KEEP HER CLOSE

The warning

Louisiana Vale didn’t sleep that night.She lay stiff on the edge of the guest bed, eyes locked on the envelope now hidden at the bottom of her drawer. The photos haunted her. Dozens of them every moment of her quiet life, captured like a movie she didn’t know she was starring in. Keep her close. She’s the key. The message spun in her mind until the morning sun filtered through the curtains. By then, she’d made a decision. She had to ask him. Even if she regretted it.

Alexander Reign was already at the dining table when she stepped out. Dressed in another crisp black suit, tie loose, posture straight, eyes locked on something important on his phone. He didn’t glance up as she approached.

“I said no noise in the morning,” he muttered, fingers still scrolling.

“I’m sorry,” she said, softly. “I just… I need to ask you something.”

That made him pause. His eyes flicked up to hers. “Speak.”

Her voice faltered, but she pushed through it. “I found something. In the room. An envelope. With pictures. Of me. And a message…”

His face didn’t move. Not a twitch. Not even a blink.

“I don’t understand what it means,” she continued, more quickly now. “It said keep her close. She’s the key. What does that mean? Why would anyone"

“Stop.” The word cracked through the air like a whip.

She froze.

Alexander stood, slow and controlled. His phone dropped onto the table with deliberate calm. His obsidian eyes didn’t blink as he stared at her. “You weren’t brought here to ask questions.”

“I wasn’t spying,” she said quickly. “It was just under the mattress”

“I don’t care.”

The silence that followed was worse than shouting. Cold. Icy. Final.

“You will not ask me about that again. Ever.”

She swallowed hard. “But it’s about me.”

His tone dropped. “You live here now, Miss Vale. That’s all you need to know.”

Then he reached for his mug, took a slow sip, and turned away from her like she was no longer standing there.

Louisiana stood frozen, heart racing. Shame and confusion twisted in her chest.

But then, without looking at her, he added calmly, “Since you’re so curious today, you can mop the entire top floor. And I want every window washed inside and out before sundown.”

She blinked. “The… the windows?”

“That’s what I said.”

“There are twenty-four of them.”

“Then you’d better start early.”

He didn’t wait for a response. He didn’t even look back.

Louisiana bit down on her lip, fists curling at her sides.

He wanted silence. He wanted obedience. But something about his eyes this morning told her the same thing she was already starting to fear.

Alexander Reign knew exactly what that envelope meant. And he wasn’t going to tell her.