Chapter 9: The Other Woman

I woke with a jolt.

For a split second, I didn’t remember where I was. Then the cold metal beneath me bit into my back, and everything came rushing back the failed escape, the suffocating tunnel, Dominic’s breath on my skin, and his voice still echoing in my ears.

You're mine, Celeste.

The air was warmer now. Someone must’ve closed the grate above us during the night. Dominic was gone. His coat still lay beside me, but his presence the heavy weight of his attention had vanished.

Good.

I sat up slowly, muscles stiff and sore. My throat burned from thirst, my body aching in places I didn’t want to acknowledge. I moved toward the open tunnel entrance and crawled out carefully.

The hallway outside the hidden shaft was empty, eerily quiet. I expected guards. Instead, there was only silence and the scent of something sweet drifting from deeper inside the villa—perfume, expensive and sickly strong.

Then I heard it. The unmistakable click of heels on marble.

Voices followed. Laughter. Feminine, sharp, dripping with amusement.

I didn’t need to guess who was coming.

I straightened, still wearing Dominic’s coat, trying not to look like a prisoner who’d spent the night in a vent.

And then she stepped into view.

Tall. Perfect. Dangerous.

Her hair was sleek and dark, her mouth painted blood-red, and her eyes landed on me like a knife pressed against my throat.

“Well,” she said, a smile tugging her lips. “So it’s true. He really does keep a pet locked in the walls.”

I didn't answer. I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

She approached with the slow, deadly grace of someone used to being worshipped. Her heels echoed with every step. She stopped just a few feet away, her eyes sweeping over me with disgust and something else fear.

“You must be Celeste,” she said sweetly. “Dominic’s... special obsession.”

I said nothing.

She laughed, soft and mocking. “You’re prettier than I expected. But so fragile. Like something that breaks when you touch it too hard.”

“Then don’t touch me,” I said coldly.

Her smile widened. “Oh, I wouldn’t. I don’t like cleaning up messes I didn’t make.”

She circled me slowly, like a vulture. “You must think you’re important to him. He wouldn’t let anyone near you. Wouldn’t let me visit. Told his men to shoot on sight if anyone got too close.”

I looked her dead in the eyes. “Then what are you doing here?”

Her expression darkened for a heartbeat before she plastered on a grin. “I came to remind him where he belongs.”

I raised a brow. “And that’s with you?”

She laughed again. “Darling, I’ve known Dominic since before he was a monster. Before he found you bleeding in an alley and decided you were worth ruining his life for.”

I froze.

She tilted her head. “Oh, he didn’t tell you that part, did he?”

A storm churned inside me, old memories crashing into each other. My chest tightened.

“I don’t care what you think you know,” I said quietly.

Her face shifted, hardening. “You’re just a phase. An addiction. And like all poisons, you’ll kill him if he doesn’t purge you.”

“I’m not the one playing games with his life,” I snapped.

She stepped closer, suddenly too close. Her voice dipped to a whisper. “If you think this is love, Celeste... you’re dumber than you look.”

Before I could speak, another voice cut through the hallway like a gunshot.

“That’s enough, Luella.”

We both turned.

Dominic stood at the end of the corridor, eyes locked on the woman in red.

His voice was calm, but his stare was ice.

She smiled sweetly. “Just saying hello.”

“I didn’t give you permission to speak to her.”

Luella pouted. “What, she’s not allowed visitors now?”

“No,” he said simply.

Luella’s eyes glittered with something cruel. She brushed past me as if I were nothing but air, then paused and whispered just loud enough for me to hear.

“He’ll never be yours.”

And then she was gone.

I stood there, heart pounding, mind racing.

Dominic didn’t move. Didn’t speak.

Finally, I said, “She’s wrong.”

His eyes met mine. “About what?”

I swallowed the knot rising in my throat. “You already made your choice. Whatever we are... it’s not a phase.”

His face gave nothing away. But in his eyes, something flickered. Regret? Rage? Possession?

He stepped closer.

I didn’t move.

Because Luella might’ve tried to break me with words, but Dominic… he was the one who held the power to shatter me completely.

And I was terrified I’d let him.

The echo of Luella’s heels hadn’t even faded, and already my chest felt like it was caving in.

She was beautiful. Dangerous. The kind of woman who didn't ask for power she walked into a room and took it. The kind of woman who had history with men like Dominic. The kind of woman who belonged here.

Unlike me.

“She’s not a threat to you,” Dominic said suddenly.

I didn’t realize I’d spoken aloud until I turned and found him watching me with that unreadable expression again.

“I never said I was threatened,” I lied.

“You didn’t have to,” he replied.

He stepped closer, slow and silent, like a predator reining in something too volatile to name. I hated how I noticed the way his black shirt clung to his chest, how his sleeves were rolled up, exposing forearms inked with symbols I’d never dared ask about. I hated the fact that part of me burned just from looking at him.

“You brought her here,” I said tightly. “Or at least, you let her in. That means something.”

“I didn’t let her in,” he growled. “She forced her way past my men and nearly got shot. I spared her because she saved my life once. That debt is the only reason she’s still breathing.”

My eyes narrowed. “And that debt gives her the right to threaten me?”

His expression sharpened. “She did what?”

“She told me I’d kill you. That I was just a phase. A poison.”

Something dark twisted in Dominic’s eyes. His fists clenched at his sides.

“I’ll handle her,” he said finally