SIGNED IN BLOOD

        ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ALICIA ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

I woke up in pieces.

MY body felt deeply sore, and hollowed out. The bed shifted beneath me as I stirred, silk sheets felt cool against my bare skin.

I reached out.

The warmth on the other side of the bed had already faded.

He was gone. Again.

I opened my eyes slowly. I saw it on the nightstand.

A stack of cash. Neat, clean and crisp.

Unspoken. Unavoidable.

My stomach twisted so violently I nearly gagged.

Payment. Again.

She had done it for the money.

But now, the truth felt like acid in my throat.

I had sold myself.

And worse—he didn’t know why.

He didn’t know about the hospital. About the fight to keep mother breathing. About the choices that weren’t choices at all.

And he could never know.

Because we aren’t anything.

We were just bodies in the dark.

But why does it hurt?

I sat up, clutching the sheets around me.

My clothes were gone.

Of course.

My head dropped forward. A bitter laugh escaped my lips.

I turned to see a box.

Black and sleek. Insanely expensive.

ZENSI.

I almost didn’t want to open it.

But my fingers moved on their own.

Inside: a pristine white top, impossibly soft, embroidered with the Zensi logo. Tailored coffee-brown pants. Everything my size. Everything perfect.

Picked by... him.

I couldn’t wear this.

I wouldn’t take more.

I had already given enough.

I wrapped myself in the bedsheet, gritting my teeth, and stepped out of the room—

Straight into the darkness.

The sitting room was dim and quiet, too quiet. My bare feet made no sound against the polished floor.

I was alone.

Or so I thought.

"You didn’t wear the clothes I left for you."

I jumped out of my skin.

The voice cut through the silence like a blade.

My fingers clutched the sheets tighter.

I hadn’t seen him. Hadn’t even felt him.

But he had been watching.

Theodore stepped from the shadows, glass in hand, smirk curling at the edge of his lips.

Calm. Commanding. Unshakable.

“Why not?” he asked smoothly.

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

He moved forward—slow, deliberate, towering.

6’9”. Dominant. Inescapable.

"Are you nervous?"

I lifted my chin. "I’m not."

“Liar,” he said, his voice like silk over steel.

He took a sip of wine, eyes never leaving mine.

Then came the words that shattered my breath—

“I’m beginning to think you don’t want to leave.”

I stepped back.

My grip on the sheet turned to iron as Theodore approached, every step drowning me in tension.

He didn’t rush. Predators never do.

My breath caught—

But he passed me.

Sat down on a black leathered chair.

With a flick of his wrist, he gestured to the glass table.

A single document sat waiting.

Thick. Heavy.

CONTRACT AGREEMENT

My pulse spiked.

I didn’t trust him.

I couldn’t trust anything anymore.

But I stepped forward anyway.

My sheet shifted, slipping slightly from my hands.

I picked up the document.

Thirty days.

Ten million dollars.

My fingers trembled as I flipped through the rules.

Each line was worse than the last.

Share his bed every single night.

Wear what he chooses.

Let him touch me, wherever, whenever.

I will bear whatever name he chooses for me.

Feed him whenever he wants and with whatever he wants

Obey him without questioning.

Call him “Sir”, “Master” or whatever he asks me to.

Don’t fall in love. And don’t say the words.

That last one—

Cruel.

He wanted my soul, my body, my time—but not my heart.

Ten million.

The numbers blurred behind tears I refused to let fall.

I looked up.

"Why would I sign this?"

Theodore leaned back, completely at ease.

"That," he said with chilling softness, "is your choice."

Liar.

This wasn’t a choice.

But I never had a choice. My mother always came first.

I clenched the paper in my fist. “At least give me a pen.”

His eyes glinted.

“I don’t think we need a pen.”

His hand shot out, gripping my wrist.

I gasped as he yanked me forward—

Onto his lap.

A breathless shock jolted through me as my body collided with his. Heat flared.

His fingers wrapped around my hand.

He bit a sharp sting into up my thumb. I cried out.

Blood welled up.

Before I could react, he pressed my thumb to the paper, smearing it across the signature line.

I stared at the blood.

My submission. My cage.

Theodore leaned in, lips brushing my ear.

His voice was like a devil’s promise.

"You just sold your soul to me, Alicia. And I plan to enjoy every second of owning you."