A Dangerous Claim

Possession is a form of control, but what happens when control begins to slip?

I was never a man to second-guess myself. Every move,every calculated decision—sharp and unrelenting. Control was my currency, and I never spent it frivolously.

Yet here I was, gripping my edge of my desk, my mind circling back to her. Celeste Carter.

She had walked away last night, leaving behind a quiet storm in her wake. And I let her slip through my fingers, even when every instinct inside me screamed to do otherwise.

Weakness.

I hated that word.I had spent my entire life eradicating it, burning it from my very being. Yet, it haunted me in the way my mind kept returning to the fire in her eyes, the defiance in her stance. She should be afraid of me. But she wasn't.

And that made her all the more dangerous.

A knock at the door yanked me from my thoughts. Dante entered, his expression unreadable. "Boss, we've got a problem."

I straightened. "What is it?"

"It's about Celeste."

My grip on the desk tightened. "What about her?"

"She left the estate an hour ago. No explanation. No security detail. Just walked out."

The irritation flared in my chest, molten and sharp. I had given her too much freedom. Too much trust. And now, she was making moves without my approval?

I stood, adjusting the cuffs of my shirt. "Where did she go?"

Dante hesitated. "We don't know yet. She covered her tracks."

A muscle in my jaw ticked. Celeste was good. Better than most. But she was playing a dangerous game, and she had no idea who she was up against.

"She'll come back," Lorenzo's voice sounded from the doorway. Unlike Dante, he looked amused. "She's too smart to run without a plan."

I exhaled slowly, reigning in the anger simmering beneath my skin. Celeste wasn't running. Not yet. But she was testing me. And I wouldn't allow that.

I grabbed my coat. "Find out where she went. I want to know every step she took."

Dante nodded. "And when she comes back?"

I met his gaze, my voice cold. "She answers to me."

The moment Celeste walked back into the estate that evening, I was waiting.

She barely had time to close the door before I was on her, my presence looming as I stepped into her space. She didn't flinch.

Good.

"Going somewhere, Ogonëk?" My voice was smooth, calculated.

She arched a brow. "I didn't realize I needed permission to leave."

The casual defiance in her tone ignited something dark inside me. My hand lifted before I could stop myself, fingers grazing along her jaw. Her breath hitched—just barely, but I caught it.

"You disappear without a word," I murmured. "No security, no explanation. And you think that's acceptable?"

Her lips curled slightly. "I didn't think you cared."

I let out a low chuckle, though there was nothing amused about it. "Oh, Ogonëk," I whispered, leaning in just enough to make her pulse flicker beneath my fingertips. "That's where you're wrong."

She stiffened, but I could feel it—the way her body reacted, the way her breathing changed. This was what unnerved her, wasn't it? Not the danger. Not the blood on my hands. But this. The way we stood at the edge of something neither of us could control.

"Where were you?" I asked, my voice deceptively calm

She didn't hesitate. "Meeting someone."

Something inside me twisted. "Who?"

Her smirk deepened. "You don't know him."

I clenched my jaw, the air between us thick with something neither of us wanted to name. Jealousy? Possession? Control? Whatever it was, I didn't like it.

"That's bold of you," I murmured, voice dangerously low. "Testing my patience like this."

She shrugged. "I didn't realize you had patience to begin with."

I stepped closer, our bodies nearly touching. "You're playing with fire, Celeste."

Her gaze flickered, but she didn't move. "I thought you liked fire, Adrian."

Possession wasn't love. It wasn't even trust. But it was power. And right now, I was dangerously close to crossing a line I had never allowed myself to before.

Celeste finally stepped back, breaking the tension with a carefully measured breath. "Next time, Adrian, if you want to know where I am…" She met my gaze, her voice steady. "Ask."

I let her go. For now.

But as I watched her walk away, I knew one thing for certain.

Celeste Carter was mine—she just didn't know it yet.