[ IRIS’S POV ]

The Russo estate was a labyrinth of cold marble and echoing silence, but tonight, it felt like a tomb.

The air felt different. Not when two powerful families are in the estate at the moment. To form an alliance that would be sealed in blood.

I lay in the comfort of my bed.  My mind went back to the event that had played in the gala.

I could still feel his touch on my hand. After the brush with his skin at the gala. The room felt too small, the air thin. 

I needed to breathe, but more Importantly I needed to hide.  So I left.  Away from the party. Away from people’s gazes. 

How much I hate parties. Hate being in the same space with a lot of people.

I slipped out of my bedroom, my bare feet silent on the hallway marble floor. I made my way to the library, the only space in the house that didn’t feel like a stage set for a mafia play.

 It was a two-story sanctuary of mahogany shelves and a comforting scent of old papers.

I didn’t turn on the light. The moonlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows was enough to guide me to my favorite book. I sank into the velvet armchair, pulling my knees to my chest.

“You smell of jasmine and rebellion,”

His voice still lived in my ears, a low frequency that made my pulse jump every time I closed my eyes. Do I like it? yes.

Salvatore Moretti was supposed to be my brother-in-law. He was supposed to be the man who secured our family's future.

 He wasn’t supposed to look at me like I was the only person in the room full of royalty.

I reached into the pocket of my silk robe and pulled out a small, silver locket. I had found it on my pillow three months ago. No note. No card. Just delicate pieces of jewelry with a single petal pressed inside.

 It was my favorite flower. A detail I had never told anyone, not even Sofia.

“Do you like it ?”

The voice didn’t come from the hallway. It came from the shadow behind the desk, deep and smooth like an expensive bourbon.

I bolted upright, my heart leaping into my throat,” Who’s there?” I asked, clutching the locket tightly to my chest.

The shadow detached itself from the darkness. 

Salvatore.

He wasn’t wearing his suit jacket anymore. His white dress shirt was unbuttoned at the collar, the sleeve rolled up to reveal a forearm corded with muscles and marked by the dark ink of tattoos I couldn’t quite decipher in the dark.

I hated tattoos, hated how they looked on people. But to him it looked beautiful. So much that I could run my lips on it all day and bathe it with my tongue.

He looked less like a businessman now and more like a killer everyone whispered he was.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I whispered, my voice trembling.“ This is my father’s private study. If he finds you”

“Then he will do what? He asked moving closer to me,” I would like to know what your father would do to me. Especially… when he finds me running my fingers over his precious little daughter.

I shifted back and he walked slowly to me.

 “Taking her raw in his private study…” he emphasizes the study just enough to make me know he doesn’t give a fuck about what my father thought or thinks.

I take a step away from him. I watched as his muscles flexed under the casual clothes he wore.

 The way his lips move.  And God. How would it truly feel to have it all over my body? The devil’s lips.

“Your father is currently drunk on his vintage, celebrating a deal he thinks he won,” Salvatore said, stepping into the silver of moonlight.

“Think he won?” Aren’t you here to sign a deal with my father to stop the war and take Sofia as the medal?”

He didn’t reply but instead. His eyes were fixed on the locket in my hand.

“And Sofia is dreaming of a wedding that would have been what she expects. He continued.

He takes another step towards me, his gait slow and predatory. I should have run. I should have screamed. But my legs felt like jelly. Gummed to the floor by the sheer weight of his presence.

“The locket,” I said, my voice gaining strength,” you sent this?”

“Took you long enough to know.Iris.” His eyes moved to the locket then back to me.

“I sent all of them,” he said, stopping just an inch from me. He was so tall that I had to crane my neck to look at him.

He smelled of sandalwood, expensive tobacco, and something dark, like the woods after a storm.” The books. The Lilies on your birthday. The vintage camera you found on your doorstep when you turned eighteen.”

My breath hitched.”That was you? For five years …. I thought I had a guardian angel. Or a ghost.”

“I am no angel,  little mouse,” he growled, reaching out. I flinched, and he smirked.

At first, I thought he would be angry, and lash out at me. 

My father always said men like Salvatore should be giving whatever they want. Obey their every command. But he’s not angry.

 Instead, he tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear. His fingers were warm, his touch surprisingly gentle which made it even more terrifying.

 “And I am more dangerous than a ghost. A ghost can’t touch. Can’t keep what belongs to him,” he said.

“But me, I will not only touch you, I will spread you apart and ruin you in every way possible, so that you won’t have a choice but to come back for more.” he continued.

“I did not belong to you, I never did. And I never would. I hissed, though the way my body leaned into his touch betrayed me.

“You’re to be engaged to my sister tomorrow, and the papers will be signed tomorrow.”

Salvatore laughed, a low, dark sound that sent a shiver down my spine.

”I signed a piece of paper to get into the walls. To be close enough to finally reach out and take what I’ve been watching from a distance for five long years. 

Five years? What the hell did he mean by five years?

