I woke to sunlight streaming through unfamiliar windows and the worst headache of my life.
Not from alcohol.
From stress. From the memory of last night burned into my brain like a brand.
Dominic. Bleeding. Vulnerable. The way his hands had gripped me while I stitched him up. The way his eyes had darkened when he looked at me, like I was something precious and dangerous all at once.
That kiss.
God, that kiss.
I sat up slowly, my muscles aching from the tension I had carried through the night. My hands still smelled faintly of antiseptic and his blood, even though I had scrubbed them raw in the bathroom at 4 a.m., watching the water run pink down the drain.
I had saved his life.
And he had kissed me like he was claiming his reward.
No. Not a reward.
A promise.
I pressed my palms against my eyes, trying to push away the memory of how his mouth had felt on mine. Desperate. Consuming. Like he'd been holding back for too long and finally, finally let himself have what he wanted.
A soft knock interrupted my thoughts.
"Come in," I called, my voice hoarse.
Helen entered carrying a cup of coffee.The coffee smelled expensive.
Everything in this house was expensive.
Including me, apparently.
"Mr. Sterling requested I inform you that he expects you for breakfast in twenty minutes," she said, setting the tray on the desk with practiced precision.
My stomach twisted. "Is he-how is he? Did he rest? He should be resting, he lost a lot of blood-"
"Mr. Sterling is well," Helen replied, her expression carefully neutral in that way staff perfected when working for difficult men. "He has already been to the gym this morning."
I stared at her. "I'm sorry, what?"
"The gym, miss. He completed his usual routine at six a.m."
Of course he had. The man had been shot less than twelve hours ago and he was doing pull-ups and probably lifting weights like some kind of immortal psychopath.
"That's insane," I muttered. "He's going to tear his stitches."
"Mr. Sterling is quite particular about his routines," Helen said diplomatically. "He doesn't allow minor inconveniences to disrupt them."
"Minor inconveniences? He was shot-"
"Twenty minutes, Miss Vance." Helen's smile was pleasant but firm. "Mr. Sterling does not make requests. He gives instructions."
She left before I could argue, the door clicking shut with quiet finality.
I stared at the closed door, fury building in my chest like a storm.
Fine.
If he wanted to pretend last night didn't happen-pretend he hadn't bled in my arms, hadn't kissed me like the world was ending-I could play that game too.
I could be just as cold.
Just as controlled.
I grabbed the coffee and drank it black, letting the bitterness ground me, and tried to remember who I was before Dominic Sterling walked into my life.
Aria Vance. Nursing student. Survivor!.
Not someone who melted at a single kiss from a man who owned her like property.
---
Dominic sat at the head of the dining table, looking infuriatingly perfect.
Three-piece navy suit. Hair styled. Not a single indication that he had been bleeding out in my arms hours ago.
Except for the slight tightness around his mouth when he moved.
"You're late," he said without looking up from his phone.
"You're welcome," I shot back, dropping into the chair across from him.
His eyes flicked up. Cold. Assessing.
"For?"
"For saving your life last night."
"You stitched a wound," he said dismissively. "Hardly life-saving."
My jaw dropped. "You were bleeding out on your office floor. If I hadn't-"
"If you hadn't, my men would have handled it."
"Your men wanted to take you to a hospital. You refused."
"And yet, here I am. Alive." He set his phone down with deliberate precision. "Eat your breakfast, Aria."
I wanted to throw the plate at his head.
Instead, I stabbed a piece of melon with my fork and ate in silence.
We sat like that for several minutes, the only sound was the clink of silverware.
Finally, Dominic spoke.
"We're attending an event tonight."
I looked up. "We?"
"Yes. A gala at the Plaza. Black tie."
"I didn't agree to-"
"You don't have a choice," he interrupted smoothly. "Part of your agreement to stay here includes appearing with me at necessary social functions."
"That wasn't in your psychotic contract."
"It was implied."
"Nothing about this situation has been implied," I snapped. "You've been extremely explicit about owning me."
Something flickered in his expression. Too fast to catch.
"The event starts at eight," he continued, ignoring my outburst. "Helen will bring you appropriate attire."
"I can choose my own dress."
"No," he said simply. "You can't."
"Why not?"
He leaned back in his chair, studying me with that unnerving intensity that made me feel like he could see straight through to my bones.
"Because you'll choose something modest. Something that hides you." His voice dropped lower. "And tonight, I need every man in that room to see exactly what belongs to me."
Heat flooded my face. "I don't belong to you."
"Keep telling yourself that, Aria." He stood, buttoning his jacket. "The dress will be in your room by six. Wear it. Don't argue."
He started to leave, then paused.
"And Aria?"
"What?"
His eyes met mine, and for just a moment, I saw something beneath the ice.
