Page 216 of Maddening Fixation

The night suddenly felt much colder.

Keegan remained several feet away, his expression grim.

“Romeo gave me one order,” he said. “You stay inside this house until he says otherwise.”

My stomach tightened. “I’m his wife, Keegan. Not his prisoner.”

“You’re both, as far as this order is concerned.”

My eyes swept desperately across the property, searching for some way out.

As if he could see exactly what was running through my mind, Keegan spoke before I could make a move.

“Don’t.”

I looked at him.

He took a slow step forward.

“I know what you’re thinking. Running. Climbing the walls. Looking for a blind spot.” His tone remained calm. “Don’t make me stop you.”

My pulse hammered.

“You’d hurt me?”

His expression hardened. “I’d rather not.”

A beat of silence.

“But if you force me to choose between disobeying Romeo and putting you inside, I will choose his orders every time.”

His eyes held mine.

“So don’t test how far I’m willing to go to enforce them.”

His tone remained calm, almost bored.

“He’ll let you out eventually. This isn’t permanent.”

My chest rose and fell rapidly.

So this was my life now.

A prisoner in my own husband’s house.

Locked away because I had chosen to spend time with my best friend, while Romeo was free to spend as much time as he wanted with Yarina.

He could have her beside him all day, yet I was being punished for wanting the same simple freedom.

My heart twisted painfully.

Romeo had no right to do this.

No right to decide where I went, who I saw, or how I lived.

I had loved him for so long that I couldn’t remember what my life had felt like before him.

And this was what I had received in return.