The rain was drumming softly against the windows of our small apartment, but inside, the air was thick with the heat of a love I thought would last forever.
"Marcus, stop," I giggled, though I didn't want him to.
He had me pinned against the kitchen counter, his hands wandering over my curves with a gentle possessiveness. He leaned in, his lips trailing fire along my jawline, settling in the hollow of my throat. Marcus smelled like home—like cedarwood and the peppermint tea we had shared just moments ago.
"I can't help it, Amara," he whispered against my skin, his voice thick with a longing that made my knees weak. "Every time I look at you, I feel like the luckiest man in the world. I don't deserve you."
He looked into my eyes, and for a moment, I saw a flicker of something... guilt? Sadness? But I was too blinded by love to notice. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet box. Inside was a diamond ring that caught the dim light, sparkling like a promise.
"Marry me," he pleaded. "Let me protect you forever."
I didn't know then that he was already planning to sell me. I didn't know that the ring on my finger was bought with the very debt that would destroy my life. I just threw my arms around his neck and whispered yes into his lips as he lifted me, his touch full of a tenderness that was nothing but a beautiful lie.
PRESENT DAY: THE AUCTION HOUSE
The memory shattered like glass as the cold reality hit me. I wasn't in Marcus's arms anymore. I was on a stage, standing under a spotlight that felt like a laser. My wrists were tied with a white silk scarf—the same scarf Marcus had given me on our anniversary.
"Three hundred million dollars!" the auctioneer screamed. "Sold! To the man in the front row."
I looked at Marcus. He was sitting in the third row, his face pale, his eyes fixed on the floor. He wouldn't look at me. The man who promised to protect me forever had just traded my body and soul to settle his gambling debts.
Then, the shadows in the VIP section shifted.
Kai Fox stood up.
He was a mountain of a man, his presence so suffocating it felt like the air had been drained from the room. He walked onto the stage with a predatory grace, each step of his heavy leather boots sounding like a death knell. He stopped in front of me, his height towering over my small frame.
He didn't say a word. He reached out and gripped my chin, his fingers digging into my skin with a ruthless, hard force that made me gasp. His eyes weren't full of love like Marcus's had been. They were cold, obsidian voids of pure obsession.
"Marcus, please!" I screamed, my voice cracking. "Tell them it's a mistake! Tell them you love me!"
Marcus flinched, but he didn't move. Kai let out a low, dark chuckle that vibrated in his massive chest. He leaned down, his lips brushing against my ear, his scent of expensive bourbon and iron overwhelming my senses.
"He can't hear you, Amara," Kai whispered, his voice a deep, jagged rasp. "He sold your 'forever' for a stack of chips. To him, you were a debt. To me..."
He let his hand slide from my chin to my throat, his thumb tracing the pulse that was thundering against my skin.
"To me, you are the missing piece of my empire. And I don't just own your name now. I own every breath you take. Every scream you let out. Every inch of your skin."
Before I could fight back, Kai hauled me over his shoulder. I beat my fists against the wall of muscle that was his back, but he didn't even flinch. He carried me out into the humid night, where a black limousine waited like a hungry beast.
As he tossed me into the back seat and climbed in after me, the child-lock clicked. Click. The sound of my freedom dying.
"Welcome to the Fox's den, Little Bird," Kai growled, unbuttoning his waistcoat to reveal the lethal power hidden beneath. "I hope you like your cage. Because you're never leaving it."