Married to the Enemy

Chapter 4

The room they were given after the wedding was at the very end of the estate, far from the main hall where the last guests were still talking. The noise from that part of the house only reached them in small bits—voices far away, the sound of people moving, but nothing that could really break the quiet waiting inside their room.

Everything about this room was planned. How the furniture was placed, the lights turned down low to make things soft, and the lack of anything that felt too personal. It was meant to be a neutral place, a space that belonged to neither of them but held them both.

For the first time that day, no one was watching them. There were no expectations to meet. No need to act like they had before.

Caius walked in first. The moment the door closed behind him, a slight change happened in his posture. The tightness he had carried through the wedding didn’t disappear, but it eased just enough for him to take a breath that felt like his own. He didn’t turn around right away. He walked a few steps into the room, his eyes moving briefly over the space before looking at something far away. The quiet felt different here, no longer shaped by other people, no longer filled with the pressure of being watched.

It should have felt like relief. It didn’t.

A second later, the door opened again. Luca entered without stopping, shutting it behind him with more force than needed. The sound bounced a little before fading, leaving the two of them alone in a silence that felt very full. Caius didn’t need to look to know he was there. The feeling in the air had already changed.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. The space between them remained, but it didn’t feel calm. It held everything that hadn’t been said all day, everything that had been pushed aside to get through what was expected of them. Caius walked further into the room, his steps careful, already making space between them without being obvious. Luca watched him. There was something sharp in his eyes, something that had been building since they stood together in front of others, something that hadn’t found its place yet.

“You walk away from everything that easily?” Luca asked finally, his voice breaking the quiet without getting loud.

Caius paused, but didn’t turn around right away. “There’s nothing here to stay for.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” The answer came right away.

Caius turned then, his face calm, his eyes looking at Luca with quiet focus. “Is it?”

Luca took a step forward. Then another. He didn’t hurry, but there was no doubt in how he moved. Whatever had held him back before was gone.

“We just got married,” Luca said, his voice sounding lighter, but with something else underneath it. “You don’t get to act like that means nothing.”

Caius met his eyes, not changing his expression. “It means exactly what it was meant to.”

“And what’s that?”

“An agreement.”

The word was spoken clearly. Luca let out a soft breath that almost sounded like a laugh. “You really believe that’s all this is going to be?”

Caius didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. Luca looked at him for another moment, something changing in his expression, something more focused than the anger that had driven him earlier. Then he closed the distance. It happened fast. One step, then another, and suddenly there was no space between them. His hand grabbed the front of Caius’ shirt, holding the fabric tight as he pulled him closer. There was no hesitation in the move. Then he touched his lips.

The kiss came just as quickly. It wasn’t soft or gentle. It carried the weight of everything Luca had been holding back—the frustration, the tightness, the restless energy that had nowhere else to go. It wasn’t about love, and it wasn’t about closeness. It was a sudden action. It was a challenge. It was something that needed a reaction.

For a second, Caius didn’t move. The moment hung there, sharp and unexpected. Then it broke.

PAK!!!

The hit from his fist against Luca’s face was quick and direct, the force enough to push him back a step. The sound cut through the room, leaving no room for doubt.

Luca stumbled a little, more from surprise than anything else. He raised his hand to his lip, his fingers touching the place where he had been hit. He tasted blood. For a moment, he just stood there, his eyes slowly looking back up at Caius.

Caius hadn’t moved. He stood where he was, his breathing steady, his expression unchanged, as if the moment that had just passed hadn’t affected him at all.

“You should stop there,” Caius said. His voice wasn’t loud. It didn’t need to be. “Whatever you think this is, it won’t end the way you expect.”

Luca blinked once, then let out a quiet breath, a sound close to a laugh escaping despite everything. “Is that your way of setting limits?” he asked, his tone lighter, though the tension was still there.

“If you want to call it that.”

Luca lowered his hand slightly, but his eyes didn’t leave Caius. There was a hint of something in his expression now—interest, more than annoyance.

“You’re my husband now,” he said. “You don’t get to pretend this isn’t happening.”

Caius held his gaze for another moment, something unreadable crossing his face before he turned away. “You’re not getting anything from me,” he said as he moved toward the door. “Not like that.”

There was no hesitation in his steps. No pause to see if Luca would answer. He reached the door and opened it, the quiet from the hallway entering the room for just a second. Then he stepped out. The door closed behind him with a soft, final sound.

Luca remained where he was. For a moment, he didn’t move at all. The room felt different now, the silence heavier, but not in the same way it had been before. He lifted his hand again, rubbing his thumb lightly against his lip. The slight sting brought him back to reality. Then he let out a quiet breath. A smile formed, slow and faint, though it wasn’t a gentle smile.

“That could have gone better,” he muttered to himself. But there was no real frustration in it. If anything, the opposite. He walked toward the nearest chair and sat down, leaning back slightly as his eyes looked toward the door Caius had just left through.

Being rejected should have bothered him. It should have made this whole situation feel worse. Instead, it did something else. It made it interesting. Luca tilted his head slightly, thinking about that idea as it settled in. Caius Ashford didn’t react like most people. He didn’t give in, didn’t change, didn’t reveal anything unless he chose to. This kind of resistance was not something Luca was used to. And it wasn’t something he intended to ignore.

“There’s nothing in this city I can’t get,” he said quietly, more to himself than anything else. The words didn’t sound like a threat. They sounded like a sure thing. His eyes stayed on the door for another moment before he finally leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.