Under Contract

Chapter Eleven: Heir’s Fury

Pov Anton

The gala haunts me through a sleepless night, Melody's black dress slit flashing in my mind, provocative as hell, daring me despite my warning, her body moving smooth under rooftop lights as she danced with Nico. His hand on her waist, her laugh light, head tilting up close to his. Jealousy chewed me raw then. The phone buzzing on the nightstand waking me to reality. A text from mom, perfect, my loser big brother came back from the UK.

Morning light cuts sharp through penthouse glass. I hit the office early, rage simmering, needing her snaps to ground me. Walking the hallway to my floor, the elevator dings. There. Melody and Nico, close in a corner, her back to wall, his hand near her face, mouth hovering inches from hers. Ate they kissing? Right there, in my building. My gut twists violent. Can't breathe, can feel the anger in my core.

Office door slams behind me. Minutes tick. A blonde girl that I am sure I saw before but I am not able to remember from where, slips in, no knock, her red dress clinging, she is coming right in front of me while I get comfortable in my desk chair . "Morning," she purrs, her nails are dragging my tie, pushing me further in the chair. I get up”I am very sorry but I don’t remember you so well, ai think some time passed since we saw each other”. She is having a dumb smile on her face, she is not offended that I did not recognised her. “You were all over me one month ago in the club, we slept tougher that night and told me to come to you when I get back from Paris, so here I am”. Aha, yeah, I know now. I don’t have the chance to say anything. Melody is barging in, she looks surprised to see a woman in my office. When the blond makes eye contact with Melody she starts to get all touchy. Melody is going to her desk, but I stop her. "Get out. You can work from home from now on."

She reels, eyes flashing. "What this even means, Anton? Are you bipolar?”

"Out. Now." Ice command. She snatches her bag. Door bangs. I am left alone in the office with the blonde I once spent a night with. “Now we are all alone”. She comes in my face kissing my cheek, and touching my pecs. Awfully, this is feeling so wrong. Can't erase the hall kiss. Her lips on him. Madness. A flicker, and get her away from me. “Please get out, I was drunk that night, I didn’t meant it”. She looks at me surprised “But you said to come to look for you.” I am not up to this, she is annoying. “Now I am awake, I don’t want to see you, get out”. She is turning away furious on her heels, and just before getting out of the door she cuts me “You are such a d**k”.

Fury boils over me. I don’t want to see Nico's face in the boardroom, I storm in, while he is alone. Grab his collar, "I said to you that Melody is off limits, can’t you stay away of what is mine?." He is looking like he has no idea of what I am talking about. “Chill mate, is not like I kissed her. I can’t see what is the problem if I like her company”. Anger travels fast. “Not like you kissed her?”

Nico shoves back laughing, eyes lighting with realization. "Kissed? You're cracked. You are talking about the hallway? Got her lash, she could not get it out of her eye, I have experience with this kind of stuff, my little sister has long lashes too." Grin turns cruel, mocking my rage. "Why are you so angry? Not saying I wouldn't want to kiss her. How hilarious you are breaking over a lash."

I drop it. Breath ragged. "Touch her again, you're done." Storm out.

Evening streets pull me. I pass one of my favourite spot to eat from when I was young, window view stops me from my thoughts: Melody at corner booth, laughing soft with Vincent. My brother with his messy hair, notebook splayed, her hand gesturing close to his. Talking poetry probably. Too cozy.

Inside. Chair crashes back. "Vincent." Gravel voice. He flinches. Melody looks confused, but sending fire towards me with here fierce eyes.

"Anton?" Vincent stammers.

I grab her wrist. Pull up firm. "Outside." She twists, fire blazing, but follows. The neon alley buzzes cold.

"What are you doing here with my brother? With Nico, are you such a player?" I get so close to her that I can feel her hot breath, her body warmth.

Melody snaps, her voice sharp with defiance as she yanks her wrist from my grip in the neon-lit alley behind the Little Italy restaurant.

“I coincidentally meet your brother. He was reciting some poetry on the scene. He is very friendly. Unlike someone.”

The words land like fuel on the fire already raging inside me, my blood boiling over from the hallway “kiss” I walked in on this morning. Nico leaning too close to her face, her head tilted up, that intimate moment searing into my brain.

“Are you playing with me?” I growl, stepping closer, the humid night air thick between us.

Her eyes flash with a mix of anger and exhaustion, chest rising fast. “You are a controlling psycho, who are you? A dictator. Just leave me alone!”

The rage I feel doesn’t fade; it twists darker, surging with the secrets I’ve buried to claim this empire: being the youngest heir because Vincent’s poetry dreams made him too soft for Father’s world, the rigged votes and hushed threats that sidelined my brother for good. Now she’s chatting him up, laughing at his verses like they mean something, and it’s all unraveling because I lose control, because of her.

I can’t stop it. My hands find her waist, pinning her back against the rough brick wall with more force than I mean, the alley’s neon buzz humming around us. “Watch, you are mine now.,” I rasp, mouth crashing down on hers in a bruising claim, hard and desperate. She stiffens at first, fists bunching my shirt in resistance, but then she yields for a burning instant, her lips parting under mine, fire exploding between us, finally.

She gasps back, shoving hard with both hands against my chest, breaking the contact with a wet sound that echoes in the narrow space. “No! You are a possessive, controlling thug!” Her eyes glisten with furious tears, voice cracking as she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. “Don’t ever show yourself in my face!”

Before I can grab her again, she spins on her heel, storming down the alley toward the streetlights, her figure disappearing into the evening crowd without a backward glance. I lean against the wall, breath ragged, the taste of her still searing my tongue. She’s under my skin, driving me to madness.