The Contract Bride

Nineteen – His POV (Obsession in the Dark)

The silence in the limo was a noose around my throat.

She sat across from me, her eyes fixed on the window, the city lights painting her in gold and shadow. I should’ve been relieved that Damien hadn’t touched her. That she hadn’t fallen into his poisonous charm. But I wasn’t relieved. I was restless. Burning.

Because even now, after all the chaos, all I could think about was the way her hand brushed mine. A fleeting touch—and I was undone.

When we reached the penthouse, she didn’t wait for me. She walked ahead, her heels clicking against the marble floor like a heartbeat I couldn’t catch. She disappeared into her room, shutting the door softly behind her. Not a slam. Not a lock. Just… distance.

And I hated it.

I poured myself a glass of whiskey, downed it, then poured another. I should’ve let her rest. Should’ve given her space. But space wasn’t in my vocabulary anymore. Not when it came to her.

I found myself outside her door minutes later, my hand hovering over the handle. I didn’t knock. I didn’t call her name. I just stood there, listening.

Her breathing was faint, uneven, like she was tossing in bed. I imagined her lying awake, replaying everything. Damien’s words. My fury. The way I almost kissed her.

And God help me, I wanted to tear that door open and finish what we started.

But she wasn’t ready. I saw the fear in her eyes when she pulled back. Not fear of me hurting her—but fear of losing herself.

I understand that fear too well. Because I’m losing myself already.

I leaned my forehead against the door, my voice low, barely a whisper.

“You’ll be mine, Elena. Completely. And when that day comes, you won’t run from me anymore.”

I left before I lost the battle with myself.

The next morning, I was in my office when the report landed on my desk.

Damien Blackwood.

I’d had my men dig deeper, and what they found made my blood turn colder than ice. Fraud. Blackmail. Extortion. The bastard wasn’t circling Elena for sport—he was circling her to get to me.

My fists slammed against the desk. He thought he could use her as leverage. Use my wife.

Over my dead body.

But even as rage consumed me, something else coiled beneath it. Fear. Because for the first time in my life, I wasn’t sure if I was capable of protecting the one thing I couldn’t afford to lose.

Elena wasn’t a contract anymore. She was the air in my lungs, the fire in my veins. And Damien had just declared war on the only part of me that was still human.

I swore then and there—Damien Blackwood would not touch her. Not with his hands. Not with his words. Not even with his thoughts.

Because Elena Carter-Steele was mine.

And God have mercy on anyone who tried to take her from me.