Chapter Three: Rules for dinner.
1316 Words
The dress they brought me felt too soft, too expensive to be worn by someone like me.
I stood still while the maid fastened the last clasp behind my back. Across the room, my reflection stared at me from the tall mirror.
I barely recognised her.
“Dinner is at eight,” the maid said quietly, avoiding my eyes. “Mr Wolfe does not like to be kept waiting.”
I heard her leave quietly, the door closed softly behind her, as silence settled over the room again. I looked back at the mirror.
Nothing about the girl staring at me looked real anymore. The red dress clung to my body in a way that made me feel strangely delicate. Smaller than I already was. Like I had been dressed up to belong somewhere I shouldn’t even be standing in.
My skin looked warmer beneath the dim lighting, almost glowing against all the cold marble and gold surrounding me. My wavy dark hair rested loosely over my shoulders no matter how many times the maid had tried to smooth it down completely.
And my eyes…lord they looked terrified.
I lifted a hand slowly and touched my own face, almost checking if I was still me beneath all this.
A few hours ago, I had been walking home with Alora. Now I was here married to a man I didn’t know. Trapped in a house that felt alive enough to swallow people whole. I looked down at my hands and forced myself to breathe.
Eight.
Whatever waited behind that dining room door, I already knew one thing. Nothing in this place came freely.
The dining room was massive. The table stretched long enough to seat twenty people, yet only one man sat there.
Kaiden Wolfe.
He didn’t look up when I entered. My footsteps echoed softly against the marble floor as I walked closer, every step making my heart race. He didn't raise his head to acknowledge me but he knew I was there.
“Sit.” His voice was calm.
I pulled out one of the chairs and sat carefully.
“Closer.”
My fingers tightened slightly against the edge of the seat. I moved one chair forward.
“Alyssa. Next to me now.”
My name cracked through the room like a command. I stood again and moved beside him. Close enough to feel his presence without him even touching me.
Kaiden reached for the wine bottle beside him and poured a glass slowly before sliding it toward me.
“Drink.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re shaking.”
“I’m not.”
His eyes finally lifted to mine.
“You are.”
My hands instantly stilled in my lap. He picked up his own glass but didn’t drink from it immediately.
“You grew up in the south district Alyssa,” he said casually. “Small apartment just you and your sister. Your mother…” He paused briefly. “Rarely sober.” I stared at him.
“How do you know that?”
“I own you. I know everything.”
The words hit harder than I expected, he finally took a slow sip of wine
“Including the fact that you’re currently on your period.”
Heat rushed violently into my face.
“You can’t just say things like that.”
“I can say whatever I want.”
He leaned back slightly, watching me.
“Rule one, Alyssa. No secrets from me.”
My chest tightened.
“Rule two. You do not leave this estate without my permission.”
Then his gaze lowered briefly to my mouth.
“Rule three. When I want you in my bed, you’ll come willingly.” I pushed back from the chair instantly.
“I’m not some…”
“Sit down.” It wasn't harsh or angry, it sounded worse. I slowly sat back down.
He continued speaking like nothing had happened.
“You left school early and started working to cater for the house and care for your sister. Every evening you pick her up yourself.”
“Stop.”
“You have no criminal ties. No suspicious affiliations.” His gaze rested on me again. “Which makes your appearance tonight inconvenient.” I swallowed hard.
“You had no right to investigate me.”
“I have every right.” he answered simply I hated that more than shouting.
“You don’t know anything about me,” I muttered.
“I know enough.”
Silence settled heavily between us. For the first time since I entered the room, Kaiden sighed softly and ran a finger through his hair.
For a second, he looked tired.
“My brother was left to die tonight because of me,” he said quietly. “Those were my enemies, my mistakes.” His eyes returned to mine. “And you saved him anyway.” I said nothing.
“That makes you inconvenient.”
He stood from his chair and walked toward the window before suddenly stopping behind me instead. My breath caught when his fingers tilted my chin upward. His touch felt cold.
“So I'll promise you this, wife.”
His thumb brushed slowly across my lower lip.
“I won’t touch you until you ask me to.”
I stared at him. His blue eyes were unreadable up close.
“But you will ask eventually,” he continued softly. “Its going to be a long time, Alyssa. And I’m the only man you’ll see.” I held his gaze unwillingly
“Why?” I whispered.
“Because you saved something that matters to me.” he said flatly with no emotions or tone to it. He stepped away from me again.
“You should also understand something else,” he said. I looked up slowly.
“You are not free here.” A knot tightened in my stomach.
“If you attempt to leave this estate without permission you'll be stopped.”
“I’m not your prisoner.”
“Aren’t you?” The question silenced me.
“I don’t like my property misplaced,” he continued calmly. “Or damaged.”
There it was again, property. Like I wasn’t even human to him.
“Christian will always be outside your door,” he added. “He is not there for conversation.”
“You assigned me a guard?”
“I assigned you survival.”
I looked away from him before asking the only thing that truly mattered.
“What about my sister?”
That finally made him pause.
“There’s activity tonight.”
My heart skipped painfully.
“What does that mean?”
“A shootout.”
The word hit me so hard my fingers tightened around the edge of the chair.
“Where? Is she there? What if..”
“They won’t hurt her.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
His gaze pierced into mine again.
“She’s more valuable alive.”
I hated how calm he sounded saying it. My mind instantly filled with images of Alora crying somewhere alone and terrified.
“What if something goes wrong?” I whispered under my breath and he somehow heard it.
“It won’t.”
The certainty in his voice wasn’t comforting.
But somehow it steadied me anyway. Kaiden moved toward the door.
“Get some rest,” he said. “You’ll need it.”
My body was stiff and it refused to move. He reached the door, then stopped briefly.
“Don’t try to run, Alyssa.”
He didn’t turn around when he said it.
“You’ll be brought back.”
Then he left. The door shut quietly behind him. I stayed seated there for a long time, staring at the untouched glass of wine beside me. A few hours ago, my biggest worry had been getting home before dark with Alora.
Now I belong to Kaiden Wolfe.
- Writer
