Chapter 5

“Mmmm… Alessandro, s-stop kissing me,” my words were hardly more than gasps at this point, then I let out a long, low groan.

Alessandro’s lips twitched like he was fighting back a smile before he finally spoke. “My rules are simple. You are my wife. You are mine, Yvo. All of you are mine… mine only,” he whispered underneath his aggressive kisses. 

“Damn you for being possessive to someone you cannot have forever,” I fought back, smiling to annoy him. 

“You are mine forever,” he slowly said, pressing those words to me that gave me shivers. 

I swallowed hard, unable to answer back.

I hate that I just accept it. 

He pulled me deeper into a secluded corner where the light barely reached, far enough that the noise of the ballroom faded into a distant, meaningless echo. The darkness wrapped around us, thick and consuming, broken only by the faint glow spilling from somewhere behind him. It was just enough to trace the outline of his figure, the sharp lines of his shoulders, the way he moved closer without hesitation.

The air shifted the moment we stopped.

Cooler. Heavier.

Too quiet.

It felt like the world had narrowed down to this single space, this single moment, where every breath sounded louder, every movement carried weight. I could hear my own heartbeat, uneven, betraying me, and the closer he stood, the more it seemed to echo between us.

He did not let go immediately.

His hand remained firm around me, anchoring, deliberate, as if pulling me there had not been enough and he needed to make sure I stayed.

There was nowhere to step back.

Nowhere to look except at him.

And in that dim, suffocating silence, with his presence pressing in from every direction, it felt less like being hidden and more like being cornered into something I was no longer sure I wanted to escape.

“Pull up your dress and face the wall,” he commanded. 

“What- No!”

But Alessandro unsnapped and unzipped his pants, leaving that sexy trail of dark hair under his navel visible, making me swallow hard. 

Damn him for being too hot and sexy! Unfair!

“Remember our agreement. This is a give and take rule, Yvo. Your family's protection and reputation and my claim to you."

I let out a deep breath. 

He likes the control he has on me. 

I brought my fingers to my dress and slowly pulled it up, not taking my gaze from Alessandro, who was looking at me intimately. 

If this is the game he wanted, I won't let him win. 

“So fucking beautiful,” Alessandro whispered, holding out my hand. “Face the wall-”

“I don’t like that,” I cut him.

“Okay,” he scoffed, a shock in his voice. “You like to see me fucking you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Show me what you got then, Alessandro.”

His face darkened. I don’t want him to overpower me knowing I can’t do anything but to accept him.

“Be ready, my wife.” 

I leaned over, I brushed my lips over him. He pulled back when I grabbed him hard and tried to drag him into a deeper kiss.

“Uh, uh, uh,” Alessandro breathed. “Let me do all the work, my sweet Yvo.”

He started pressing his lips to my jaw, feeling the fast-beating pulse in my neck. He licked the soft skin there, loving the flavor of salt and me. I didn't want him to take control over my body so I pulled back and watched Alessandro’s face as I rolled his hips on me, rubbing our dicks together. 

Alessandro’s lips fell open; his breathing increased.

He chuckled. “Fuck.”

Lust spread a tangled web inside him as my cock began to ache. Alessandro rubbed it over me harder while tasting and kissing. He brought his mouth to mine and moaned as I opened my mouth. Our tongue slid together, and another moan escaped his throat.

“I could kiss you forever,” he said. 

Yeah. I hate to admit it but I would like to kiss this dangerous man forever.

“Now suck my dick.” He pushed me back down. 

The order made my cock jump, and he grinned as he tilted his head to the side.

“Can’t do it?” he asked, challenging. 

He is too big and long!

I don’t know if I can take him all. 

But I have to show him.

“I-I can do it.”

I ran the flat of my tongue up to Alessandro’s length. I made sure to let myself taste his balls as I watched his mouth fall open again, as his eyes dropped into that hooded, aroused state that usually meant Alessandro was about to be taken apart. 

I took his cock all the way down my throat.

“Fuck,” Alessandro cried as he bowed up into my mouth. He lowered his voice, panting out. “Fuck. Fucking so good.”

I groaned around the flesh in my mouth, alternating long, hard pulls with swirling his tongue around Alessandro’s throbbing tip. He started to really lose it, his hips thrusting, his hands buried in my head and pumped into his throat.

I want to pull away because I can feel that he’s coming but he won’t let me. Fluid hit my throat, and it was his turn to shudder. He let me keep sucking until he knew he would be too sensitive and then he pulled me up, grabbing my hardening cock and helping me finish. 

