CHAPTER 4: TERMS OF OWNERSHIP
335 Words
Elize barely slept.
Not because the bed wasn’t comfortable—it was.
Too comfortable.
Like everything in the DeLuca house, it felt… deliberate. Controlled. As if even rest here came with conditions.
By morning, she was already dressed.
Composed.
Ready.
A knock came at her door.
“Enter,” she said.
It opened without hesitation.
Luca.
Of course.
He didn’t ask permission. He didn’t need to.
His gaze swept over her once—quick, assessing.
“You adjust fast,” he noted.
“I don’t have the luxury not to,” Elize replied.
He stepped inside, closing the door behind him.
That small sound—the click—felt louder than it should have.
“Good,” he said. “Because we’re setting expectations.”
Elize crossed her arms slightly.
“I assumed the contract covered that.”
“It covered structure,” Luca said. “Not reality.”
He moved closer, stopping just enough to invade her space without touching her.
“You will attend events with me. Speak when necessary. Stay quiet when it’s not.”
Her chin lifted a fraction.
“And if I don’t?”
His expression didn’t change.
“You will.”
There it was again.
That quiet certainty.
Elize held his gaze.
“You’re very confident.”
“I don’t deal in uncertainty,” Luca replied.
A pause.
Then, softer—
“Especially not in my own house.”
The message was clear.
This was his world.
His rules.
His control.
But Elize didn’t step back.
“Then you should be careful who you bring into it,” she said.
For a moment, something flickered in his eyes.
Interest.
Danger.
“Too late for that,” he said.
Then he turned, heading for the door.
“Be ready in an hour.”
“For what?”
He glanced over his shoulder.
“Your first appearance as my wife.”
The word landed heavier than it should have.
Wife.
Elize didn’t react outwardly.
But inside—
She was already calculating.
- Writer
