Chapter 70
I watched Dominic’s expression harden, his grip still tight around the phone.
He didn’t speak right away.
Didn’t move.
Just stared at the floor, his jaw tense, as if weighing something heavy in his mind.
I crossed my arms, my eyebrows dipping into a frown as I noticed he squinted his eyes. Which it’s something common he does whenever he is thinking of a plan?
“What’s wrong?”
His eyes flicked to me, unreadable.
Then, after a beat-
“What do you think about following me to an event?”
I raised a brow. “An event?”
“A ball,” he clarified, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Hosted by Mikael.”
My stomach dropped.
Mikael.
I knew that name too well.
The same man who had taken me. Beaten me. Threatened me.
The man who had left that letter. The thought of going there made goosebumps appeared on my skin. Dominic reached out, rubbing a hand against my arm. “He would not hurt you. Not while I am here.”
I swallowed giving him a small smile. “Thanks, I understand.”
“So what do you say?”
I ran a hand through my hair. “Why the hell would I go to a ball hosted by him?”
Dominic’s gaze
I hesitated.
darkened. “Because he wants me there. And you too. And I want to know why.”
Every instinct told me to stay out of it.
To let him handle his business the way he always did–through brute force and intimidation.
But something about this was… different.
Dominic was powerful. He was feared. But even he knew this wasn’t just some simple gathering.
Rich mafia men never hold balls for just sitting down and talking. They strategize. The access and worse of all they hurt the weak.
Unfortunately, I fell on the weak part.
And if Mikael had specifically invited him…
It was a trap.
I exhaled sharply. “Don’t you think it’s a setup?”
He didn’t answer.
But he didn’t have to.
The tension in his posture told me everything.
I bit my lip. “And you want me to be there why?”
He tilted his head, his gaze trailing over my face, as if studying me.
Then-
“To show them you belong to me ad to see why Mikael wants you there.”
My breath caught.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Successfully unlocked!
I swallowed hard. “I thought I wasn’t yours. I am not a thing and it’s quite obvious Mikael wants me there to know how to kill me.”
“He won’t kill you.” His lips curled into something dark. “indeed, You aren’t mine. Yet.“.
Chapter 70
Then, he stepper closer, his voice dropping lower.
“But they don’t need to know that”
A chill ran down my spine.
Dominic had this way of making words feel heavier than they should. Like they weren’t just sentences–they were commands.
My throat went dry. “So… what, I’m supposed to be some kind of trophy?”
He tilted his head slightly, studying me. “No.”
I exhaled sharply. “Then what?”
His gaze dipped lower, trailing over me in a way that made my skin heat. When his eyes met mine again, they were unreadable.
“You’ll be dressed up,” he said smoothly. “You’ll look expensive. Untouchable. You are my woman. My other half. That’s what you are.”
His voice was low. Velvety and it made me shuffle on my feet as my belly seemed to jump at just that statement. Jeez. So easily pleased.
“And every single man in that room will know exactly whose power you are under.”
My heart skipped.
I hated that it did.
I hated how my body reacted to the weight of his voice, the way he spoke as if his decisions weren’t up for debate.
I folded my arms, trying to ground myself. “That’s assuming I agree to go.”
His expression didn’t change. “You will.”
I scoffed. “You’re awfully sure of yourself.”
A smirk ghosted across his lips. “I know you, Gattina. You’re dying to be involved.”
I wasn’t.
…Okay, maybe I was.
Just a little.
But I wouldn’t admit that.
Not to this egoistic idiot. He would float and make me feel the pressure of it.
I huffed, tilting my chin. “Fine. What else do I need to know?”
He took a slow breath, shifting his weight. “Mikael won’t be the only one there. He’ll have people from other families. Some allies. Some enemies. Some will pretend to be neutral.”
My fingers curled against my arms. “And you don’t trust any of them.”
His lips twitched, like I’d just said something amusing. “I trust them to look out for their own interests.”
That was fair.
He continued, voice dropping slightly. “You’ll be introduced to a few of them. You won’t speak unless spoken to. You won’t stray from my side. And above all..”
His jaw ticked slightly.
“You don’t dance.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
His gaze darkened. “You heard me.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “You’re telling me that at a ball, I’m not allowed to dance?”
“Not like you did today.”
My amusement died instantly.
A flush crept up my neck as I remembered–the way I had danced in the middle of the mansion, defiant, reckless, spiteful.
The way his men had stared, and the fury that had burned in Dominic’s gaze when he had found me.
I rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t planning on stripping in front of a room full of criminals, Dominic.”
His jaw clenched slightly. “Good. I am unsure on what you can do now.”
I shook my head. “But why bring me at all? If you’re so paranoid about what I might do?”
Something flickered in his expression.
2/3
Something to those re
Buse they me to see you
Hrowed Why?*
He bestand Just for a second
Then he exhaled
Akeel has aready used you as leverage once he murmured. “If I show up alone, he’ll assume he still can. Happy? Now you can stop asking
Realization bt me all at once
It wasn’t just about control
It wasn’t just about parading me in front of those men
It was strateg
A more on a chessboard
Why didn’t I notice this earlier? Maybe that’s why I am not a don.
But seriously though standing beside him, I wouldn’t just be his. I’d be a threat. A reminder that I had survived everything Mikael had done to me–and that Dominic had taken me back.
And Mikael hated losing.
Tinhaled sharply feeling something shift in my chest. “So this is a game to you?”
He tited his head slightly. “Everything is a game, Aria”
I swallowed.
I hated that he was right.
3/3
Subscribed
♡
