Vivie’s heart pounded as she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Sleep wouldn’t come. Not after what had happened. Not after what she had discovered.

The darkness around her felt suffocating, the silence heavy with unspoken words. Ashton had left her alone after their last confrontation, but his words still echoed in her mind. You crossed a line. And now, there are consequences.

What did that mean? What was he planning?

A shiver ran through her. Despite everything, she wasn’t afraid of Ashton—not in the way she should be. He was dangerous, ruthless, but he had never hurt her. Not really. He could be cruel, but there was something else beneath his anger, something she couldn’t quite decipher.

She needed answers.

Slowly, she pushed off the blankets and tiptoed toward the door. If he was going to punish her anyway, she might as well make it worth it.

The house was silent as she crept through the halls, her bare feet barely making a sound against the polished floor. She had to be careful—Ashton had eyes everywhere, guards stationed at every turn. But she had memorized the patterns, learned when the patrols shifted.

His office was locked. Of course, it was.

She hesitated, then knelt, pulling a pin from her hair. She had learned how to pick locks a long time ago—one of the many skills her brother had forced her to learn when he still saw her as an asset rather than a burden.

A click. The door creaked open.

She slipped inside, closing it softly behind her. The room smelled of leather and whiskey, a dark and masculine space that felt suffocating in its intensity. The large oak desk stood in the center, neat and organized. But she wasn’t interested in what was on top of it. She needed to see what he was hiding.

Vivie moved quickly, pulling open drawers, scanning files, searching for anything that could give her leverage.

Then she found it.

A folder, thick and heavy, with her name scrawled across the front.

Her stomach clenched as she flipped it open, her fingers trembling. Pictures. Reports. Documents detailing her every move for years. He had been watching her long before they had even met.

Her breath caught as she read through the pages, horror creeping through her veins. This wasn’t just surveillance. This was obsession. He had known everything—her past, her fears, even things she had never told anyone.

Why? Why had he been watching her?

A shadow shifted behind her.

“Find what you were looking for?”

Her blood turned to ice.

She turned slowly, her heart hammering against her ribs. Ashton stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable, but his eyes burned with something dangerous.

She swallowed hard. “What is this?”

His jaw tightened. “You tell me.”

She held up the folder. “How long have you been watching me?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “Long enough.”

Her hands trembled. “Why?”

Silence stretched between them, thick and suffocating.

Then, finally, he spoke. “Because you were always meant to be mine.”

Her breath caught. “You don’t own me.”

His lips curled into something dark, something dangerous. “No. But I will.”

She took a step back, but he followed, his presence overwhelming. “You went looking for answers, Vivie. Now, you have them.”

She shook her head. “This doesn’t make sense. You—”

He cut her off, his voice dangerously soft. “You don’t need to understand. You just need to accept it.”

A chill ran down her spine. This was more than a game of control. This was something deeper, something twisted.

And she wasn’t sure if she wanted to run from it—or fall deeper into it.

His eyes darkened as he closed the space between them, his scent of leather and danger filling her lungs. He tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him. “You wanted to know what I was hiding? Now you do. So tell me, Vivie—what are you going to do about it?”

Her mind spun. Part of her wanted to fight him, to scream at him for invading her life. But another part—the part she didn’t want to admit existed—was drawn to him in ways she couldn’t understand.

His fingers tightened around her jaw. “Answer me.”

“I don’t know.” The words were barely a whisper.

His smirk was dark, satisfied. “Then you better figure it out fast. Because this changes nothing.”

She met his gaze, fire flickering in her own. “It changes everything.”

He didn’t deny it.

Instead, he leaned in, his breath ghosting against her lips. “Then prove it.”

And just like that, she knew she was in too deep. There was no escaping him now.