All Chapters of His velvet obsession: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

The SUV was late. I’d been standing by the window so long my forehead left a greasy smudge on the glass. I didn’t wipe it off. I just stood there, picking at a loose thread on my sleeve until my thumb went numb. Then, the sound of tires on gravel. Gritty. Loud. I didn't breathe. I just watched that black hunk of metal roll up the drive like it owned the dirt. It looked out of place. This house was all white stone and pruned roses, and that car looked like something that lived in an alleyway. The door opened. My heart did this stupid, jagged little skip in my throat. I hated it. I hated him before he even stepped out. It was Xavier. But it wasn't. Three years ago, he was a kid with a bad attitude and skinny ribs. This guy? This guy was solid. He stood up and the sun seemed to get blocked out. He was wearing a suit, sure, but it looked like he wanted to rip out of it. He looked Good.i hate to admit that. He didn't look at the front door. He looked up. Right at me. I di

I stood frozen, my emerald dress suddenly feeling like a neon sign in a dark room. Was this for me? Or was I just the prop he needed to close a deal? Before I could retreat into the shadows, fingers closed around my hand. Xavier. He lifted my hand with a deliberate, slow grace, as if he already held the title to it. His lips brushed my knuckles a touch so soft it was violent. “You look beautiful,” he murmured, his voice a low vibration. “Velvet.” The word slid under my skin like a needle. I jerked my hand back, my heart slamming against my ribs, but he only smiled. It was a small, knowing expression that said he enjoyed the struggle. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small black box. My chest tightened; the air in the room seemed to vanish. He flipped it open. It wasn't a ring, but the relief was short-lived. A gold necklace lay inside, delicate and deceptively simple. At its center was an engraved plate that caught the chandelier's fire. Eres mí

The air in the ballroom felt heavy, like the oxygen had been sucked out the moment Xavier’s gun lowered. My heart hammered against my ribs. I looked at the back of Xavier’s neck.The tense muscles, the dark hair and Realizing the man standing in front of me was a stranger. ​Viktor didn't wait for an invitation. He stepped closer, his boots crunching on the shards of crystal. He ignored the photograph on the floor, keeping his eyes locked on mine, enjoying the way the light caught the tears I refused to let fall. ​"You look confused, little bird," Viktor mused, his voice a low, melodic poison. "You think this is a raid? A kidnapping? No. This is a simple pickup. Your father is a businessman, and eighteen years ago, he ran out of liquid assets. He needed a bridge loan to build this golden life you've been enjoying." ​I felt the room tilt. I looked at my father, who was slumped in his chair, unable to even meet my gaze. ​"He didn't sign away his buildings or his ships," Viktor con

Xavier's pov( continue)I watched her. I didn’t move, didn’t even breathe too loud, afraid I’d shatter the first moment of peace we’d had since the mountain road. She looked so small against the height of those shelves, her fingers trembling as they traced the spines.​When she reached the middle shelf, she froze. I saw her shoulders drop, just a fraction. There they were: the Powerless series. Every volume, pristine, exactly where her hand would naturally fall. She turned to me then, and that look that "how could you possibly know?" expression cut through me sharper than any blade Lyrien could swing.​The truth was a heavy thing in my chest. Even in London, miles of ocean and years of silence between us, I never truly left her. I was the shadow in the corner of her life, the ghost checking her receipts, her library logs, her late night searches. A stalker? Maybe. Or maybe I was just the only one who realized she was the only thing in this world worth guarding. The fact that I’m her