All Chapters of Daddy's Bargain: Chapter 11 - Chapter 13

Celeste's PovI could tell something was off the moment I walked into the living room. The guards avoided looking at me. Even the one who usually greeted me with a nod kept his eyes glued to the floor.Azrael stood by the window, phone pressed to his ear, jaw tight. He wasn’t saying much, just short replies in Italian. His voice was calm, but that kind of calm that came before a storm.When he noticed me, he ended the call and slipped the phone into his pocket. “Go back upstairs, Celeste,” he said.“Why?”“It’s nothing you need to worry about.”The way he said it made my chest tighten. He only spoke like that when he was hiding something.I crossed my arms. “That means it’s definitely something I should worry about.”He looked at me for a long second, then sighed. “You never listen.”“Maybe because you treat me like a child,” I shot back.His lips pressed into a thin line. He turned to Marco, one of his men, and said something quietly in Italian. Marco nodded and left the room, but n

CelesteThe house was too quiet after what happened the night before.I spent the entire day pretending to read one of the books from his office, but I couldn’t focus. Every creak in the hallway made me jump. Every time I looked out the window, I expected another car to pull up with guns.When the front doors opened that evening, I heard his voice before I saw him. Deep, steady, tired.“Where is she?”“In the living room,” Marco answered.Azrael walked in a moment later, his black shirt damp from the rain, sleeves rolled halfway. He looked exhausted with his hair messy, eyes darker than usual, but still infuriatingly composed.“You didn’t go anywhere today,” he said. Not a question.“No, because you have guards at every door,” I muttered.He set his gun on the table and unbuttoned his cuffs. “Good. That means they’re doing their job.”I closed the book. “If you call keeping me prisoner a job, then yeah, they’re excellent at it.”His eyes lifted to mine. “What did you do all day?”“Lea