“And oh! If you keep saying you did not belong to me, I will have no option but to bend you over a desk here to show you who you belong to. Should we put that in text?  Mamasita?”

[ IRIS'S POV ]

Bend me over? Did he just say he would bend me over? Fear crashed into me. So much so that I did not want anything more than to escape. From him. From the estate and all other things.

He watched me, a low smile crossed his face like a flash and it was gone. 

“Relax.  Iris. I would take you raw. Not now. And definitely not here. That would be in my house. My place, where you actually belong.”

He leaned down, his face so close to mine that our noses almost touched.” I know everything about you. Iris. I know you hate the taste of champagne but like tea. I know you sneaked out to the garden at 2:00 AM when you couldn't sleep. And in the afternoon when you're bored. I know you have a birthmark shaped like a star on the small of your back.”

My blood ran cold .” Have you been watching me? In my room ?”

“From the trees. Through the lens of my camera. From the back of the cars you never noticed. “He confessed, 

His voice devoid of shame. In fact, he sounded proud. Obsessed, like he’s done a good job. In watching me, invading my privacy.

“I watched you grow from a girl into a woman. I watched men try to approach you at school, men I had to….. discouraged from ever speaking your name again.”

The realization hit me like a physical blow. The boys who had suddenly moved away. The teacher who had mysteriously resigned after being too friendly with me.

 It wasn’t bad luck. It was him. Sofia. Am so sorry for ever thinking of taking him away from you. He’s all yours.

I looked at my back for an escape route but found none. Behind me are shelves full of books  and if I try to run, he would catch me and who knows what the devil would do to me. So I stayed.

“You’re insane,” I whispered, tears of frustration and fear pricking my eyes.

“I am obsessed,” he corrected, his hand moving from my hair to my throat, his thumb resting over my thudding pulse. He wasn’t squeezing, but the threat was there.

“There is a difference. Insane men lose focus. But with you, I have never been more focused in my life. Every move I’ve made, every war, every war I’ve fought, everybody I’ve buried, was to get to this moment. To this house,”

“Why not just ask for me ?” I cried .” If you wanted me so badly, why marry Sofia ?”

Salvatore's eyes darkened, a flash of genuine rage crossing his handsome features .” Because your father would never have given me his precious youngest daughter.

“If you know me like you truly claimed, you would know I am not his precious daughter. I have no interest in the kind of world and businesses he runs. My sister does. So if you want a queen for your dynasty. It’s her.

“He wants you for a political trade later. He thinks you’re a hidden ace. He used Sofia as the bait, thinking he could keep you for someone else .” he replied unbothered.

He brushed his lips against my ear. “ But I didn’t play by Lorenzo Rossi’s rules. I took the bait so I could burn the whole trap down. By the time this wedding arrives, Sofia would be the least of my problems. And you. Will be in my arms. You belong to me, Iris. Every fiber in you is mine."

I tried to push him away, but my hand landed on his broad chest. It was like trying to move a mountain. He didn’t budge instead, he grabbed my wrists, pinning them behind the armchair. He didn’t hurt me but the display of strength was absolute.

“Can I kiss you? Iris ?” He asked his mouth almost on mine. I could feel his hot breath on my face.

“Let me go, Salvatore.”

“Not until you understand,” he said, his voice dropping to a low command.” You’re going to play the part of the dutiful sister. You are going to help Sofia plan her wedding. You are going to stand at the altar as her bridesmaid.

I won’t, "I sobbed.” I won’t do what you just asked. You belong to my sister. To Sofia.

“You will .” He countered, his eyes burning into mine .” Because if you don’t, I’ll start taking things away from his family. First, your father’s business. Then, your sister’s reputation. And finally your freedom. Do you understand, Iris? You are mine.

No…no he can’t be serious. He can’t stake a claim on me like I’m his. 

“You have been since the moment I saw you five years ago standing in the rain outside your school, looking like you wanted to set the world on fire, only that it’s me you light it on, and I can feel it burn, deep inside my veins. No one can set it off, not you, not your father, or even a fire extinguisher.”

He released my wrist and stepped back , the sudden loss of his heat made me whimper. Lowky. He looked perfectly composed again, as if he hadn’t just admitted to stalking me for half a decade.

“Go to sleep, little mouse,” he said, glancing towards the door .” And keep the locket. It looks better on you than it did in the box.

Without another word, he melted into the shadows of the library. I stayed in the chair for a long time, my heart racing, the scent of jasmine and sandalwood clinging to my skin like a brand.

I looked at the locket in my hand. It wasn’t a gift anymore, it was a leash. 

Salvatore Moretti wasn’t here to marry into my family. He was here to colonize it. And it was the territory he had achieved.

I was in the same spot for a while trying to stabilize my breathing. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed.

What did he want from you? 

A voice said from the door of the library. I turned back slowly. My heart was beating loudly as if it would burst out of my rib cage.

Sofia was standing there with her hand on her waist and I knew she was trying to keep it from shaking.

 What did she see?

[ IRIS’S POV ]

“I believe I asked you a question. Iris. What are you doing here and why is he here with you?” 

