Ava
Dinner was the longest hour of my life.
I sat at a huge table that could fit twenty people. Adrian sat at the head, with me placed directly to his right. Dante sat across from me, and Martha served us food that I couldn't taste.
"You're not eating," Adrian observed.
"I'm not hungry."
"You said that already." He cut into his steak with precise movements. Everything about him was controlled, measured. "You need to eat, Ava. You look pale."
"Maybe because I've been kidnapped."
Dante choked on his wine. Adrian didn't even blink.
"You weren't kidnapped. You're a guest who can't leave yet. There's a difference."
"Is there?"
His jaw tightened. For a moment, I thought I had pushed too far. Then he set down his fork and looked at me with those cold gray eyes.
"Tell me about yourself, Ava Parker. Why did you become a doctor?"
"I'm not a doctor yet."
"But you will be. I saw your skill in that warehouse. You knew exactly what to do, even though you were terrified."
"I want to help people." I met his gaze. "Ironic, isn't it? I helped you, and now I'm trapped."
"You're angry. I understand. But your anger won't change anything." He picked up his wine glass. "Answer my question. Why medicine?"
I didn't want to tell him anything. But something in his stare made me answer anyway. "My little brother died when I was twelve. Asthma attack. We couldn't afford the right treatment. By the time we got him to the hospital, it was too late."
The table went quiet. Even Adrian's expression softened slightly.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"No, you're not. If you were sorry, you'd let me go."
Dante cleared his throat. "Ava, maybe if you—"
"That's enough, Dante." Adrian's voice cut through the room like a knife. He stood up. "Ava, come with me."
"No."
He walked around the table and stopped beside my chair. "I gave you an order."
"I'm not one of your men. You can't order me around."
His hand gripped the back of my chair. I could feel the tension radiating off him. "You're right. You're not one of my men. You're something else entirely. Now stand up."
My heart pounded, but I forced myself to stay seated. "Make me."
For a long second, nobody moved. Then Adrian did something I didn't expect. He laughed.
It wasn't a nice laugh. It was dark and dangerous, like thunder before a storm.
"You have fire. I like that." He leaned down until his face was inches from mine. "But fire can be tamed, Ava. Remember that."
He straightened and walked out of the dining room. I sat there, shaking, as Dante let out a long breath.
"You're either very brave or very stupid," he said.
"Probably stupid."
Martha appeared and began clearing the dishes. She gave me a sympathetic look. "He's not usually this difficult with guests."
"I'm not a guest."
"No," she agreed quietly. "You're something different. I've worked for this family for twenty years, and I've never seen Adrian act like this."
"Like what?"
"Interested." She picked up my untouched plate. "He doesn't bring people here. Especially not women. The fact that you're still alive and unharmed means something."
I didn't want to think about what it meant.
After dinner, I went back to my room. I tried the door locked from the outside. The windows were sealed shut. I was truly trapped.
I lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out how my life had gone so wrong so fast.
A soft knock interrupted my thoughts. "Come in," I called, assuming it was Martha.
But it was Adrian.
He carried a book in his hands. "I thought you might be bored."
"I'm not bored. I'm angry."
"I know." He set the book on the nightstand. "Medical journals. I had them sent from the hospital library."
I stared at him. "Why?"
"Because you're going to be here for a while. You might as well continue your education." He moved toward the door, then paused. "I'm not a monster, Ava."
"Then let me go."
"I can't. Not yet." He turned to face me fully. "There are things you don't understand. Dangerous things. My enemies would use you against me if they knew you existed."
"I don't mean anything to you. Why would they care?"
His expression flickered with something I couldn't read. "Because I made the mistake of having you brought here. Now they'll assume you're important to me."
"But I'm not."
"No," he agreed. "You're not."
But the way he said it made me think he was lying.
He left, and I heard the lock click. I picked up the book he'd brought a medical journal about emergency trauma care. My field of study.
How did he know?
The next morning, Martha woke me with breakfast on a tray. "Mr. Blackwood has meetings all day. He asked me to show you around the grounds. Within reason, of course."