Alessandro moved over me and pressed open his mouth, sharing his semen in a kiss that was so erotic. I was so shocked and I couldn't pull away from him.

He didn’t care about the taste of himself as he kept kissing me. Then he held my head, pulling it back so he could look me in the eyes. 

“I won’t stop reminding you that you are mine, Yvo. Especially right now that I see this side of yours. Very tempting and seductive.”

I gulped, not minding that I swallowed his cum.

“Okay…” I only answered in disbelief.

******

The moment we stepped into the ballroom, I felt it.

The weight of attention.

It pressed against me from every direction, heavy and suffocating, as if every pair of eyes in the room had already decided I did not belong there. The lights were too bright, the space too polished, the people too composed, all of them moving with effortless confidence that only came from power and certainty.

I had neither.

And yet, I stood beside him.

Alessandro’s presence did not need an announcement. The room shifted the moment he entered, conversations lowering, glances turning, subtle movements adjusting around him as if the entire space bent to accommodate his existence.

His hand settled at the small of my back.

Firm.

Unyielding.

The contact was not forceful, but it left no room for interpretation.

I was with him.

And everyone knew it.

After what we did, I can’t help but to be conscious about my face. I still have my makeup on but people are looking at me so curiously!

“Stay close,” he said, his voice low enough that only I could hear.

I turned my head slightly, just enough to meet his gaze. “I am not planning to run in front of an audience.”

“That is not what I am concerned about.” The way he said it made something tighten in my chest.

Before I could respond, someone approached.

A man in a tailored suit, confident, smiling, the kind of person who had spent his entire life navigating rooms like this without ever feeling out of place.

“Montenegro,” he greeted smoothly, extending a hand.

Alessandro accepted it without hesitation, his expression composed, unreadable.

“Good to see you,” the man continued, before his gaze shifted to me.

There was a pause.

Subtle.

But noticeable.

“And this must be your… wife.”

The hesitation did not go unnoticed.

I smiled faintly, stepping slightly forward, deliberately easing out of Alessandro’s hold just enough to test the space between us.

“It is nice to meet you,” I said, keeping my tone calm, controlled. 

Less talk. Less mistakes.

If there’s one thing I am not certain about copying my twin, it is my voice. I don’t have a huge voice like a real man but there’s a distinct difference if that person really knew me and Isabella. 

The man’s eyes lingered a moment longer than necessary.

“You are full of surprises,” he said, directing the comment toward Alessandro, though his attention remained on me.

“I do not recall you announcing this marriage.”

“I do not announce personal matters,” Alessandro replied.

His voice remained steady, but when his hand returned to my back, it was firmer this time, pulling me just slightly closer.

Possessive.

Clear.

The man noticed.

Of course he did.

“Still,” he said with a faint smile, “you have excellent taste.”

I felt Alessandro’s fingers press slightly against me.

A silent warning.

Or a claim.

I tilted my head, allowing a small, polite smile to form, just enough to play along.

“Careful,” I said lightly. “You might offend him.”

The man laughed.

“I doubt that.”

But his gaze flickered briefly toward Alessandro, as if reassessing something.

Alessandro did not smile.

He did not react.

He simply looked at him with quiet stillness that carried more weight than any visible response.

“You should,” Alessandro said.

The room around us seemed to shift slightly.

The man’s smile faltered for just a second before he recovered.

“Of course,” he said. “I meant no disrespect.”

“I am sure you did not.”

The conversation ended there.

Not abruptly.

But completely.

The man excused himself soon after, and the moment he walked away, Alessandro’s hand did not leave my back.

Instead, it slid slightly, more deliberate now, his fingers resting with quiet authority.

“You enjoy provoking people,” he said.

I glanced at him. “I was being polite.”

“You were testing boundaries.”

“And?”

His gaze lowered briefly to my face.

“And you found one.”

I let out a soft breath. “You are overreacting.”

“No,” he said. “I am responding.” The way his fingers tightened slightly made my pulse shift.

“You do not like sharing attention,” I said.

“I do not share what is mine.”

The words landed deeper than I expected.

I raised an eyebrow. I leaned forward to him and slightly let his guard down. But it was swift to the point, I question myself if that was real. “You’re being more possessive after what happened… earlier…” I whispered.

“Stop analyzing me. Again, I don’t want to share what’s mine,” he pressed those words again. 

