The library confrontation had cracked something open that could never be closed again.
For the rest of the day, Nina walked through campus in a daze. People stared openly as she passed, some whispering behind cupped hands, others too shocked to hide their curiosity. Word had spread fast. They had all seen it Adrian Moretti, the dark, untouchable Mafia heir, almost tearing Daniel apart in front of her. They had seen her caught between them, silent, powerless, claimed by one man and defended by another.
It was that silence that haunted her most.
Daniel's split lip. Adrian's iron grip on her waist. The brutal kiss Adrian had forced on her in front of everyone, a kiss that felt less like affection and more like a brand. And both of them had looked at her as if she were the prize in a game neither was willing to lose.
By the time the sun slipped below the skyline, painting the campus in strokes of orange and gray, she could barely breathe. She kept replaying it in her head, over and over, until her chest ached with guilt and confusion.
Her phone buzzed in her bag. She froze before fumbling it out.
One name flashed across the screen.
Adrian.
Her stomach knotted. She almost ignored it. Almost. But she knew better. If she didn't come when he called, he would find her. He always did.
She pressed accept, lifted the phone to her ear, and heard only one word:
"Come."
Then the line went dead.
The penthouse was darker than usual when she arrived, and that unsettled her even more. Only one lamp burned in the corner, its golden glow leaving most of the room in shadow. Adrian sat on the couch, his jacket discarded on the armrest, a glass of whiskey dangling from his hand.
He didn't look at her when she walked in. Didn't speak.
The silence was worse than yelling.
Nina lingered near the door, clutching her bag strap like it was the only thing tethering her to sanity. "Adrian," she whispered. "Please…"
Finally, he lifted his eyes. That calmness cold, deliberate terrified her more than rage ever could.
"Do you know what it feels like," he said quietly, his voice almost too even, "to watch another man touch what's mine?"
Her throat closed. She shook her head but no words came.
"You humiliated me today." He set the glass down with slow precision. The clink of it on the glass table echoed like a threat. "In front of him. In front of everyone. You let him put his hands on you. You let him think he could fight me for you."
Nina's chest tightened. "It wasn't like that"
"Then tell me what it was." He rose to his feet, each step toward her controlled, predatory. His presence filled the room, filled her lungs until she could barely breathe. "Tell me why I shouldn't break his bones for daring to look at you."
Tears stung her eyes. "Because he cares about me."
The words slipped out before she could stop them.
Adrian froze. His jaw ticked. His eyes narrowed into something dangerous, something unflinching.
"Cares," he repeated softly, but the softness was sharper than any blade. "Do you think I don't care? Do you think everything I've done every risk, every night I've kept you here isn't because I care?
Her lip trembled. "Caring isn't supposed to hurt," she whispered.
For a heartbeat, silence. Then his hand shot out. He gripped her chin, forcing her face upward until her eyes locked with his. His fingers pressed into her skin, not cruel enough to bruise, but unyielding enough that she knew she couldn't pull away.
"You think he can love you better?" Adrian's voice dropped into a growl. "You think he can give you what I do?"
Her chest heaved. "I don't know."
His eyes darkened further, his whole body coiled with fury he was barely containing. Then, without another word, he crushed his mouth against hers.
It wasn't gentle. It wasn't tender.
It was punishment.
He drove her backward until her shoulders hit the wall. His body pinned hers there, his kiss fierce, consuming, a storm she couldn't escape. She gasped, her hands pressed against his chest not to push him away, but to steady herself against the overwhelming force of him.
"This is what he can't give you," Adrian growled, his lips grazing down the curve of her throat. "This fire. This hunger. You belong to me, Nina. No one else."
Her body betrayed her, trembling, burning under his touch. She hated the way her knees went weak. She hated the way a moan escaped her lips when his hands slid lower, claiming her with ruthless precision.
"Say it," he demanded, his breath hot in her ear. "Say you're mine."
Tears slipped free, burning hot down her cheeks. "Adrian…"
"Say it." His grip tightened at her hip, his dominance radiating through every inch of her.
Her voice cracked, raw with both defiance and surrender. "I'm yours."
His lips curved into a dark smile. "Good girl."
He dragged her to the bedroom, every step a declaration of possession. Clothes scattered across the floor. The night blurred into heat and shadows, into gasps and whispered commands, into his relentless need to mark her, to brand her soul as his.
By the time it was over, she lay sprawled across his sheets, trembling, lips swollen, her heart an aching, confused mess. Adrian leaned against the headboard beside her, cigarette between his fingers, smoke curling into the dim air. His eyes, still burning with possession, never left her.
"You're never to see him again," he said simply, exhaling smoke. "If I catch you with him, I won't stop at a fight. Do you understand?"
Nina swallowed hard, her voice a ghost of sound. "Yes."
But inside, guilt gnawed at her. Even as she nodded, even as she whispered obedience, Daniel's face flashed in her mind gentle, protective, unafraid. His lips brushing hers in the library, full of promise instead of threat.
And she realized Adrian hadn't broken her. Not completely. Not yet.
Meanwhile, Daniel sat alone in his dorm room, the taste of blood still sharp in his mouth. His knuckles throbbed with bruises. His jaw ached where Adrian's fist had landed. But the pain didn't matter.
What mattered was Nina.
He couldn't forget her eyes the silent plea she had given him when Adrian kissed her in front of everyone. She hadn't wanted it. He knew she hadn't.
She was trapped.
Daniel flexed his sore hand and stared at the cracked skin of his knuckles. Adrian was stronger, wealthier, more powerful. But Daniel had something Adrian didn't conviction.
And with that conviction burning like fire in his chest, Daniel swore to himself: he would fight for her. No matter the cost.
The days that followed blurred together for Nina. Adrian's grip on her life grew tighter with every passing hour. He called her more often, summoned her to his penthouse at all hours of the night. His touches grew fiercer, his kisses more consuming, his words darker, more possessive.
"You're mine," he whispered against her skin. "You'll always be mine."
Her body responded against her will, but her soul recoiled. Each night left her more tangled in him, more confused, more desperate for freedom she wasn't sure she had the strength to take.
And every time she closed her eyes, she saw Daniel.
His hand on hers. His voice telling her she deserved better. His gaze full of something Adrian's fire would never touch gentleness.
The choice she had tried so hard to avoid was closing in on her.
And deep down, she knew:
When Adrian discovered the depth of her betrayal, the price of desire would be blood.