Something dark and wanting and dangerous.
"Thank you," he said quietly. "For last night."
And then he was gone, leaving me alone with the remnants of my breakfast and the sudden, terrible realization that I wanted to see him in pain again.
Just so I could be the one to heal him.
---
The rest of the day passed in agonizing slowness.
I tried to study. Pulled out my Pharmacology textbook and stared at the same page about beta blockers for an hour without retaining a single word.
I tried to call Lila. Remembered my phone had been confiscated.
I tried to leave. Got as far as the front door before two security guards materialized out of nowhere with polite smiles and implacable stares.
"Mr. Sterling's instructions, Miss Vance. You're not to leave the grounds without authorization."
Prison.
This was a prison.
A beautiful, luxurious, suffocating prison.
By six o'clock, I was pacing my room like a caged animal when Helen knocked.
"The dress, miss."
She wheeled in a garment bag on a rolling rack, accompanied by several boxes that probably cost more than my entire wardrobe back home.
Back home.
Was that tiny apartment even my home anymore?
"Mr. Sterling has exquisite taste," Helen said, unzipping the bag with a flourish.
The dress spilled out like blood.
Not just red. Crimson. The color of sin and warning signs and everything dangerous.
It was beautiful and obscene, with a neckline that plunged dangerously low between my breasts and a slit that went halfway up my thigh. The fabric looked like it would cling to every curve I had spent years trying to hide in oversized hoodies and scrubs.
This dress didn't let me hide anything.
"I can't wear this," I whispered.
"Mr. Sterling chose it specifically for you," Helen replied, already laying out the accessories. Shoes with heels that could double as weapons. Diamonds that caught the light like captured stars. "He has an eye for what suits people."
"He has an eye for control," I muttered.
If Helen heard me, she didn't respond.
A note was pinned to the hanger in her precise handwriting:
*Shoes and jewelry are in the boxes. Hair and makeup artist arrives at 6:30. Please be ready. -H*
I wanted to refuse.
I wanted to put on jeans and a t-shirt and tell Dominic Sterling to go straight to hell.
But I thought of my father. Of Marcus Kane and his men. Of the gun that had put a bullet in Dominic's side because of my father's debts.
And I put on the damn dress.
---
The makeup artist was a woman named Sophia who didn't ask questions and worked with efficient silence.
She transformed me.
Smoky eyes that made my hazel irises look almost amber. Contour that sharpened my cheekbones. Lips painted the exact shade of the dress-blood red, dangerous red.
My hair was swept up in an elegant twist with a few curls left loose to frame my face, making my neck look longer, more exposed.
More vulnerable.
When she finished, I barely recognized the woman in the mirror.
At 7:45, I stood in front of the full-length mirror and stared at the stranger looking back.
The dress fit like it had been made for me. Probably had been, knowing Dominic's obsessive attention to detail. It hugged my curves, the neckline displaying just enough cleavage to be tasteful while still being impossible to ignore. The slit revealed my leg with every step.
The diamonds at my throat and wrists caught the light, expensive and cold against my skin.
I looked like I belonged in Dominic's world.
Like I was one of his possessions.
Beautiful. Expensive. Owned.
I hated it.
I loved it.
I didn't know what I felt anymore.
A knock.
My heart jumped into my throat.
"Come in," I called, my voice steadier than I felt.
The door opened.
And Dominic stopped.
Just stopped in the doorway, his hand still on the handle, and stared.
I had never seen him look at me like that.
Like he was starving and I was a feast laid out just for him.
Like he wanted to devour me and worship me in equal measure.
"Is it-is it okay?" I asked, suddenly self-conscious under the weight of his gaze. My hands moved to smooth the dress, to adjust the neckline, to do something with the nervous energy building in my chest.
He didn't answer immediately.
He stepped into the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click, and crossed to me slowly. Like a predator stalking prey that had nowhere left to run.
When he was close enough that I could smell his cologne he finally spoke.
"You're perfect," he said, his voice rough.
His hand lifted, and I thought he might touch my face, might brush my cheek the way he had last night when I was stitching him up.
Instead, he reached past me and picked up the mask that sat on the dresser.
Black lace. Delicate. Familiar in a way that made my breath catch.
"You kept it," I whispered.
"I keep everything that's mine." He lifted the mask to my face, tying it gently behind my head with fingers that were surprisingly gentle. His fingers brushed my neck, sending shivers down my spine. "Tonight is a masquerade gala. I thought it fitting."
"Why?"
His eyes met mine in the mirror, and the intensity in them made my knees weak.
"Because tonight," he said quietly, "I'm going to show the world exactly who you belong to."
And despite everything-despite the cage and the control and the consuming attraction, I couldn't fight it anymore.
I didn't argue.
