Sold To My Enemy

Two: “Sleep While You Can”

The city looked different from the back seat of Adrian Russo’s car.

Sharper.

Colder.

Like it belonged to him.

Rain streaked down the windows in silver lines, blurring streetlights into smears of gold and white, but none of it felt real enough to soften what had just happened. My hands were clenched so tightly in my lap that my nails bit into my palms.

No one spoke.

Not Adrian.

Not the driver.

Not the man sitting in the passenger seat who had glanced back at me exactly once before deciding I wasn’t worth acknowledging.

And certainly not me.

I hated all of them already.

I turned my head toward the window, jaw tight, forcing myself to breathe evenly. Panic was useless. Tears were worse. I wouldn’t give Adrian Russo either one.

Still, I could feel him beside me.

Not touching me.

Not looking at me.

Just there.

A quiet kind of danger. Controlled. Patient. Like he didn’t need to prove he was in charge because everyone in the car already knew it.

Including me.

I swallowed hard and kept my eyes on the rain.

“If you think I’m staying wherever you’re taking me, you’re insane.”

My voice sounded steadier than I felt.

The driver’s hands tightened slightly on the wheel.

Adrian didn’t move.

“Yet here you are,” he said without looking away from the documents he was reading.

The calm in his voice made something hot and furious twist in my chest. I turned toward him.

“This isn’t legal.”

That got his attention.

His gaze slid to mine, dark and unreadable.

“Is that what you’re worried about?”

“I’m worried about the fact that my father apparently handed me over to a sociopath.”

The man in the passenger seat made a sound that might have been a laugh. Adrian lifted one finger, and the car went silent again.

His eyes never left mine.

“You should be careful with words like that, Elara.”

I stiffened at the sound of my name on his lips.

“Why? Are you going to punish me?”

The second the words left my mouth, I wanted them back.

Not because I was afraid.

Because I hated how easily they made me sound afraid. Or worse. Like an invitation.

Adrian leaned back against the seat, one arm stretched loosely along the leather.

“No,” he said. “If I wanted to punish you, you’d know.”

A pulse skipped low in my stomach, and I hated that too.

I looked away first.

The rest of the drive passed in silence, but it was the kind of silence that made my skin feel too tight. Every few blocks I considered throwing open the door at a stoplight and running, but the locks were engaged, and even if they weren’t, I had no idea where we were anymore.

By the time the car slowed, we were nowhere near the part of the city I knew.

Massive iron gates opened without the driver even stopping. Beyond them, a long driveway curved toward a house that looked less like a home and more like a warning.

White stone. Black windows. Too many lights glowing against the rain.

Too much money.

Too much power.

I stared at it as the car rolled to a stop.

“You live here?” I asked before I could stop myself.

Adrian opened his door. “Get out.”

I stayed exactly where I was.

Rain hammered the roof of the car. Adrian stood outside, one hand braced on the open door, waiting.

He wasn’t going to drag me out.

Not yet.

That almost annoyed me more.

I lifted my chin and stepped out on my own from the opposite door.

The cold hit first. Then the rain. I braced myself against the cold seeping into my bones from both the weather and the look Adrian leveled me with as he closed the door he’d been holding open.

By the time I made it up the front steps, my dress clung too tightly around me. I folded my arms across my chest feeling too exposed. A woman in a dark fitted dress opened the door before Adrian even reached for it.

“Mr. Russo.”

Her eyes flicked to me only briefly. Whatever she thought, she hid it well.

“Take Miss Vance upstairs,” Adrian said. “Make sure she has what she needs.”

I let out a sharp laugh. “How generous.”

He looked at me then—really looked at me—and there was something unnerving about how calm he stayed.

“I’d dry off before you catch a cold,” he said.

“I’d rather freeze.”

His mouth almost moved. Not a smile. Something thinner. More dangerous.

“That can be arranged.”

The woman beside the door stepped back. “This way, Miss Vance.”

I didn’t move.

“I’m not going anywhere until he tells me what this actually is.”

The woman’s expression remained blank. Adrian removed his coat without acknowledging me and handed it to a man who had shared at his side.

“It’s simple,” he finally said. “Your father owed a debt.”

I crossed my arms. “So collect from him.”

“I did.”

Ice slid down my spine.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

He took one step closer.

Just one.

Still, it changed the entire air between us.

“Then ask the right question.”

I forced myself not to back up.

“Fine.” My voice came out sharper than intended. “Why me?”

For the first time all night, his expression shifted.

Not much.

Just enough.

His gaze dropped to my face like he was measuring what I could handle, then rose to meet my eyes again.

