Owned by the Don

CHAPTER 2 - Sebastian’s Mansion: Aria’s POV

The car slowed down as we approached a tall iron gate, and when it finally stopped, I lifted my eyes and saw the house beyond it.

It stood high above the sea, dark and silent under the night sky, like it was watching everything around it. The waves crashed hard against the rocks below, and the wind carried the sound up the cliff, loud and restless, as if the ocean itself was angry.

I stared at the mansion without speaking, but my chest felt tight, like the air around me had suddenly grown heavier.

“Where are we?” I asked quietly.

Sebastian did not answer.

He stepped out of the car without looking at me, closing the door behind him with a firm motion before giving a small nod to one of the guards standing nearby. The gate began to open slowly, the metal making a deep, dragging sound that echoed into the night.

I stayed where I was for a moment, unsure of what to do, but one of the guards reached in, grabbed my arm, and pulled me out of the car.

“Move,” he said.

I didn’t fight him. There was no point.

We walked through the gate, and as soon as I stepped inside, I noticed how different everything felt.

The place was too clean and quiet.

The ground beneath my feet was smooth and polished, reflecting the lights above like glass, and men dressed in black suits stood at different corners, watching us carefully without saying a word.

They didn’t move. They didn’t speak. They only watched.

Sebastian walked ahead of me as if none of this was unusual, as if this was simply his world and I had just stepped into it.

“Why am I here?” I asked, my voice low but steady.

He stopped near a wide staircase, but he didn’t turn immediately. For a second, he stood still, like he was thinking about something, then he finally faced me.

“You will stay here,” he said calmly, “until I decide what to do with you.”

The words settled heavily in my chest.

“What to do with me?” I repeated slowly, trying to understand what he meant.

“Yes,” he said simply.

I shook my head, taking a step forward despite myself. “I’m not something you can keep and decide over. You can’t just buy me and act like I belong to you.”

“I can,” he replied without hesitation.

His tone was calm, but there was something firm in it, something that made it clear he meant every word.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself, even though my heart was racing.

“You think you saved me,” I said, my voice shaking slightly. “But you didn’t. You are no better than the people in that room.”

His eyes changed. Not completely, but enough for me to notice.

He stepped closer, slowly, until there was almost no space left between us, and I could feel the heat of his body, the quiet strength in the way he stood.

“I didn’t buy you to save you,” he said, his voice lower now, rougher than before. “I bought you so no one else could touch you.”

My breath caught.

For a moment, I didn’t know what to say.

I looked up at him, searching his face, trying to find something that made sense, but all I saw was anger and something deeper that I couldn’t name.

“Why?” I whispered. “Why would you even care?”

His jaw tightened slightly.

“I don’t,” he said.

The answer came too quickly.

“Then why did you—”

“Enough.”

His voice cut through mine before I could finish.

“You will stay in the east wing,” he continued, his tone cold again. “You will not touch anything that doesn’t belong to you, you will not speak to anyone unless I allow it, and you will not try to leave this house.”

I felt my hands clench at my sides.

“And if I do?” I asked quietly.

He looked at me for a moment, his eyes steady and unreadable.

“Then you will regret it.”

The way he said it made a chill run down my spine.

“Dinner is at eight,” he added, already turning away. “If you are smart, stay in your room.”

And just like that, he walked away, leaving me standing alone in the large, silent hall.

The quiet felt heavier than the noise from the auction.

Hours passed slowly after that.

The room they gave me was large, almost too large for one person, with white walls and tall windows that faced the sea. The air carried the scent of salt, and the sound of the waves never stopped, as if they were reminding me that I was trapped on a cliff with nowhere to go.

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the door.

It was locked. Of course it was.

His words kept repeating in my head:

So no one else could touch you.

I didn’t understand what that meant, and I didn’t want to.

All I knew was that I couldn’t stay here like this. Not under his control.

When the clock passed midnight, I stood up quietly and walked toward the window. I wrapped the thin blanket around my shoulders, pushed the window open slowly, and stepped out carefully onto the narrow edge.