Sofia is not a fan of the library. I expect that she will be somewhere drunk or sleeping. But here she is, asking me questions about her fiancé.

“Who do you say was here?” I threw the question back at her, the last thing I want her to know is that her so-called fiancé has been stalking me for the last five years. 

“The last time I checked Sofia, you met me here alone, didn’t you?”

“I thought I saw Salvatore walking out of here, discreetly” she asked looking around, as if looking for pieces of evidence.

“Why would he be here with me? I left you guys at the party and if anyone should know where he is. It should be you.”

“And maybe it was a guard you saw, how sure are you it was him?”I added, my voice unbelievably calm.

“Well, maybe, I saw wrong, Salvatore wouldn’t come to fathers private study late at night. Follow me, Iris, let me walk you to your room. It's late.”

Without waiting for me to reply she’s already working out of the room. That’s more like her.

Tomorrow they signed the deal.

Tomorrow her engagement will be sealed.

-------

[ SALVATORE’S POV ]

The Russo gala room was large. But to me it’s a playground. A playground meant for kids to enjoy. 

I watched as Iris slipped away from the party, as I had expected. She hates crowds. And staying here is against her principles.

I watched as my father and Lorenzo discussed and I knew they wouldn’t be talking about any other things, other than the alliance and the engagement. One that will never take place.

I left the hall too, leaving the men trying to talk about business. 

I walked down the hallway silently, to the room assigned to me for the night in the Russos’ estate.

Getting to the room, I changed my outfit to casual and picked up my tablet to look at my little mouse.

 Maybe to watch her sleeping face a little before retiring for the night. 

But there she was, standing in front of the mirror talking to herself.

 Then she slipped out of her room barefoot and made her way to the library.

 —————

Iris was sitting with her legs curled against her chest. She wasn't reading, she was holding the locket the one I had gifted her against her chest.

“Do you like it?” I asked, and I watched as she jumped in fear, looking around for the source of the voice.

I moved to the moonlight so she could see her nightmare. The one who would enter her life and make a permanent stay.

“You need to leave, this is my father's private study.”

I watched as her lips moved, and I could see fear in her eyes. The one that sends a signal to the big salva under me.

All I want right now is to bend her over the desk here and now. But no. I would take her nice and slow and it’s not going to be in her father’s little rusty study.

I looked into her deep blue eyes, the one that draws me in each time I look at her picture or watch her through my camera lens. 

And God, her eyes would be the end of me. I let my eyes travel to her lips. The one I would be biting soon. 

“Then he will do what? I asked, taking a step closer to her,” I would like to know what your father would do to me. Especially when he finds me running my hands over his precious little daughter, taking her raw in his private study.”

 I watched as her eyes went large, and she looked behind her for an escape route, one she would never get from me. Not when I am finally standing before her after five long years.

And the idea of her father watching when I am taking his daughter is not so bad at all. But Iris is meant for my eyes alone. No one, I mean no one would dare take her away from me.

“Your father is currently drunk on his vintage, celebrating a deal he’d think he won.”

“Think he won? Aren’t you here to sign a deal with my father and take Sofia as the medal?”

Jealousy, I hear jealousy in her voice. And it makes my entire night.

“The locket,” do you send it?” She asked, her hold on the locket tightened.

“Took you long enough to know. Iris, I replied.” My eyes moved back to the locket, then back to her mesmerizing gaze.

“I send all of them,” I said, stopping just an inch from her, a distance I knew would control me from touching her. From running my hand all over her body. To know how it would feel against mine.

“The books. The Lilies on your birthday. The vintage camera you found on your doorstep when you turned eighteen.” I sent all of them.

Her breath hitched.”That was you? For five years …. I thought I had a guardian angel. Or a ghost .”

“I am no angel, little mouse,” I growled, reaching out to touch her, to touch what is mine. But she flinched, so I looked at her gently. Instead, I tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. 

“And I am more dangerous than a ghost. A ghost can’t touch. Can’t keep what belongs to him. But me, I will not only touch you, I will spread you apart and ruin you in every way possible, so that you won’t have a choice but to come back for more .” I said my hand was still behind her ears.

“I did not belong to you, I never did. And I never would.” She hissed. But her body betrayed her, instead of moving away, she leaned into my touch. See, even her body recognizes its master.

”You’re to be engaged to my sister tomorrow, and the papers will be signed tomorrow.” She said.

I laughed, a low, dark sound, I give when something amuses me.

“I signed a piece of paper to get on the walls. To be close enough to finally reach out and take what I’ve been watching from a distance for five years. 

And oh! If you keep saying you don't belong to me, I will have no option but to bend you over a desk here to show you who you truly belong to. Should we put that in text? Mamasita?”

And I mean it, if she dared say she isn’t mine, then I would have to show her who she belongs to.

I will fucked her, mark her, let everyone in the whole estate hear her scream. Destroyed the alliance. Stop the engagement and take her home with me.

"Say it Irish, say you're not mine."