Page 143 of Maddening Fixation

He tightened his grip around my waist, yanking me flush against him until my breasts were crushed against his hard chest.

His hot breath fanned across my face as he stared down at me with those cold eyes, his lips hovering dangerously close to mine.

“In these two years, you are mine,” he growled, his voice low and venomous. “Your body, your soul, your loyalty, your respect, your tears, your pain, your every fucking breath — they all belong to me. Absolutely mine. This isn’t a discussion. It’s an order.”

His fingers dug painfully into my waist, the threat in his eyes chilling me to the bone.

“If you are ever caught betraying me — with your words, your thoughts, or your body — you will not live to see the end of these two years. I will make your death so slow and agonizing that you’ll beg me to end it long before I’m finished with you.”

He released me so abruptly that I staggered back several steps.

The room seemed to tilt beneath my feet.

Romeo watched me struggle with dark satisfaction, his lips curled in a faint, cruel smirk.

The hatred in his eyes hadn’t dimmed — if anything, my moment of weakness seemed to please him.

I straightened as best I could, refusing to let him see how deeply he had shaken me, even as terror continued to claw at my insides.

He had spoken of my death with the same indifference someone might use to comment on the weather.

There was no anger in his eyes. No conflict.

Just certainty.

“As you’ve probably gathered,” he continued, as casually as though he hadn’t just signed my death warrant with his own mouth, “this bungalow is your residence now. There are rules. You will follow every single one of them without question.”

Chapter 7

JULIET

“This entire estate is one of the Flynn properties,” Romeo said, his voice calm and commanding, laced with the quiet arrogance of a man who had just erased an entire family from existence.

“By virtue of wiping them off the face of the earth, it now belongs to me. As my wife, you may consider yourself the lady of the house. You are free to walk the grounds and manage the tenants of the other properties on the estate as you see fit.”

He paused, his gaze hardening.

“However, you are not permitted to leave the estate without my express permission.”

My chest dropped.

“Am I to understand that this estate is my prison?”

The question fell from my lips before I could catch it, my tone steady despite the fear rising in my chest

I glanced instinctively toward the windows.

The grounds outside looked peaceful, almost deceptively ordinary, but I was now confined within its boundaries like a slave.

I was his wife, damn it — at least on paper.

“Rule number two,” he continued, completely dismissing my protest as if it were beneath his notice. “Do not expect me to come home every night to babysit you. As you can see, my empire is in a fragile state. It requires my full attention — alliances to forge, enemies to crush, and trust to rebuild.”

His cold eyes swept briefly across the bungalow.

“You will be left to yourself here most of the time. But no matter how bored or lonely you become, you are forbidden from having any visitors. Especially men. Even the women will be subject to my scrutiny.”

A heavy silence settled over the room as his words sank in.