Chapter 6: The Chains We Choose
701 Words
Chapter 6: The Chains We Choose
(The past doesn’t stay buried)
Aria stood in the silence after Cade left, wrapped in a sheet that now felt more like a shroud than a memory. Her skin still buzzed from his touch, her lips still swollen from his kisses—but her heart?
It was bruised.
We’re what we always were.
Bound by a contract.
Like it meant nothing.
Like she meant nothing.
She clenched the sheet tighter, fury rising in her throat. Because she had surrendered to him last night—not just her body, but something deeper. Something she’d locked away for years.
And he had reduced it to terms and conditions.
The next few days passed in a slow-burning hell.
Cade was… cold again.
Polite. Distant. Professional, even.
The man who had torn her apart in bed didn’t even meet her eyes over breakfast.
He left early. Came home late. Sometimes not at all.
And Aria? She refused to chase him.
She’d survived worse than this. She’d lived through silence before. But that didn’t mean it didn’t cut her, piece by piece.
By day three, the ache turned to anger.
She found him in his office, jacket off, sleeves rolled up, jaw tight as he signed documents.
“I need to talk to you,” she said, stepping in.
He didn’t look up. “Not now.”
“No,” she snapped. “Now.”
His pen froze. Slowly, he lifted his eyes to hers.
Dangerous. Sharp. On edge.
“What exactly do you want, Aria?”
She crossed the room. “Clarity. Honesty. Something other than this frozen act you keep hiding behind.”
Cade stood. “You knew the rules when you signed the contract.”
“And you broke them the second you kissed me.”
His eyes flickered. But his voice stayed cool. “That was a mistake.”
Her breath caught like a slap. “A mistake.”
“I warned you not to get attached.”
She laughed—short and bitter. “I’m not attached. I’m awake. You think I’m the same scared girl who signed your contract because she had no options? I’ve seen you now. The real you.”
“You don’t know a damn thing about me,” he growled.
“I know you push people away because you’re afraid of what happens if they stay!”
Silence.
Thick. Heavy. Raw.
Then Cade stepped around the desk, slow and predatory.
“You think you’re some kind of saint?” he rasped. “You kissed my brother, Aria. You betrayed me before I even had a chance.”
“You locked me in a gilded cage and refused to touch me for weeks! I was desperate—for air, for anything!”
His jaw worked. “So you ran to Damon.”
“I didn’t sleep with Damon!”
“But you thought about it.”
She didn’t deny it.
Because she had.
And that truth hurt more than the lie ever could.
Cade’s voice dropped, lower, more dangerous. “Do you want him now?”
“No.”
“Then stop running.”
He grabbed her waist, hauling her into him.
“Cade—”
“No more games,” he whispered against her lips. “You’re mine. For six months, for six years—I don’t care anymore. But if you touch anyone else, I’ll ruin them.”
His kiss came hard—furious. A war between punishment and possession. She melted against him despite herself.
And this time, she didn’t fight the fire.
Later, when they lay tangled in silk sheets once again, Aria stared at the ceiling.
“Why me?” she whispered. “Why did you choose me for this contract?”
Cade didn’t answer right away. His hand skimmed lazily over her bare hip.
“Because you didn’t want me,” he said finally.
“What?”
“You looked at me like I was a threat. Not a fantasy. That made you real. And I was tired of the fakes.”
Her throat tightened. “And now?”
He looked down at her, something haunted in his gaze.
“Now, you terrify me.”
- Writer
