Chapter 4: The Pushback
1207 Words
Sienna didn’t sleep that night.
She lay in the huge bed, staring at the ceiling while the city lights danced on the walls. Every time she closed her eyes, she heard his voice that single word: No.
She wasn’t his prisoner. She wouldn’t let herself be.
At dawn, she found Liam waiting in the hallway like a shadow. He startled when she stepped out, wearing jeans and a simple sweater from the closet she hadn’t asked for.
“Miss Reed”
“Liam, right?” she cut in, voice calm but tight. “I’m going to see my mother. If you want to stop me, you’ll have to drag me back in here kicking and screaming and then explain to the entire city why you’re locking up a pregnant woman.”
Liam’s jaw ticked. He didn’t move. Didn’t answer.
So she pushed past him barefoot, heart hammering, pretending she didn’t feel his eyes on her back like a sniper’s dot.
She made it to the private elevator before the doors slid open.
Alexander was inside.
She froze, chest tight. He stepped out, immaculate as ever tailored suit, cold eyes, that calm that made her want to scream.
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said, voice quiet but lethal.
“I’m visiting my mom,” she snapped. “I’m not asking.”
He didn’t shout. Didn’t threaten. He simply stepped closer, so close she had to tilt her chin to hold his gaze.
“You agreed to my terms,” he murmured. “Break them, and I break every promise I made to help you.”
Something in her chest splintered pride or fear, she couldn’t tell.
“You can’t own me,” she whispered.
His eyes dropped to her belly. “No. But I own everything that matters now.”
He didn’t lock her in her room. He didn’t need to. The penthouse was a fortress in the sky glass, steel, and silent staff who answered only to him.
Sienna paced the living room like a caged animal, every window a taunt: the world was right there, but so far out of reach.
She called Nicole. Straight to voicemail.
She called the hospital where her mother was supposed to be getting treatment. The nurse confirmed the bills were paid anonymous donor, no questions asked.
So Alexander had done it. He’d kept his promise.
But at what cost?
She stormed into his study that night a grand room of dark wood and city lights and found him behind his massive desk, sleeves rolled up, pen scratching across some contract worth more than her entire life.
“I want to see her,” she said, before he could dismiss her.
His eyes flicked up, slow and infuriatingly calm. “No.”
She slammed her hands on the desk, the sound echoing off the cold walls.
“I’m not your pet. I’m not your, thing to keep on display”
He stood so fast she stumbled back. The desk was gone between them in a blink.
He didn’t touch her. Just leaned close enough that she could see the tired shadows under his perfect control.
“Everything I do,” he said, voice low and frayed at the edges, “is for that child. You will not risk it.”
“You mean me,” she shot back. “Say it, Alexander. You don’t trust me.”
His silence was her answer.
Three days passed like that silence, tension, and walls neither of them would breach.
Then she saw her.
Sienna was curled up in the penthouse library not reading, just hiding when the elevator chimed.
A woman stepped out tall, elegant, white dress hugging a frame so perfect it made Sienna want to shrink into the carpet. She looked like a polished statue, every hair pinned in place, diamonds at her throat that glittered in the soft light.
She didn’t knock. She didn’t announce herself. She moved through the penthouse like she owned it.
Sienna slipped into the hallway just in time to hear a voice cold, sweet, dripping poison.
“Alexander,” the woman purred. “You didn’t tell me your… guest was so ordinary.”
Sienna’s chest clenched.
She peered around the corner. There he was standing stiff by the floor to ceiling windows, hands in his pockets, mask firmly back in place.
“Olivia,” he said, the name sharp as a blade.
The woman Olivia tilted her head, eyes glittering as they flicked toward Sienna’s hiding place.
“So this is the reason you’ve been so… distracted?”
Sienna stepped out before she could second guess herself.
“Hi,” she said, voice steady despite the way Olivia’s eyes sliced her open. “I’m”
“Oh, I know who you are,” Olivia cooed, stepping closer with the kind of smile that made Sienna’s skin crawl. “The waitress. The problem.”
Alexander’s jaw ticked. “Olivia, enough.”
Olivia ignored him. She circled Sienna like a shark. “Did you think this would change anything? Sweet girl, you have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Sienna lifted her chin. “And who am I dealing with?”
Olivia’s smile sharpened. “Your child’s future grandmother. If you think that buys you a place in this family, you’re delusional.”
“Olivia”
“No, Alexander,” Olivia cut him off, not even looking his way. “She needs to hear this now. You? You’re temporary. Replaceable. He’ll grow bored he always does. And when he does, you’ll be gone. But the baby? The baby stays. So enjoy your little fairytale while you can.”
She patted Sienna’s cheek like she was five years old, then turned and glided to the elevator never looking back.
The doors closed behind her.
Sienna’s hands curled into fists at her sides.
Alexander stared at her, unreadable.
“Don’t listen to her,” he said.
But the worst part? Sienna didn’t know if she should.
Two days later, she heard it through Liam an offhand comment she wasn’t supposed to catch.
“A charity gala. Miss Taylor confirmed. Press will be there. Mr. Kane wants no surprises.”
Sienna waited until Liam left the room. Then she found Alexander in his private lounge, swirling amber whiskey in a crystal glass like a villain in a movie.
“You’re going to a party,” she said flatly.
He didn’t look up. “A business obligation.”
“And I stay here. Locked up. Like a dirty secret.”
He did look at her then and for once, he didn’t have a quick retort ready.
“You can’t come,” he said finally. “It’s not safe.”
“For you or for me?” she shot back, Silence.
She crossed the room, planting her hands on the back of the chair across from him. She leaned in, close enough to see the faint stubble on his jaw, the flicker in his cold eyes.
“I’m not hiding anymore, Alexander. If you want me locked up, you’ll have to drag me back yourself.”
He set the glass down too careful, too controlled.
His voice was soft, dangerous. “Careful, Sienna.”
She smiled all teeth, no fear.
- Writer
