The silence stretched long after Kieran left, and it wasn't a comfortable one.
It was the kind of silence that could suffocate a man if he wasn't careful.
Vinny didn't break it. He leaned casually against Matthew's desk, crossing one leg over the other like he owned the space, even though they both knew it wasn't his. He let his hand trace the edge of the polished wood, slow, deliberate. His movements were elegant, sinful in their simplicity.
Matthew watched him with that same unblinking intensity, pale green eyes flickering like a storm held barely in check.
"You act like you belong here," Matthew said at last, his voice low, deliberate.
Vinny's lips curved into a faint smile. "Maybe I do."
Matthew's jaw tightened. He stepped closer, slow, predatory, until he was standing right in front of him. His height, his build, his presence—it was overwhelming. He didn't just fill the room, he devoured it.
"Careful," Matthew murmured, voice dangerously soft. "I don't share what belongs to me."
Vinny raised a brow, amusement flickering in his emerald eyes. "Oh? And do I… belong to you?"
Matthew didn't hesitate. "You do. Whether you like it or not."
Vinny's laugh was soft, teasing, but his heart beat a fraction faster. "That's a very bold claim for a man I've only just met."
Matthew leaned closer, close enough that Vinny could feel the heat of his breath against his cheek. "You walked into my world. You set foot in my market. You made yourself a temptation I cannot ignore. That was your mistake."
Vinny tilted his head, pretending to stay relaxed though his body thrummed with alertness. "And what would you do, hm? Keep me here?"
Matthew's lips curved into a smile that wasn't kind. "Not here." His voice dropped lower, darker, laced with threat and desire alike. "In my estate. Behind gates so high the world forgets you exist. In rooms no one else enters. You'd be mine—entirely. No one would see you, no one would touch you, no one would even say your name unless I allowed it."
Vinny's throat went dry for the briefest second, but he masked it with a sly grin. "That sounds like a prison."
Matthew's eyes narrowed slightly, his pale green irises burning silver in the low light. "Call it what you want. Prison. Cage. Sanctuary. The word doesn't matter. What matters is you'd be mine. No one else's."
Vinny shifted, pretending to look amused, but inside… oh, he understood now. Matthew wasn't bluffing. He wasn't being poetic. He was deadly serious.
And that seriousness made him dangerous in ways Vinny hadn't quite accounted for.
"Possessive much?" Vinny teased, forcing a smirk. "What if I'm not the type to be… caged?"
Matthew's expression didn't change, but something in his eyes sharpened. "Then I'll break you until you are."
The words were delivered with chilling calm, as though he was stating a fact. And maybe he was.
Vinny laughed again, softer this time, masking the slight quickening of his pulse. "You don't scare me."
Matthew leaned in until his lips brushed the shell of Vinny's ear. "Good," he whispered. "You shouldn't be scared. You should be obedient."
Vinny exhaled slowly, smirk never faltering. "And if I'm not?"
Matthew's hand moved—so fast Vinny barely caught it before it happened—slamming down against the desk beside Vinny's hip, rattling papers and making the wood creak under the force.
Vinny froze. Just for a fraction of a second.
Matthew's body loomed over him now, caging him against the desk without touching him. "If you're not," Matthew murmured, his voice steady, terrifying in its certainty, "I'll make you."
Vinny's heart hammered, though he forced himself to meet that pale green gaze without blinking. It was dangerous, it was insane, but it was also… intoxicating.
He tilted his head, lips curving into a slow, lazy grin. "You really don't like hearing the word no, do you?"
Matthew's smirk was razor sharp. "You won't say it for long."
For a moment, the room was alive with fire and silence, with the hum of violence and lust and obsession colliding in the air.
Vinny leaned in just slightly, deliberately reckless, letting their chests almost brush. "You think you can control me, Matthew?" he asked softly, his voice velvet, teasing. "Maybe I'll let you try."
Matthew's eyes flared with something dark, hungry, uncontrollable. His fingers twitched against the desk, fighting the urge to grab, to claim, to lock this man down right here, right now.
Instead, he straightened slowly, smirk curling into something sharper, colder. "Enjoy your freedom while you can," he said softly. "Because once I decide to take it from you… you'll never see the outside of my walls again."
Vinny's grin widened, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Then I'll just have to stay one step ahead of you, won't I?"
Matthew chuckled low, the sound dark and dangerous. "Run all you want, Vinny. Men who run from me don't get far. And when I catch them… they don't get up again."
The words were a knife wrapped in silk, a promise more than a threat.
Vinny felt the hair rise on the back of his neck, but he didn't falter. Instead, he leaned back just slightly, pushing off the desk with a teasing smirk. "We'll see," he murmured, his voice low, sultry. "Maybe you'll catch me. Maybe you won't. Either way… it'll be fun."
Matthew's eyes followed him, unblinking, calculating, dangerous. "It won't be fun, Vinny," he said softly. "It'll be inevitable."
And for the first time since stepping into Matthew's world, Vinny realized that maybe—just maybe—he wasn't the only predator playing this game.
He was in the lion's den now.
And the lion was watching.