I followed her through the mansion. It was even bigger than I'd thought. Rooms upon rooms, most of them empty. A library with thousands of books. A gym. An indoor pool.
"Why is it so empty?" I asked.
"Mr. Blackwood's father built this mansion for his family. But tragedy struck years ago. His mother passed away when Adrian was nineteen. His younger sister, Selene, disappeared six years ago. Never found." Martha's voice grew sad. "This house has known too much pain."
We ended up in the garden. It was beautiful roses, jasmine, and flowers I couldn't name. High walls surrounded everything, topped with cameras.
"Martha, please help me escape."
She shook her head. "I can't, dear. Even if I wanted to. The security here is impossible to breach."
"Then I'm stuck here forever?"
"Not forever. Just until Mr. Blackwood decides it's safe to release you."
"And if he never decides that?"
Martha didn't answer.
That evening, Adrian summoned me to his office again. When I entered, he was standing by the window, looking out at the sunset.
"Sit," he said without turning around.
I sat.
"I've made a decision about your situation."
My heart jumped. "You're letting me go?"
"No." He finally turned to face me. "But I'm giving you a choice. You can stay here as a prisoner, locked in your room when I'm not around. Or you can have freedom within the mansion and grounds."
"That's not freedom. That's a bigger cage."
"It's the best I can offer." He walked closer. "But there are conditions."
"Of course there are."
"You don't leave the property. You don't try to contact anyone outside. And you have dinner with me every evening."
"Why?"
"Because I'm curious about you." He sat on the edge of his desk. "You're not like anyone I've met before. You saved my life without asking for anything in return. You stand up to me even though you're terrified. I want to understand why."
"I stood up to you because I won't be bullied."
"Everyone can be bullied, Ava. Everyone has a breaking point." His voice dropped lower. "I wonder what yours is."
A chill ran through me. This man was dangerous in ways I was only beginning to understand.
"I'll take the freedom," I said. "But I want something else too."
"You're in no position to negotiate."
"Let me continue my studies. Give me access to medical books, journals, everything. If I'm stuck here, I won't waste my time."
He studied me for a long moment. "Done. Anything else?"
"Yes. Tell me the truth. Why am I really here?"
His expression hardened. "I told you. You're a security risk."
"That's not all of it. Martha said you never bring anyone here. So why me?"
Adrian stood and walked to within a foot of me. Close enough that I could smell his cologne something dark and expensive. "You want the truth? Fine. When I woke up in that warehouse and saw you, covered in my blood, fighting to save me something changed. I looked at you and thought: here is someone good. Someone pure. Someone who doesn't belong in my world."
"Then send me back to my world."
"I can't." His hand reached out and touched my hair, gentle despite the darkness in his eyes. "Because now that I've seen real goodness, I can't let it go. Do you understand, Ava? You're not just a security risk. You're a reminder that good things still exist."
"That's insane."
"Probably." He dropped his hand. "But insanity runs in my family. My mother went mad before she died. Sometimes I wonder if I inherited more than just her eyes."
He turned and walked to the door. "Dinner is at eight. Don't be late."
After he left, I sat in his office, my mind reeling. This man wasn't just dangerous. He was obsessed. And somehow, I had become the object of that obsession.
I should have been terrified. And I was. But underneath the fear was something else. Something I didn't want to admit.
Curiosity.
Who was Adrian Blackwood really? What had happened to his sister? Why did he live in this giant mansion all alone except for his brother and a housekeeper?
And why did his touch make my skin burn, even though I hated him?
I left his office and went to find Martha. I needed answers. Real answers about the man who held me captive.
But when I found her in the kitchen, she was crying. Dante stood beside her, his face pale.
"What happened?" I asked.
Dante looked at me with haunted eyes. "They found a body. A young woman. She's been dead for years."
My stomach dropped. "Who?"
"They think it might be Selene. Adrian's sister."
And just like that, I realized I wasn't just trapped with a dangerous man. I was trapped with a man who was about to break completely.