“Because money wasn’t the point.”

The words hit harder than I expected.

Before I could ask what that meant, he turned away.

“Take her upstairs.”

The woman gestured again. This time I followed, mostly because standing there begging for answers felt too close to weakness.

The staircase curved up through the center of the house in a sweep of black iron and pale marble. The entire place was beautiful in a way that felt soulless. Perfect lines. Cold surfaces. Nothing out of place.

Nothing soft.

I hated it on sight.

“My name is Sofia,” the woman said as she led me down a long hallway. “If you need anything, ask me.”

“I need a phone.”

“No.”

I stopped walking. “You answered that awfully fast.”

She met my stare without blinking. “Because the answer is no.”

Fantastic.

She opened a door near the end of the hall, and I stepped into a bedroom larger than my entire apartment.

Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city. A fireplace flickered against one wall. The bed looked expensive enough to ruin my life all by itself. There were fresh clothes laid out on a chair and a tray of untouched food by the sitting area.

I turned in a slow circle.

“This is ridiculous.”

Sofia stayed by the door. “There’s an adjoining bath. I’ll send someone for your wet things.”

“I’m not changing.”

“That wasn’t a request.”

I laughed once. “You people really love saying that.”

She almost smiled. Almost.

Then she left, closing the door softly behind her.

I was alone.

For exactly three seconds.

Then I crossed the room and tried the handle.

Locked.

Of course.

My chest tightened all over again.

I spun, taking in the windows, the fireplace, the far door that probably led to a closet. No phone. No personal items. No evidence that anyone actually lived in this room.

Just a polished cage.

I marched to the nearest window and shoved it upward.

Nothing.

It didn’t budge.

“Unbelievable.”

I paced once across the room, then again, fury keeping me warm where fear wanted to settle. If Adrian thought he could drop me in a luxury prison and wait for me to become obedient, he was about to be disappointed.

A soft knock sounded at the door.

I straightened instantly.

When it opened, Adrian stepped inside.

Alone.

My pulse jumped before I could stop it.

He closed the door behind him and leaned against it like he had every intention of staying.

I crossed my arms. “Do you always walk into women’s bedrooms uninvited?”

“It’s my house.”

“And my prison.”

His gaze moved over the room, then back to me. “If it were a prison, there would be bars.”

I pointed at the windows. “Functionally, same thing.”

He ignored that. “You should eat.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“That would be more convincing if you hadn’t looked at the tray twice since I walked in.”

Heat rushed to my face.

I hated that he’d noticed.

“I want my phone,” I said again.

“No.”

“I want to call my father.”

A muscle ticked once in his jaw.

“That’s not happening tonight.”

The answer sharpened something in me. “Because you’re afraid of what he’ll say?”

His eyes darkened.

“No,” Adrian said quietly. “Because I already know.”

Something in the room shifted.

Not louder.

Worse.

I held his gaze anyway. “Then tell me.”

He pushed off the door and walked toward me slowly, each step deliberate. I stood my ground until he stopped close enough that I had to tilt my chin to keep looking at him.

Too close.

His voice dropped.

“You want the truth?”

“Yes.”

His eyes locked onto mine.

“I didn’t ask your father for you as payment.”

My breath caught.

“He offered you.”

Every thought in my head vanished.

For a second, I couldn’t feel the room under my feet.

“That’s a lie,” I whispered.

Adrian’s face didn’t change.

“I don’t lie about business.”

Rage hit before heartbreak could.

I shoved his chest hard with both hands.

He didn’t even move.

“I said that’s a lie.”

He caught my wrist before I could push him again.

Not rough.

But firm enough to stop me cold.

My pulse thundered at the point of contact.

“Believe whatever you need to tonight,” he said, voice low. “It won’t change what happened.”

I should have yanked my hand away.

Instead, for one impossible second, I just stared at where his fingers wrapped around my wrist.

At how steady he was.

At how warm.

He let go first.

The loss of contact felt wrong enough to make me angry all over again.

“Get out,” I snapped.

Something unreadable flickered in his expression.

Then he glanced toward the tray once more.

“Eat, Elara.”

I laughed bitterly. “Or what?”

His gaze returned to mine.

“Or tomorrow gets harder.”

He turned, opened the door, and paused without looking back.

And then he said the one thing that made ice flood my veins.

“Sleep while you can.”

The door closed behind him.

I stared at it, pulse hammering.

Because men like Adrian Russo didn’t make threats they didn’t intend to keep.

And somehow—

I knew tomorrow was the day I’d find out why he really wanted me here.