Her laughter echoed down the hallway-soft, sweet, and infuriating. Who the hell was she laughing with? My fist clenched around the edge of the whiskey glass. I leaned against the desk, staring out into the endless city lights, but my mind was locked on her. Isabella. My wife-on paper. My prisoner-by choice.
She wasn’t supposed to smile like that unless it was for me.
The door creaked open. “Alex,” her voice came, smooth as silk, laced with defiance. I didn’t turn, letting the silence stretch and pull like a taut rope.
Finally, I spoke. “You’re late.”
“Didn’t realize I was on a curfew,” she shot back, her heels clicking across the floor. I heard her pour herself a drink, the clink of crystal on crystal sparking my irritation.
“You are,” I said flatly. My tone wiped the smirk off her face-I could feel it even without looking.
“Relax,” she said, taking a sip. “It’s not like I ran off to join a rival family.”
I turned sharply, pinning her with a glare. “Don’t joke about that.”
Her eyes met mine, fiery but tinged with something darker. Guilt? No. She wouldn’t dare. Or would she?
She stepped closer, holding her ground even as I stalked toward her. The distance between us evaporated until I could feel the heat of her defiance, smell the faint trace of her perfume-a maddening mix of jasmine and rebellion.
“You think this is a game, don’t you?” I growled, my hand gripping her wrist. “Testing me. Pushing me.”
Her pulse fluttered under my fingers, quick and shallow. “And what if I am?” she whispered, her voice trembling just enough to stoke the fire in my chest. “What are you going to do about it, Alex?”
I smirked, tilting my head. “Oh, Bella. You don’t want to know.”
Her lips parted, but no words came. I released her wrist, brushing past her toward the cabinet where I kept the contracts-the ones she hated. Pulling out the thick stack of papers, I placed them on the table between us.
“You signed this,” I said, my voice a low growl. “Every damn line. Every clause.”
“And you think that gives you the right to own me?” she fired back, crossing her arms. “To control every breath I take?”
“I don’t think,” I snapped, slamming my palm against the table. “I know.”
Her defiance cracked for a second, her eyes flicking to the papers, then back to me. “This isn’t what I signed up for.”
“You signed up to be mine,” I said, stepping closer again, cornering her. “Every inch of you. Every thought. Every laugh. You don’t give those away to anyone else.”
Her jaw tightened. “You can’t control everything, Alex.”
I leaned in, my breath brushing her ear. “Watch me.”
Before she could respond, my phone buzzed on the desk. I ignored it, my focus locked on her. But it buzzed again. And again.
“Answer it,” she said, her voice steady, but her eyes gave her away-nervous, uncertain.
I picked up the phone, holding her gaze as I answered. “What?”
The voice on the other end was one of my men. “Boss, we’ve got a problem.”
“Handle it,” I barked, about to hang up.
“It’s Isabella,” the man said quickly. “She’s been seen with-”
I froze, the words hanging in the air like a dagger poised over my head. Isabella’s eyes widened slightly, her lips parting as though to protest, but no sound came.
“Who?” I demanded, my voice colder than ice.
The reply hit me like a gunshot. My grip on the phone tightened, the crack of plastic splitting the air. I ended the call and turned to her, my fury barely restrained.
“Care to explain?” I asked, my voice deceptively calm.
“Alex, I-”
“Save it,” I cut her off, my tone sharp enough to make her flinch. “You’ve got five seconds to tell me why you were with him.”
Her silence was deafening.
“Five…” I started, my voice dropping lower with each number. “Four…”
She opened her mouth, but I wasn’t interested in her excuses.
“Three…”
The tension was suffocating, the air between us charged like a live wire.
“Two…”
She finally spoke, her voice trembling. “It’s not what you think.”
I stepped closer, my fury erupting. “Then tell me, Isabella. What the hell is it?”
Her eyes welled with tears, but she held her ground. “I can’t.”
I froze, my mind racing. She couldn’t-or wouldn’t-tell me the truth.
“You just made the biggest mistake of your life,” I said, my voice a deadly whisper.
The silence was shattered by the sound of her glass hitting the floor, whiskey spilling like blood across the carpet. She didn’t flinch, didn’t move.
I turned on my heel, my voice ringing out like a final decree. “You’ll regret this, Bella.”
The door slammed behind me, leaving her alone in the dark.
The call replayed in my mind as I stepped into the elevator, the city lights below gleaming like daggers. My man’s voice echoed in my head.
“She’s been seen with him…”
I didn’t need the rest of the sentence to know what it meant. Betrayal. Lies. And worst of all-her choice.
As the elevator doors slid shut, I made a silent vow.
If she wanted war, she’d get one.
No one crossed me-not even Isabella.