Before I could respond, I stepped away.

Not abruptly.

Just enough to break the contact.

“I need some air,” I said.

His eyes followed me immediately.

“You have ten minutes.”

I frowned slightly. “That was not a request.”

“It was not meant to be.”

I held his gaze for a moment longer before turning and walking away, ignoring the way his presence seemed to follow me even as I created distance.

*****

The hallway outside the ballroom was quieter and cooler.

But the tension did not leave me.

If anything, it sharpened.

I had barely taken a few steps before I felt it.

That shift.

That awareness.

My attack mode is on and ready to fight what necessary means possible. 

Someone was there.

“Yvo.”

I froze.

My heart skipped before I could stop it.

I turned slowly.

And there she was.

"Isabella."

Standing in front of me like nothing had happened.

Like she had not disappeared.

Like she had not left me to take her place.

“You should not be here. You should run away like I did,” she said quickly, her voice tight, urgent.

I stared at her, disbelief and anger colliding in my chest all at once.

“Where have you been?” I demanded, stepping toward her. “Do you have any idea what you did?”

“I know,” she said, her eyes flickering with something I could not fully read. “I know, and I am sorry, but you need to listen to me.”

“No,” I snapped. “You listen to me. I had to stand there in your place. I had to marry him.”

“I know.”

“You left me with no choice.”

“I had no choice either.”

“That is not true.”

She shook her head, her expression tightening. “You do not understand.”

“Then explain it,” I said, my voice rising despite myself. “Tell me why you disappeared. Tell me why you left me to deal with this. Stop fooling around and tell me now!”

Her gaze shifted briefly, as if checking her surroundings.

“There is no time.”

“There is time now.”

“No,” she said sharply. “There is not.”

Her hand caught my arm suddenly, her grip tighter than I expected.

“You need to leave him,” she said. “Now.”

I stared at her. “What are you talking about?”

“He is dangerous.”

I laughed crazily. “I know that! So are you, apparently,” I shot back. “You disappeared and left me to clean up your mess.”

“This is not about that.”

“It is exactly about that.”

Her grip tightened.

“You are not safe with him.”

My chest tightened.

“Fuck, I know. But what does that even mean? Stop running around in circle and tell me! fuck.”

“It means you need to get out before it is too late.”

“And you?” I challenged her. “You are just going to disappear again?”

“I cannot come back.”

“You will,” I said firmly. “You started this. You finish it.”

She shook her head, stepping back.

“No.”

The word hit harder than I expected.

“You have to,” I insisted. “This is your responsibility.”

“I cannot,” she repeated, her voice breaking slightly now.

“For once in your life, stop running and tell me the fucking truth, Isabella!” I almost shouted. Gladly, I held back. 

Her eyes met mine, something raw flickering through them.

“You think I am running,” she said quietly.

“I know you are.”

She hesitated.

Then she said something that made everything inside me shift. “You have no idea what you just walked into.”

Before I could respond, she pulled her hand away.

“I am not coming back,” she said. “Find a way out.”

“Isabella-”

But she was already moving.

Turning.

Leaving.

Disappearing just as suddenly as she had appeared.

I stood there for a moment, my chest tight, my thoughts racing, everything she said echoing in my mind.

Then I turned.

And walked back into the ballroom.

*****

The moment I stepped inside, I felt it again.

That shift.

That awareness.

Alessandro was already looking at me.

Watching.

Unmoving.

As if he had been waiting.

I walked toward him slowly, trying to steady my expression, trying to bury everything that had just happened. 

I hate Isabella for not telling me what she knows. This is not her. We always share a secret and out mantra is to never lie whatever happens. 

Damn it.

But the moment I reached him, I knew it was pointless.

He saw it.

Of course he did.

His gaze moved over my face, slow and deliberate.

“Something changed,” he said.

It was not a question.

I held his gaze, forcing myself not to react.

“You imagine things.”

“I do not.”

Silence stretched between us.

Then he stepped closer.

Close enough that the noise of the room faded into nothing.

“Who were you talking to?” he asked.

I felt my pulse shift.

“No one.”

His eyes darkened slightly.

“I do not like being lied to.”

I held his gaze, refusing to back down.

“Then do not ask questions you already have answers to.”

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Then, very quietly, he said. “I hope whoever you meet understands something.”

My chest tightened.

“And what is that?”

His gaze locked onto mine.

“That you do not walk away from me.”