Chapter 3- "The First Fracture"
1224 Words
(Dominic’s POV)
"Touch her again, and I will break your goddamn hand."
The words came out before I even thought about it.
Victor Blackwell froze, his fingertips still stroking Sienna’s exposed shoulder.
He chuckled, slow and sarcastic. "Easy, Reign. You’re growing territorial."
I stepped closer, pressing him back.
My blood was a wildfire under my skin.
Because witnessing his hands on her—my girl—ignited something dark and vicious inside me.
"I don’t share," I responded coldly.
Victor’s smile curved broader. "Since when do you claim your spies?"
Sienna jumped, eyes wide, mouth opening like she was going to speak.
I cut her a stern gaze. Don’t.
She squeezed her lips together, enraged.
Good girl.
Victor drank his drink gently, watching me over the rim. "Relax. I’m not touching what's already broken."
I almost struck him.
Almost tore his grinning face apart in front of everyone.
But I couldn't afford a scene.
Not yet.
"Enjoy your night, Blackwell," I murmured, voice like ice.
He tipped an imaginary hat, all mocking, and fled into the mob.
As soon as he was gone, I grabbed Sienna’s wrist and pushed her into the back corridor, away from the pounding music, away from prying eyes.
She staggered after me, heels clicking across the marble floor.
"Let go of me!" she yelled, fighting.
"Not a chance," I muttered.
I yanked open a side door and pulled her inside.
A gloomy, deserted workplace.
I slammed the door shut and turned on her.
"What the hell were you thinking?" I barked.
She wrenched her arm free, face flushed with wrath. "Doing precisely what you ordered! Following him!"
"Not by letting him touch you!"
"You think I wanted him to?" Her voice cracked. "I was trying to get information!"
I gazed at her, chest heaving.
Every inch of me is burning with the urge to either drag her against me…
Or put her away where no one could ever touch her again.
"You’re reckless," I muttered hoarsely. "You’re going to get yourself killed."
She laughed, harsh and shattered. "Better me than Ava, right?"
My stomach twisted.
She didn’t know.
She didn’t comprehend that preserving her had already cost me more than she could fathom.
"You don’t get it," I mumbled, pulling a hand through my hair.
"Then explain it!" she snapped. "Because right now it feels like you’re just using me as a shield!"
I grasped her chin, pushing her to look at me.
"You’re not a shield," I whispered, low and angry. "You’re the goddamn reason I’m still breathing."
Her eyes expanded, mouth parted.
For a heartbeat, the conflict between us crumbled.
Only the raw, electrifying pull remained.
"Sienna…" I inhaled, and before I could stop myself, my mouth smashed hers.
She gasped.
I gulped it.
Our bodies banged together, hands everywhere, frantic and angry and hungry.
She kissed me back like she loathed me, like she needed me, like she wanted to burn the entire damn world on fire with us in it.
I backed her into the wall, lifting her effortlessly, her legs curling around my waist.
Her claws sank into my shoulders.
I didn’t care.
I wanted every mark she gave me.
Every scar.
Every broken fragment.
"I hate you," she muttered against my lips.
"I know," I answered, voice shattered.
I kissed her harder.
"And you still taste like salvation."
She whimpered.
I intensified the kiss, pushing every ounce of my craziness into her.
For one brief, scorching instant, nothing else existed.
Not Victor Blackwell.
Not the falsehoods.
Not the blood on my hands.
Only her.
Only us.
Then she threw me back, panting for oxygen, eyes wild.
"This doesn’t fix anything!" she wailed.
"I know," I responded, voice hoarse. "But it’s the only thing that feels real."
Her chest heaved. Her lips were swollen.
And she looked like she wanted to murder me and kiss me again at the same moment.
"You’re dangerous," she murmured.
"So are you," I responded, coming closer again. "That’s why you fit in my world."
She shook her head. "I don’t want to belong to this world."
"You already do, Sienna."
Her hands tightened into fists. "You’re suffocating me."
"Good," I responded angrily. "Maybe then you’ll stop risking your life."
Her mouth twitched.
I almost broke then.
Almost told her everything—the true reason I dragged her into this horror.
But I couldn’t.
It would ruin her.
Instead, I pushed my voice steady. "Go home. Get some sleep. Tomorrow we start afresh."
She glanced at me, heart in her eyes.
"You’re lying to me," she replied quietly.
"Yes," I confessed.
A tear slipped down her face. She wiped it away swiftly, furious at herself.
I wanted to kiss every tear off her skin.
But I didn’t move.
"I’ll play your game, Dominic," she murmured, voice trembling. "For Ava. Not for you."
I nodded once, fists clutching at my sides. "Fair enough."
She turned and wrenched the door open, fleeing down the hall without looking back.
I stayed in the dark room, breathing like I’d just been gutted.
The door creaked behind me.
I didn’t turn.
I knew who it was.
"You’re losing control," the gentle feminine voice stated.
"Shut up, Victoria," I whispered.
Victoria Blackwell.
Victor’s sister.
My previous lover.
My worst error.
She snuggled up alongside me, tracing a hand down my arm.
"You can’t save her, Dom," she murmured. "You can’t even save yourself."
I gritted my teeth. "Get out."
"But it’s so fun watching you break," she murmured.
I turned then, seizing her wrist.
"If you touch her again," I shouted, voice trembling with wrath, "I’ll bury you."
Victoria smiled softly. "Is that a threat, darling? Or a promise?"
Before I could answer, my phone buzzed.
I glanced down—and my blood ran cold.
A fresh text.
A picture.
Sienna.
Blindfolded.
Hands bound.
Tears staining her face.
And a mess
"You took what was mine. Now I’m taking her.”
"If you touch me again... I might not let you go this time."
Her voice was a whisper on my breast, yet every syllable drove into me like a bullet.
I gazed down at Sienna.
Her hands were placed hard against my chest. Her body shook against me.
And her eyes—those stormy, seething eyes—held something new.
Something harmful.
Need.
God help me, I wanted to break this world apart simply to keep her staring at me like that.
I increased my grasp on her waist. "Who says I ever planned to let you go?"
Her breath hitched.
I bent down, brushing my nose against hers.
The club’s sounds were a faint thump outside the door. In here, there was simply us.
"Dominic..." she whispered.
My name, shattered on her lips, was my undoing.
I caught her mouth with mine again.
No hesitation.
No control.
She kissed me back with the same frantic passion.
Our teeth collided. Our hands clutched at each other.
It wasn’t sweet.
It wasn’t slow.
It was harsh, dirty, wonderful.
My hands slipped down to her thighs, elevating her. She wrapped around me without thinking, trusting me in a way that shattered my soul apart.
I whirled, knocking her into the wall.
She gasped into my mouth.
I kissed her harder.
Everything else faded.
Every lie. Every plan. Every conflict I was waging.
Only her.
Only this.
- Writer
