Chapter 16

Reina’s POV

My eyes flew open as I sprang up, trying to remember yesterday’s events. The details.

Rai had asked me to sleep in here, in his room.

My eyes slowly moved to the other side of the bed. It was empty.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I honestly didn’t know how I was going to face him. I remembered when I asked him if he ever thought about my feelings and if he brought all the people he owned into his room.

I bit my lips. I didn’t know what came over me. I just felt the need to understand if he brought others here, made them sleep on his bed, made them stay close to him the way he made me.

I suddenly felt warmth between my thighs.

I was wet.

What. The. Hell?

My hands flew to my mouth.

Did he touch me?

He wouldn’t have taken advantage of me. He wasn’t that kind of person. But still… he said he owned me. Could he have…?

No. I didn’t feel sore. I hadn’t had sex for a long time now, not since I broke up with my ex a while back.

I should have felt sore. But I didn’t feel sore. I felt good instead.

Would asking him…no.

What would I even say?

I pushed the thought away quickly and climbed out of bed. My legs felt weak, not in pain, just strange, like my body remembered something my mind didn’t.

I looked around his room properly in the morning light. It was large, cold, and neat. Everything had its place. Dark walls, dark furniture, clean lines. No family pictures. No warmth. No sign that someone truly lived here.

Just like him.

I walked slowly to the bathroom and stared at myself in the mirror. My cheeks looked flushed. My hair was messy. My lips looked swollen, but maybe it was from sleep.

I touched them lightly.

Why did I feel embarrassed when I was alone?

I quickly washed my face and brushed my hair with my fingers. I still wore his shirt from last night. It fell to my thighs and smelled like him. Something clean mixed with something darker I couldn’t explain.

I hated that I noticed.

I hated that I kept noticing things about him at all.

I stepped out of the bathroom and looked around for my clothes. They were folded neatly on a chair.

Folded.

I frowned. I definitely didn’t leave them like that.

My heart gave a small jump.

Did he do that too?

I changed quickly, pushing away another wave of heat that rose in me for no reason. This place was messing with my head. He was messing with my head.

I opened the bedroom door carefully and stepped into the hallway. It was quiet. Too quiet.

I didn’t know if I was allowed to leave. I didn’t know if I was allowed to breathe in this house without permission.

Still, I walked.

The guards standing outside didn’t stop me. They only looked once, then looked away.

That almost scared me more.

I made my way downstairs and toward the kitchen. The smell of food reached me before I entered. Corinne was already there, stirring something in a pot.

The moment she saw me, her eyes widened.

“Reina,” she said, rushing over. “You’re okay.”

I blinked at her and nodded slowly.

She looked relieved in a way I didn’t understand.

I reached for the paper and pen in my pocket and wrote quickly.

Why wouldn’t I be okay?

She read it, then looked away. “Nothing. Just… never mind.”

That answered nothing.

I wrote again.

Did he say anything this morning?

Her lips pressed together. “Boss left early. He had business.”

I didn’t know why that disappointed me for half a second.

Disappointed?

I almost got angry at myself.

Corinne handed me tea and pointed to a chair. “Sit. Drink this first.”

I sat and held the warm cup between my hands. My body was tired, but not the kind that came from fear. It was another kind of tiredness. Heavy and soft.

My cheeks warmed again.

Corinne studied me for a moment. “Did you sleep well?”

I nearly choked on the tea.

I nodded too quickly.

She raised one brow but said nothing.

I looked away and sipped again.

My mind kept replaying small things from last night. The way he watched me. The way he ordered me around like I was nothing. The way I still obeyed because I was scared.

And underneath all that… something else I didn’t want to name.

I hated how my body reacted to him.

I hated how one look from him could make my heart race.

That wasn’t desire. It was fear. It had to be fear.

I wrote again.

Can I go back to my room tonight?

Corinne read it and sighed. “That depends on Boss.”

Of course it did.

Everything depended on him here.

I clenched the pen tightly. I wanted control over something. Anything.

I wrote once more.

Have you seen Bella?

Corinne’s face softened. “No, child. But I’ll ask quietly.”

My chest tightened. Quietly. Everything here had to be done quietly.

I nodded and looked down at the table.

Then footsteps sounded outside the kitchen. Heavy, steady, confident.

My body reacted before my mind did. My fingers tightened around the cup. My breathing changed.

Corinne straightened immediately.

I didn’t need to look to know who it was.

Rai walked in like the room belonged to him because it did. Fresh clothes, dark eyes, calm face. Like he hadn’t turned my whole night upside down just by existing in it.

His gaze landed on me first. Then slowly moved over me. Then back to my face.

My pulse jumped.

He said nothing for a few seconds.

Then he looked at Corinne. “Out.” She left instantly.

Now it was just us.

I stared at the table, refusing to meet his eyes. He walked closer. I could hear every step. He stopped right beside me.

“Did you sleep well, Petalo?” he asked, voice low.

I gripped the cup harder. I hated that one sentence made heat crawl up my neck.

I reached for my paper with shaky fingers and wrote.

Yes.

He took the paper, read it, then smirked.

“Liar.”