LOGINThe first thing Rose noticed when she woke was the emptiness beside her.Damien was gone.She reached over, pressing her palm flat against his side of the bed — still warm. He hadn't been gone long. She exhaled slowly, blinking up at the ceiling, when the bathroom door swung open and he stepped out.Just a towel.Water trailed down the hard planes of his chest, following the cut lines of his abdomen before disappearing beneath the white fabric knotted low at his hips. He ran a hand through his damp hair, unbothered, completely unaware — or pretending to be — of the way Rose had gone utterly still.She couldn't help it. Her eyes moved over him slowly, hungrily, tracing every ridge and curve. She thought about those arms. How they had held her down. How certain they had felt around her body. The memory of the night before rushed back in a wave — the way he had taken her apart, piece by piece, until she had shattered completely — and heat bloomed low in her stomach, spreading fast."Like
Chapter 20: The Locked DoorSleep didn't come.I lay there staring at the ceiling with the sheets pulled up and the room completely dark and my brain running at a speed that had no intention of slowing down.I gave up after an hour.I slipped out of bed, pulled on a hoodie over my shorts and padded out into the corridor. The house was quiet. A light under the study door at the far end of the hall told me where Damien was.I went the other direction.The house was different at night.Still black. Still massive. But quieter in a way that felt less cold than it had this morning. I moved through the corridors slowly, one hand trailing the wall, and waited for the unease that should have been there.It didn't come.Instead something else settled over me. Slow and strange and impossible to name. Like the house recognized my footsteps. Like the walls had been waiting for exactly this — me, barefoot, moving through the dark like I'd done it a thousand times before.Like I belonged here.That
His eyes did it before his hands did.Pinned her. Held her completely still without touching her. That red glow barely contained behind the green, watching her body betray every word coming out of her mouth.She held his stare anyway."Why do you even care." Not a question. Flat. Defiant. "You don't own me. You don't have the right to ask me anything."Damien leaned in.Slow. No rush. Like he had all night and knew it.His breath hit the side of her neck and her skin tightened immediately, a full-body response she had zero control over."Really, kitten." His voice was quiet. That particular quiet that was worse than loud. "That's what you think."His eyes dropped — deliberate — down her body and back up."Your body's saying something different."Her breath seized in her chest.He straightened. Eyes back on hers."I'll ask you one more time." No heat in it. Just the words, landing clean and final. "Who gave it to you."A beat."You don't answer — I take that as a yes." His gaze didn't
Chapter 18: Two Turns LeftThe drive home was silent.Not the comfortable kind.I sat against the door with my arms crossed and my jaw tight and my eyes fixed on the city moving past the window. The leather seat was cold. The partition between us and the driver was up. The space inside the car felt smaller than it was.I was furious.Not at anything specific. At everything. At the goodbye that had just happened. At my father's wet eyes. At Ryan's face when I walked out. At the fact that I had found a family and was now sitting in a car driving away from them because of a contract signed before I existed.At the man sitting next to me who was the reason for all of it."Kitten."I said nothing."Put a smile on that face."I turned to look at him with every single thing I was feeling sitting right on the surface of my expression.He looked back at me completely unbothered."You were always going to be mine," he said. "Sooner or later." The corner of his mouth moved. "And you do look cute
Chapter 17: Goodbye For NowThe Albert estate had never been louder.I heard it before I walked through the door.Voices overlapping. The kind of controlled chaos that happens when people with power realize they have no control over something.I pushed the door open and walked in.The entrance hall looked like a command center. Security personnel lined the walls. Two men in suits stood near the staircase with phones pressed to their ears. Charles stood to one side holding himself together through sheer professionalism.And my brothers.Ryan had a guard by the collar.Literally. Both hands. The man was a foot taller than him and Ryan had him by the collar speaking directly into his face."She is the heiress of this house. Your one job. One. And you're standing here telling me you don't know when she left—""Ryan."He turned.The guard dropped.Nobody moved for a second.Then all three of them crossed the room and I had two seconds before they reached me.Ryan's hands found my face firs
Chapter 16: TermsBreakfast was almost done.The question sat between us on the table.I shoved it down and pushed my plate forward."I'm going home."I moved to stand—The chair jerked forward.Damien pulled it with one hand on the armrest — dragged the whole thing between his knees until I was caged in front of him, his face level with mine, his breath warm on my skin.My eyes went wide."How many times." Quiet. Final. "This is home, kitten."My mouth opened. Nothing came out.I tried again. "I need clothes. Just my clothes. From next door. I'll come—"His eyes dropped to my mouth.I was biting my lip. I felt the moment he noticed it — the way his gaze locked there and the air between us changed into something heavier.He looked back up slowly."Keep biting those lips." His voice came out rough at the edges. "I swear I'll kiss them until they swell."I released my lip.The anger that hit me next was clean and fast and I held onto it with both hands."You want to keep me hostage." No







