Beneath The Gilded Floor

Chapter 7: The Tense

"Cassius..?! Ah..!"

Her muscles seized beneath his fingers, her body stiffening as his grip tightened with an unyielding, possessive force.

A sharp gasp escaped Hansel’s lips as he watched the interaction, the harsh, domineering restraint instantly sparking a wild, furious heat in his chest.

"Look at him!" Hansel cried out, his voice cracking with raw desperation as he took another reckless step forward, completely uncaring of the murderous danger radiating from his brother's eyes. "He doesn't care about you, Natalia! You're just another piece of furniture to him, another rule to enforce! He locks you in his little garden, he dictates where you walk, who you talk to—he treats you like a prisoner in a pretty dress, just like me!"

His hands trembled violently as he reached out toward her, his fingers grazing empty air.

"Don't let him drag you back into his cage..." he whispered, his eyes wide and bloodshot, brimming with a sick, desperate devotion. "He'll never let you go. But I... I would give you everything he hides away."

***

The sound of her sharp intake of breath and the way her muscles tensed beneath his hand only fed the ice-cold fury freezing over Cassius's veins. He didn't even spare Hansel a glance; his entire focus narrowed down to the trembling woman trapped behind his shoulder.

"Stop talking," he murmured, his voice dangerously low, stripped of any warmth as he tightened his grip just enough to force her to step back with him toward the double doors.

His dark, unyielding gaze locked onto her panicked eyes, completely shutting out his brother's pathetic wailing.

"You belong to me, Natalia," he told her, every syllable dripping with absolute, terrifying ownership. "Not him. Not anyone else. We are leaving. Now."

"No… let.. me go..! Cassius..! I swear to God..! I’ll cancel this marriage..!" she sobbed out, her voice pitching with fierce, desperate defiance.

The words hit the air like a physical blow, and for a fraction of a second, the absolute control Cassius had maintained all his life fractured.

A dark, dangerous edge sharpened his gaze as he tightened his grip on her wrist until it ached, yanking her flush against his chest so hard she had nowhere to run. His voice dropped into a low, lethal hum that vibrated against her skin, completely stripped of any remaining civility.

"Cancel the marriage?" he echoed, his face inches from hers, his eyes burning with a cold, terrifying fury. "You don't get to walk away from me, Natalia. Your father's empire, your family's future—they are tied to my name now. You are stepping foot out of this room with me, and we are finishing this conversation in private. Do not test me."

"See?!" Hansel cried out, his voice cracking wildly as he took a desperate step forward, slamming his palm against the edge of the mahogany table. "He doesn't care what you want! He never did! You're just a transaction to him—a trophy for his collection!"

His eyes widened, burning with feverish desperation as he looked straight into her terrified, defiant face.

"Call your father!" he urged, his voice a frantic, ragged plea cutting through the air. "Don't let him drag you back! Break it off! I'll help you—I know every lock, every secret passage in these walls! Just don't let him win!"

With a sudden burst of adrenaline, Natalia shoved past Cassius's grip, her abrupt movement sending her stumbling down against the polished floorboards near the mahogany table where her fallen phone lay.

"Dad!! Help me!! The Everton’s mansion—"

Her panicked voice cut through the charged air of the library like a blade, raw and desperate.

"Yes! Call them! Tell them everything!" Hansel screamed out, his voice cracking wildly as he took a frantic step forward, desperate to shield her, to help her, to tear down every single brick his brother had built.

The sudden shove caught Cassius entirely off guard, a dark, murderous fury erupting in his chest as he stumbled half a step back.

Before the words could even finish leaving her lips, he moved with terrifying, cold speed. He closed the distance in a single stride, his hand shooting down to snatch the phone right out of her grip before her dad could answer on the other end, crushing the connection with a vicious tap of his thumb.

"Give me that," he snapped, his voice a lethal whisper as he yanked her up by her arm, completely ignoring her struggles.

His dark, unyielding eyes glared down at her, the mask of polite hospitality entirely shredded, leaving only raw, dominating possession in its wake. "You think a phone call is going to save you from me, Natalia? This conversation is over."

"A—! Let me go..! You're a liar! A kidnapper!" she wept, thrashing against his hold.

A harsh, humorless laugh escaped Cassius's throat, cold and sharp as glass, as he hauled her up against him regardless of her struggling, his grip biting mercilessly into her arm.

"A kidnapper?" he repeated, his voice dropping into a low, dangerous growl right against her ear as he dragged her toward the heavy double doors. "You walked through my gates of your own free will, Natalia. Your family signed the papers, and your life belongs to this estate now. There is no escaping out a door and no calling your father to bail you out."

He threw a single, lethal glance back over his shoulder at his brother, who was still trembling and shouting from the edge of the hidden wall.

"And as for you," Cassius snapped at Hansel, the absolute fury in his tone cutting through the room like a blade. "Get back in your hole where you belong before I seal that wall shut with concrete and leave you in the dark permanently."

"No! Don't touch her!" Hansel screamed out, his voice cracking in raw desperation as he lunged forward from the edge of the paneling, his hands clawing frantically at the air.

.

He's dragging her away.

.

The exact same thing he had done to Hansel. The same cold, unyielding cage. The sight of her struggling against his grip, crying out for help, shattered whatever fragile sanity Hansel had left. He didn't care about the threats. He didn't care about the dark anymore.

With a wild, unhinged cry, Hansel tore himself entirely out of the hidden service passage, stumbling heavily onto the Persian rug of the library floor, desperate to chase after the only piece of light he had ever known.