Chapter 6: The Escape

The cold stone walls of the villa’s hidden chamber pressed close around me, suffocating in their silence. Ten heavily armed men guarded every exit, their eyes sharp and unmoving, like wolves waiting for their prey to make a wrong move. My heart pounded violently against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat that filled the empty space, reminding me I was still trapped still a prisoner in Dominic’s ruthless game.

  I pressed my back against the rough wall, closing my eyes for a moment. The dim light flickered overhead, casting long shadows that danced like ghosts around me. Each breath I took tasted stale, thick with desperation. I wasn’t going to be broken not like this. Not while a single spark of hope still burned inside me.

  A soft murmur from the guards outside the door reminded me that time was running out. I couldn’t stay here forever, waiting for Dominic to decide my fate. I had to act. I had to escape.

  When the moment came, it was sudden a shift in the guards’ attention as a new visitor arrived, their focus briefly wavering. I seized it. Moving swiftly and silently, I slipped past the nearest guard, my fingers finding a loose brick in the wall. My heart threatened to burst as I tugged it free, revealing a narrow passageway hidden behind the false wall.

  This was my chance.

  Crawling into the dark tunnel, I felt the cold earth bite at my skin, but I pushed forward, every inch a victory. The muffled voices behind me grew distant, swallowed by the twisting corridors. For the first time in days, I tasted freedom a fragile, trembling hope.

  But freedom in Dominic’s world was a deadly game.

  I reached the tunnel’s end only to find a heavy iron door. My hands trembled as I searched for a way to open it. The faint light spilling from the crack underneath revealed a keypad. I didn’t know the code. Panic clawed at me.

  Behind me, footsteps echoed.

  No. It couldn’t be.

  I spun around, heart crashing. Dominic stood there, his silhouette framed by the harsh light of the chamber. His eyes, dark and stormy, locked onto mine with a predator’s precision.

  “You really thought I wouldn’t find you?” His voice was low, almost amused, but beneath it lay a dangerous edge. “You forget I know this place better than anyone.”

  I swallowed hard, trying to steady my trembling hands. “Let me go, Dominic.”

  He took a slow step forward, closing the distance between us. “Why? To run? To hide? You think this will end well for you?”

  The air between us crackled, thick with tension and unspoken words. I could feel the weight of his presence the magnetic pull that made my skin itch and my breath catch.

  “I’m not running anymore,” I said, voice steady despite the storm inside me. “I’m fighting.”

  A slow, dangerous smile curved his lips. “Good. Because I’m not letting you go.”

  Before I could react, he reached out, grabbing my wrist with iron strength. His touch was fire and ice all at once, scorching and freezing my blood.

  I jerked free, darting toward the door, desperate to slip past him. My fingers flew over the keypad, but the code was beyond me. Panic surged.

  Dominic was there in an instant, blocking my path, his dark eyes flashing with a mixture of anger and something softer something I wasn’t ready to face.

  “You can’t escape me, Celeste. Not now. Not ever.”

  My chest heaved as I searched for a way out. There just beyond his reach a small ventilation grate, barely large enough for me to squeeze through.

  Summoning every ounce of strength, I lunged, sliding beneath his arm and wriggling into the cramped opening. The cold metal scraped against my skin, but it was freedom.

  I crawled, breath ragged, heart hammering, as Dominic’s voice echoed behind me. “You’re making this harder than it has to be.”

  The tunnel twisted and turned, narrowing until I had to stop, wedged between the cold walls. I dared to hope just for a moment that I might get away.

  But Dominic’s footsteps grew louder, relentless.

  The grate ahead led to a ventilation shaft that ran above the villa. If I could reach the roof, maybe, just maybe, I could disappear into the city’s maze.

  I pushed forward, sweat mingling with dirt as my body screamed for rest. The night air outside whispered promises of escape.

  Then, suddenly, a shadow blocked the faint moonlight.

  Dominic.

  His silhouette loomed, blocking the exit like a god of vengeance. “You’re mine, Celeste. Run all you want, but you belong here with me.”

  I met his gaze, fury and fear flaring inside me. “I don’t belong to anyone.”

  His lips curved in a dark smile. “You will.”

  Before I could react, his hand shot out, grabbing my ankle and pulling me back into the shaft. We tumbled into the darkness together, the world spinning wildly around us.

  Pain exploded as we hit the ground. My breath caught in my throat, the cold seeping into my bones.

  Dominic pinned me beneath him, eyes blazing with an intensity that left no room for escape. “You’re reckless.”

  I pushed against his chest, desperate for space. “I’m free.”

  He laughed a low, dangerous sound. “You don’t know what freedom means.”

  The struggle between us was raw, a tempest of desire and defiance, power and surrender.

  And as our bodies tangled in the shadows, I realized this was no longer just about escape.

  It was about control. Possession. And the dark, burning need that neither of us could deny

Dominic’s weight pinned me to the cold ground, his breath hot against my face, his eyes burning with a fierce, wild hunger. My heart thundered in my chest, caught between terror and something dangerously close to longing. I pushed against him with every ounce of strength I had left, but he was unyielding a force of nature that refused to break.

  “You don’t get to run from me,” he growled, voice low and ruthless. “Not now. Not ever.”

  I gritted my teeth, the sting of dirt and bruises forgotten in the fire sparking between us. “I’m not yours,” I hissed. “I’m not anyone’s possession.”

  His gaze darkened, eyes flashing with a shadowed torment. “You will be.”

  I tried to wrench free again, but his grip tightened, like iron bands around my wrists. The walls of the shaft closed in around us, trapping me with him, and the wild pounding of my pulse filled the suffocating silence.

  His face hovered inches from mine, lips brushing my skin in a ghost of a touch that set my nerves ablaze. “You don’t understand what this is yet. This isn’t just about control. It’s about survival mine and yours.”

  I swallowed hard, breath catching. The fire in his eyes was both a warning and a promise a dangerous invitation I couldn’t ignore.

  “Then fight me,” I whispered fiercely. “Prove to me that you’re worth it.”

  A slow, almost cruel smile curved his lips. “I intend to.”

  Without warning, he closed the distance, capturing my mouth in a kiss that was fierce and claiming, a tempest of need and desperation that stole my breath and set my soul on fire. I fought against it, every instinct screaming to resist, but beneath the raging storm, a part of me gave in pulled deeper into the darkness that was Dominic.

  When we finally broke apart, gasping for air, the world felt smaller tighter like there was no space between us anymore. My hands trembled, heart racing with a wild, intoxicating mix of fear and desire.

  “You’re mine,” he whispered again, voice rough with emotion. “No matter how far you run.”

  I looked into those stormy eyes, torn between hatred and a strange, unbearable need. “Maybe,” I said, voice trembling, “but I’m still fighting.”

  Dominic’s expression softened for a heartbeat a flash of something vulnerable hidden beneath the ruthless exterior. Then, with a sharp twist, he pulled me close, his voice a dark vow. “Then fight with me. Or fall alone.”

  The tension between us was electric, a volatile mix of power and surrender that left no room for doubt. I knew the war wasn’t just outside these walls it was inside me, inside him, in every heated glance and whispered word.

  As the night stretched on, the line between captor and captive, enemy and ally, blurred into something dark and undeniable.