Chapter Four
860 Words
AMARIS POV;
The gates don’t scream when they close.
They seal.
A deep mechanical sound rolls through the car, and something inside my chest tightens instantly.
I look back once. Just once, at the stretch of the road disappearing behind us.
Freedom shrinking into distance.
‘’this is unnecessary’’ I say, my voice steady only because my grandmother is sitting beside me.
Elvis doesn’t take his eyes off the road. ‘’its not’’.
‘’you could’ve sent guards, safe houses. Anything but this.’’
He exhales through his nose. ‘’This is the safest place in the city.”
‘’For who’’ I ask sharply.
His jaw tightens. He doesn’t answer.
The house is massive, all steel and glass and silence. It doesn’t feel lived in, it feels controlled. Men in suits scan us as we step out. One of them reaches for my grandmother’s bag before I can protest.
‘’I’ve got it’’ I say.
‘’It's fine dear,’’ Grandma Murmurs, but she doesn’t look convinced.
Inside, I’m handed rules disguised as courtesies. Where we can go, where we’ll eat, and who will escort us. My room is placed directly across from my grandmother’s like it’s a strategy, not kindness.
‘’this isn’t protection’’ I say once we’re alone. ‘’its surveillance’’.
‘’I warned you’’ Elvis replies quietly. ‘’power never leaves you alone once it notices you’’.
‘’I didn’t ask for its attention.’’
‘’You saved my life’’
‘’And lost my own’’ I shoot back.
The words hang between us. His eyes darken, not angry, worried something softer hiding beneath.
‘’You don’t understand what they will do to you’’ he says.
‘’I understand loss’’ I snap ‘’I understand fear. I just refuse to let it run my life.”
He steps closer then, close enough that I feel the warmth of him. Not touching never crossing that invisible line.
‘’I can’t let you walk out there’’ he says quietly, ‘’I can’t.’’
‘’And I can’t live in a cage’’, I whisper.
For a moment, neither of us moves. The air feels tight, stretched thin like it might break if one of us reaches.
Then grandma’s voice cuts through it gently.
‘’You too argue like people who care very much.’’
We both freeze.
She smiles faintly at us, tired but knowing. ‘’Fear can disguise itself as anger. Don’t let it fool you.’’
Later that evening, I wander into the kitchen, barefoot and restless. Elvis is already there, leaning against the counter. Sleeves rolled up, hands gripping a mug he hasn’t touched.
‘’You’re still awake’’ he says.
‘’so are you’’.
Silence settles, not uncomfortable this time. Just heavy.
‘’I used to want a hotel’’ he says suddenly, ‘’somewhere warm, somewhere people choose to be’’.
I look at him, surprised.
‘’My father wanted this empire.’’ He continued, ‘’I wanted doors that opened for joy. Not fear.’’
‘’why didn’t you fight him’’.
He meets my gaze. ‘’Because fighting families costs more than losing dreams’’.
Something soft shifts in my chest.
‘’I never got to chase mine’’, I admit. ‘’I wanted to be a nurse.’’
‘’After my parents died, life became about survival.’’
He watches me carefully, ‘’you deserved better’’.
‘’So did you’’
Our eyes linger too long. The moment stretches, intimate, fragile, dangerous. For just a second, the walls don’t feel so close.
Then the door opens.
The energy changes instantly.
She enters like she owns the air.
Linda.
Perfect, polished, possessive.
‘’Elvis ‘’ she says smoothly, ‘’your father said I’d find you here’’.
She notices me a heartbeat later. Her smile sharpens.
‘’And you must be the guest’’
‘’A forced one’’, I reply coolly.
Linda’s eyes flick to Elvis ‘’living here?’’
‘’Yes’’ he says firmly.
Her lips curve into something cold. ‘’interesting’’.
Tony Stewart steps in behind her, calm as ever calculated.
‘’Amaris’’ he says, ‘’still causing ripples’’.
I hold his gaze. ‘’ripples turn into waves.’’
Linda steps closer to Elvis, threading her fingers through his arm possessively.
‘’Careful’’ she murmurs to me. ‘’you don’t want to drown’’.
The threat isn’t loud, it doesn’t need to be.
Elvis pulls his arm free. ‘’enough.’’
Linda’s smile doesn’t break, but her eyes harden.
‘’You’ve made your point. But remember, everything in this house belongs to an agreement’’.
Her gaze cuts back to me.
‘’Temporary things don’t get comfortable’’.
I swallow, refusing to look away.
‘’neither do permanent lies’’.
Tony watches the exchange with interest. Calculation.
‘’This arrangement’’ he says ‘’will be short-lived’’.
Elvis steps forward, anger finally slipping through his control.
‘’She stays’’.
Linda leans in, voice barely above a whisper. ‘’We’ll see’’.
Her eyes promise war.
As they leave, the air feels heavier than before.
‘’You should hate me’’, Elvis says quietly.
‘’I don’t’’, I admit.
‘’I won’t let it touch you’’.
I look at him, really look.
‘’Then stop pretending you don’t care’’.
For once, he doesn’t deny it.
And that terrifies us both.
- Writer
