,” he drawled, twirling his glass. “Surrounded by temptation, but too scared to take a bite.”My jaw clenched. “I’m not hungry.”His smirk sharpened. “Ah. Sulking again.”Salve didn’t look up from his plate. “Eat.”It wasn’t a request.I forced a bite into my m
LIAThe garden was beautiful.Roses lined the stone path, scarlet and white, their petals glistening with dew. The air smelled of jasmine. Beyond the hedges, I could hear the faint hum of the city. All the things that were out there, just beyond these walls.But the walls were high.The gates were locked.And I was a bird in a gilded cage.I sat on the iron bench beneath a weeping willow, my hands tight in my lap. The ring of chains still clung to my mind, even if my wrists were bare now. They didn’t need iron to bind me anymore. They had something worse—fear.“Brooding already, kotyonok?”Dimitri’s voice slid over me like silk laced with venom. I didn’t look up. He always carried a storm into the space around him—heat, restlessness, danger.He stepped onto the gravel path, dressed in black slacks and a half-open shirt, sunlight glinting on the gold chain at his throat. His smile was sharp, wicked, as he leaned against the edge of the bench.I clenched my hands harder. “What do you want?”
LIAWhen I opened my eyes, I didn’t see my stepmother’s shabby apartment, or the narrow cot I used to sleep on. I saw black silk sheets, glowing faintly under sunlight bleeding through tall windows. For one disoriented heartbeat, I thought I was dreaming.Then memory slammed into me—the auction, the cheers, half a billion dollars.Two dons bidding until they refused to surrender.Salve’s cold silence. Dimitri’s feral grin.Their voices claiming me in unison: She belongs to us both.My stomach clenched, nausea rolling through me.I didn’t move.My body was rigid, my lungs shallow, as if any shift might trigger the monsters who caged me here. Salve lay on my right. Even in sleep, he was composed, his body aligned neatly, his hands resting over his chest.His face gave nothing away, sharp and unreadable, but the rise and fall of his chest was steady, disciplined. I wondered if he even allowed himself to dream.Dimitri, on my left, was the opposite. He sprawled shamelessly across the sheets, on