Alicia's POV
His hand was under my chin, lifting, forcing me to look into the storm in his eyes.
Dark. Relentless.
"Don't ever forget that," Liam whispered, his words sinking into me like chains. "You're mine."
I swallowed hard, my throat thick with panic and grief. My mother's face flashed before me...weak, frail, in pain. The sound of my brother's desperate voice echoed in my ears.
But here, in this glass-and-steel cage, Liam's gaze pinned me like a predator's, daring me to defy him.
"I'm not asking to leave you," I said, voice trembling but urgent. "I'm asking to see my mother. She's sick, Liam. She needs me."
His jaw flexed, the muscles ticking in slow, dangerous rhythm.
"You think I care about her?" he asked coldly.
The words hit me like a slap.
My heart squeezed. "She's my mother. Of course you should care!"
His eyes narrowed, sharp and merciless. "No. The only thing I care about is you. And you're here. With me. Not with them."
I shook my head, disbelief cracking through me. "You don't understand. She's dying"
"Then the doctors will handle it," he cut in, his tone like a blade slicing through hope. "That's what they're paid for."
Anger flared, mixing with despair. "Money can't replace me! She needs her daughter, Liam. Do you even hear yourself?"
Something flickered in his eyes then…..brief, vulnerable, almost human…..but it was gone as quickly as it came. He leaned closer, his breath brushing against my lips, intoxicating and suffocating all at once.
"I hear you perfectly," he murmured. "And what I hear is you trying to run. Trying to put someone before me. I warned you, Alicia….I will never be second."
Tears burned hot down my cheeks. "This isn't about you! This is about my family. My blood. Please, Liam… if there's any part of you that cares about me, you'll let me go."
For a moment, silence stretched between us. My plea hung in the air, fragile and desperate, waiting for his mercy.
But mercy had no home in Liam Knight.
His fingers tightened on my chin, his eyes darkening with something far more dangerous than anger.
"I care too much," he said, voice low, almost broken. "That's the problem. The moment I let you out of my sight, the world will try to take you from me. And I don't share, Alicia. Not with your family. Not with anyone."
A sob tore from my throat. I shoved at his chest, trying to put distance between us. "You can't keep me here like a prisoner!"
His grip slid from my chin to my jaw, holding me firm, commanding. "I already do."
The words froze me.
No pretense. No apology. Just truth, sharp and brutal.
"You'll stay here," Liam continued, his voice dropping into that terrifying calm that meant he was deadly serious. "And you'll learn, once and for all, that your world begins and ends with me."
Something inside me cracked. I thought of my mother, lying in a hospital bed, waiting for me. I thought of my brother, exhausted and angry, begging for help. And I thought of myself…..caught between blood and chains, between love and obsession.
I wasn't sure how much longer I could survive like this.
But even as my tears fell, even as my heart ached, my body betrayed me. Because his touch, his voice, his presence…all of it bound me tighter than the chains in his words.
And I hated that part of me almost as much as I hated him.
Liam's POV
Her tears tore at me. More than I wanted them to.
I hated the way her eyes glistened, hated the crack in her voice when she begged me. Because part of me….some buried, broken part….wanted to give in.
To let her go.
To let her love someone else more than she loved me.
But I couldn't.
I had built an empire by never letting go of what was mine. And Alicia Blake was mine in a way that no amount of pleading or blood ties would change.
Her family was weakness. I saw it the moment she answered that call. The way her body tensed, the way her loyalty split. And I knew, with cold certainty, that if I let her walk out that door, she might never come back.
I leaned closer, brushing my thumb across her tear-stained cheek. "Do you know what I hear when you cry like this?"
She shuddered under my touch, her eyes wide, wet. "What?"
"I hear chains rattling. I hear a leash straining. I hear the world trying to steal you from me." My voice hardened, every word laced with steel. "And I don't lose what's mine, Alicia. Not to your brother. Not to your mother. Not to anyone."
She flinched, her lips trembling. "You're insane."
"Maybe," I admitted, a dark smile curving my mouth. "But you're still here. Still mine."
I straightened, letting her see the finality in my eyes. "You won't leave this penthouse. Not tonight. Not tomorrow. Not unless I take you myself."
Her breath hitched, fury sparking in her gaze. "I'll find a way. You can't control everything."
My laugh was low, dangerous. "Watch me."
I turned away before she could see the raw edge in my expression. She didn't understand…..I wasn't doing this to hurt her. I was doing this because the thought of losing her like my mother, gutted me more than any boardroom defeat, more than any betrayal I'd faced in my life.
She had become the only thing in my world that mattered after my dead mother.
And I'd burn the rest of it to ash before I let her go.
Alicia's POV
The sound of his footsteps retreating felt like a prison door slamming shut.
I sat frozen on the bed, clutching the sheets, my heart hammering against my ribs.
He wasn't going to let me leave.
Not for my mother. Not for anyone.
The reality sank into my bones like ice.
And in that moment, as the tears slid down my face, I realized something terrifying: Liam Knight hadn't just trapped my body.
He was slowly, ruthlessly, trapping my soul.
...
Liam stood at the window, watching the city lights flicker like dying stars.
He pulled out his phone.
"Find out everything about Alicia Blake's family," he ordered his private investigator coldly. "Her mother, Her brother, Medical records and Financial status. I want leverage. If she thinks she can walk away from me, I'll remind her just how powerless she really is."
He ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket, his eyes hard as steel.
Alicia thought she could plead. Thought her family could pull her back.
But what she didn't know…..what she would learn soon enough...was that Liam Knight didn't just take women.
He destroyed everything that tried to take them from him.