By the time we finally got back to Matteo’s house, I was exhausted. My body ached from running, my ears still rang from the sound of gunfire, and my brain wouldn’t stop spinning.

The house looked different tonight — not the quiet mansion I had first been dragged into, but a fortress. Armed guards were posted at every entrance, earpieces crackling as they murmured updates. Every light seemed brighter, every shadow deeper.

“Go to your room, bella,” Matteo said as we stepped inside. His voice was calm, but I could hear the edge under it.

“I’m not tired,” I said.

He gave me a look. “You had a long day.”

“And you nearly got killed!” I shot back.

His jaw tightened. “This isn’t up for debate. Go.”

“No.”

His brows lifted slightly, like no one had ever told him that before.

“No?” he repeated.

“I said no. You don’t get to just dismiss me and expect me to curl up and sleep like nothing happened. I need answers, Matteo.”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose like he was trying to be patient. “Tomorrow—”

“No. Now.”

For a long moment, he just stared at me. Then, without a word, he turned and started walking down the hall.

I followed him.

Every step felt like a dare.

He led me upstairs, past several closed doors, until he stopped in front of one at the end of the hall. When he opened it, my breath caught.

His room was… breathtaking.

It was massive, twice the size of my apartment. Dark wood floors gleamed under the soft golden light from a chandelier overhead. A massive four-poster bed dominated the space, draped in dark silk sheets. There was a wall of windows looking out over the city, and beyond that, a balcony.

“This is your room?” I asked softly, stepping inside.

“Yes.”

“It’s bigger than my entire apartment.”

His mouth curved slightly. “I don’t do small spaces.”

I turned to face him. “Then maybe you can explain why I’m trapped in one.”

His expression hardened. “You’re not trapped, bella.”

“Really?” I shot back. “Because last I checked, I can’t leave. I can’t go back to my job, my boyfriend, my life—”

“That life is gone,” he said sharply, cutting me off.

My chest tightened. “You don’t get to decide that.”

“Yes, I do,” he said, his voice low and deadly calm now. “Because if I let you go, they will kill you.”

I froze.

He took a step closer. “The men who attacked us saw your face. Vieri knows who you are now. If you leave my protection, you won’t last a week.”

I swallowed hard. “So what? I just stay here forever? Hide in your house like a… like a kept woman?”

“If that’s what it takes to keep you alive.”

The quiet finality in his voice made something twist in my stomach — anger, fear, something else I didn’t want to name.

“You dragged me into this!” I snapped. “I didn’t ask for any of it. I didn’t want to see you kill someone. I didn’t want to get involved with you or your world. I just wanted a normal life!”

Matteo was suddenly in front of me, so close I had to tilt my head back to look at him.

“You think I wanted this?” he said, his voice rough. “You think I wanted you to see what I am? I tried to keep you away. But you kept coming closer. And now you’re mine, whether you like it or not.”

My heart was pounding so hard it hurt.

“Yours?” I repeated, my voice shaking.

“Yes.”

He reached out, his fingers brushing my jaw, tilting my face up.

“Matteo—”

Before I could finish, his lips brushed against the side of my throat.

I froze.

His mouth was warm, his breath hot against my skin.

“This,” he murmured against my neck, “is what happens when you follow me into the dark, bella.”

My hands curled into fists at my sides, but I didn’t pull away.

“Stop,” I whispered.

He pulled back just enough to look me in the eye. “Do you want me to stop?”

I hated how quiet my voice sounded when I said, “Yes.”

He smiled faintly — not cruel, but knowing. “Liar.”

His mouth pressed to the hollow of my throat, slow, almost lazy, like he had all the time in the world. My breath came out uneven.

“Matteo—”

“Say it,” he said softly.

“Say what?”

“That you want me.”

I glared at him, even as my pulse betrayed me. “You’re arrogant.”

“And you’re shaking,” he said, his thumb brushing along my collarbone.

I shoved his chest, but it was weak, half-hearted.

“You make me crazy,” I muttered.

His smile deepened. “Good.”

Then, just as suddenly, he stepped back.

I blinked, my breath still uneven.

“When I finally take you,” he said quietly, “you won’t be this angry. You’ll be begging me to finish.”

Heat flared through me — anger, embarrassment, want.

“You’re insane,” I snapped.

He just smirked, heading toward the door. “Rest, bella. We leave at dawn.”

“Leave? Where are we going?”

He glanced back over his shoulder, his eyes dark. “To remind Vieri why he should have stayed out of my business.”

Then he was gone, leaving me alone in the middle of his impossibly big room, my heart still pounding.

And I hated that a part of me wanted him to come back.