The wind was stronger outside, cold against my skin, but I ignored it as I climbed down slowly, my heart beating harder with every movement.

When my feet finally touched the ground, I didn’t stop.

I moved quickly toward the gate.

Freedom was right there. And I was close.

But then I saw him.

He was standing near the gate, his figure partly hidden in the shadows, but I knew it was him immediately.

Sebastian.

He didn’t move. He just stood there, watching me.

My heart dropped.

“Going somewhere, Aria?” he asked quietly.

The gate behind him closed with a heavy sound that echoed through the night, and something about it made my chest tighten.

He began walking toward me, his steps slow and controlled, like he already knew I had nowhere left to go.

I shook my head quickly. “I just needed air.”

He stopped in front of me, his eyes fixed on mine.

“Air?” he repeated calmly. “You were almost at the gate.”

“I wasn’t running,” I said softly.

His expression didn’t change.

“Don’t lie to me.”

I looked down, unable to hold his gaze any longer, and before I could move, he stepped closer, his presence surrounding me completely.

“If you try that again,” he said in a low voice, “I will make sure you don’t walk far enough to reach that gate.”

A chill ran through me, but I forced myself to speak.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked. “Why are you keeping me here?”

He stared at me for a moment, his face unreadable.

“Because I decided to.”

The answer felt empty, but final.

“Sebastian,” my voice softened without meaning to. “You weren’t like this before.”

Something changed in his expression for a brief second, but it disappeared just as quickly.

“Don’t tell me who I was,” he said sharply.

Then he turned away.

“Go back inside.”

I hesitated, my chest tight. “You used to be kind.”

He stopped walking.

His shoulders stiffened slightly, but he didn’t turn around.

“That boy is gone,” he said quietly.

The words felt heavier than anything he had said before.

I didn’t speak again. I just followed him back inside.

When we reached the hallway, he spoke without looking at me. “If you want air, open the window. Don’t step outside again.”

Then he walked away.

*********************

The next morning came slowly.

My eyes burned from lack of sleep, but I forced myself out of bed. I didn’t want him to see me weak, even if I felt like I was falling apart inside.

When I entered the dining room, he was already there.

Sebastian sat at the long table, going through papers as if nothing had happened the night before. A cup of coffee rested beside him, untouched, and his suit was perfectly neat, like he had everything under control.

I stopped near the doorway.

“You are acting like last night didn’t happen,” I said quietly.

He didn’t look up. “You are still standing, aren’t you?”

His answer made something tighten in my chest.

“You can’t keep me here forever,” I said.

He finally lifted his head, his eyes meeting mine.

“Forever?” he repeated. “You think I want you here?”

I didn’t know what to say.

He placed his pen down slowly. “You think I spent that money because I missed you?”

Heat rose to my face, but I held his gaze.

“Then why did you do it?” I asked.

He leaned back slightly in his chair.

“You should have been more careful about who you got involved with,” he said calmly.

“I didn’t,” I started, confused. “What are you talking about?”

“The man who sold you,” he continued, “was working for Adrian Costa.”

The name felt unfamiliar, but the way he said it made it sound dangerous.

“My rival.”

My stomach turned.

“So you bought me because you didn’t want him to have me?” I asked slowly.

He didn’t answer.

His silence said enough.

Before I could say anything else, the door opened.

A man walked in, tall and sharp, with a faint scar across his brow. His eyes moved between us before he stepped closer and placed something on the table.

It was small, silver, and worn with age.

My breath caught.

I knew it immediately.

The locket.

The one I had given Sebastian years ago, the night before everything fell apart.

My voice came out softer than I expected. “You kept it?”

Sebastian looked down at it, his expression unreadable, but his hand slowly closed around the small piece of silver.

The other man folded his arms, watching him carefully. “Found it in the safe,” he said. “Thought you might want to explain.”

For a moment, no one spoke.

Sebastian’s eyes lifted to meet mine, and something unreadable passed through them.

Then he spoke quietly, almost like he was talking to himself.

“Some things don’t disappear,” he said. “No matter how hard you try to bury them.”