Chapter 10: Collateral
952 Words
The night air was cooler than usual.
Ellie leaned against the stone balcony rail just outside the east wing, wrapped in one of the mansion’s plush throws, barefoot and breathless. The stars above were dull behind a curtain of clouds, and somewhere in the distance, thunder rolled low.
She wasn’t sure what kept her awake anymore—fear, adrenaline, or Salvador Sinclair’s ghost in her bloodstream.
He hadn’t summoned her. Hadn’t spoken since their confrontation.
But she felt him.
Like a weight pressing against her ribs.
The way he looked at her lingered in her thoughts. Not just lust. Not just control.
Something dangerous.
Something real.
⸻
She heard him before she saw him.
The quiet click of his shoes across the tile. She didn’t turn.
“I thought you only haunted the study,” she said softly.
Salvador’s voice came behind her, low and smooth. “Couldn’t sleep.”
She glanced over her shoulder.
He was in a black shirt, sleeves pushed up, no tie. Casual, but somehow even more dangerous like that—like all the edges of him had been left exposed on purpose.
“What keeps you up at night?” she asked. “Deals? Enemies? The weight of your sins?”
He stepped closer. “You.”
Ellie froze.
Her breath caught just enough to make her back stiffen.
“You’ve been… distracting,” he added, stopping behind her. His voice dipped darker. “And dangerous. More than I expected.”
“You’re the one who kidnapped me,” she said.
“I offered you a job.”
“Under threat.”
He didn’t deny it.
There was a silence between them, thick and tense. The wind stirred her hair. Then his fingers touched her back—light, careful—as he slipped the blanket further around her shoulders.
“I don’t want you catching cold,” he murmured.
Ellie turned, slow and wary, until she faced him.
His face was inches from hers.
Whatever wall he’d built between them was cracking. She could see it in his eyes—dark and unreadable, but not empty. And in the way his hand moved to her jaw, the pad of his thumb brushing along her cheekbone.
“I told you I wouldn’t touch you without permission,” he whispered. “But you’re making it harder to keep that promise.”
Her lips parted, but she didn’t speak.
Her heart pounded like a war drum.
He leaned in—not touching her lips, just close enough that the breath between them mingled.
“Say the word,” he said. “And I’ll kiss you.”
Ellie’s pulse thundered.
She didn’t say yes.
She didn’t say no.
But then—
His phone buzzed in his pocket. Sharp. Persistent.
He pulled away, jaw tightening.
Ellie blinked like she’d surfaced from a dream.
He stepped back fully, already pulling the phone to his ear.
“What?” His voice dropped cold. Flat. “Now?”
A pause. The kind of pause that makes the air go still.
Then: “How the hell does he know?”
Another pause.
Then: “I’ll handle it. Do nothing until I say so.”
He ended the call and exhaled once—hard.
Ellie wrapped the blanket tighter around herself.
“What happened?” she asked, cautiously.
Salvador’s eyes flicked to hers—no longer warm. No longer soft.
Stone cold.
“Go back to your room.”
She frowned. “Why? What’s going on?”
He stepped toward her, and this time it wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t intimate.
It was command.
“Go. Now.”
Her stomach turned. “Salvador—”
“Don’t say my name right now.”
That stopped her.
She stared at him, stunned. Just minutes ago, he had been ready to kiss her. Now he couldn’t even look at her like she mattered.
“What happened?” she tried again.
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
“I’m not some fragile thing—”
“Yes, you are.” His voice cracked like lightning. “You’re fragile, and foolish, and I should’ve sent you away the night you walked into my world.”
The words hit like a slap.
She looked away, throat tight. “You don’t mean that.”
He didn’t answer.
Because he didn’t mean it.
But he needed her to believe it.
His rival—Lorenzo Vale—had found out. Somehow, somewhere, someone had seen her at the estate. And if Lorenzo knew there was a woman close to Salvador, he’d use her. Exploit her. Hurt her just to watch Salvador bleed.
He couldn’t allow that.
Couldn’t let her become a weakness.
So he stared at her like she was nothing, even while everything in him screamed to pull her close and lock the doors to the world outside.
“You said I was dangerous,” she whispered, blinking fast. “But you are too.”
He turned his back to her.
She stood frozen for a second longer, then turned and walked away.
He didn’t watch her leave.
Not because he didn’t want to.
But because if he did—he might follow her.
⸻
Back in her room, Ellie slammed the door and pressed her hands to her eyes.
What the hell just happened?
One minute, she was wrapped in heat, feeling seen and wanted. The next, she was disposable again.
Maybe he really didn’t care.
Maybe he never would.
But God… why did it hurt?
⸻
In the darkness of the hallway, Salvador stood alone. He took out his phone again, dialing another number.
When the voice on the other end answered, he said only two words:
“Lock everything.”
- Writer
