THE RULES OF HIS WORLD
477 Words
Selena woke up to silence.
Again.
No honking cars, no neighbors fighting, no baby crying through thin apartment walls. Just the sound of waves, too far below to bring comfort. This house wasn’t peaceful. It was quiet in a threatening way the kind of silence that meant you were being watched.
She walked to the closet.
Another outfit waited there pressed, elegant, and expensive. She didn’t pick it. She didn’t even like it. But someone in the house had chosen it for her, and that alone made her uneasy.
Downstairs, the staff moved like ghosts. No one spoke to her. They nodded and stepped aside like she was something to be feared or pitied.
She finally broke the silence.
“Do you all work for Luca?”
The maid blinked. Then nodded quickly and rushed off.
Selena let out a breath. “Great. I married a mobster and a mute army.”
⸻
Later that afternoon, a folder was slipped under her door.
Inside was a typed sheet with a black Moretti seal at the top.
⸻
HOUSE RULES – MRS. RAYE-MORETTI
1. You do not leave the estate without written permission.
2. You do not speak to guests unless spoken to first.
3. You will attend all social functions when requested.
4. You will present yourself as my wife in public.
5. You will not ask questions about my business.
6. You will not touch what isn’t yours.
7. Disobedience will void the contract.
⸻
She stared at the last line.
“Disobedience will void the contract.”
And if the contract was voided… her brother’s treatment would end. His life, his future everything she signed for would vanish.
She crumpled the page, then froze as the door opened behind her.
Luca stood there, coat over his shoulder, face unreadable.
“You read it?”
She didn’t answer. He stepped inside, closing the door.
“You think this is a game?” he asked, voice quiet, dangerous.
“I think it’s prison.”
His jaw twitched. “Then you shouldn’t have signed your freedom away.”
“Why me?” she demanded. “Why not someone who actually wanted this?”
Luca’s eyes narrowed. “Because someone who wants this would expect love. Or attention. Or a real husband. I don’t do those things.”
Selena scoffed. “And what do you do?”
He stepped closer.
“Power. Silence. Control.”
The air between them thickened.
Her voice came out lower. “That’s not a marriage.”
He leaned in just slightly. Not touching her never touching but enough to make her skin prickle.
“It doesn’t need to be. You just need to obey.”
⸻
That night, Selena lay in her massive bed, wide awake.
She didn’t know what scared her more the rules, or how easy it would be to break them.
- Writer
