Chapter 27 Kateřina
Watch the ceiling.
Wander around my room.
Put on some clothes.
Ever since I was brought here, that has been my dull routine. I don’t want to leave my room; everyone else creeps the hell out of me.
Eleanor, with her bitchy-witchy demeanor; Landon, who has the most sinister smile I’ve ever seen. Cain seems to trust him.
I don’t.
Eleanor cleaned the mess after he left that night and didn’t ask questions—just like he said. Since then, no one has come to my room.
I’m so bored here when he’s not around. He’s probably in his office, working. What if I went there and asked him if I could go outside? I’m sure he’ll snap and refuse. Well, he’s a bit calmer, so he wouldn’t yell.
No. He’ll merely snarl and stare at me with his big, dark green eyes. He despises talking, so my expectations should be low.
Nothing bad will come from trying, though, right? Besides, my situation can’t get any worse than it already is.
I go to the closet and take a good look at the dresses on the hangers. Once again, I admire his taste. Even the sweaters are classy and elegant.
My eyes are drawn to a pretty dusty-pink girly minidress. It seems ideal for the situation. I pull it from the hanger and put it on, then gaze into the mirror. Oh, I adore those frilled, wide straps on my shoulders. It’s stunning.
A pair of heeled sandals in the same shade as the dress is the finest option.
I rush into the bathroom, brush my long and thick hair, and put on a cherry-tinted lip balm. Just a little mascara to make my almond-shaped eyes look more feminine. I’m sure he’ll like it.
I look at myself in the mirror and take a deep breath. I’m ready.
I carefully step out of my room. The last thing I want is to run into someone—anyone.
Thankfully, the mansion seems deserted, as always. After a minute or so, I’m outside his office.
Landon is in there, and they’re talking. Maybe arguing.
“It was a foolish move! You shouldn’t have done that!” Landon growls, clearly irritated.
“Who the fuck do you think you are to tell me what’s right and wrong?
” Cain hisses quietly. He sounds calm, but I know this kind of calmness in him.
“You forget your place.” He pauses. I hear footsteps.
“You don’t correct me. You don’t question me.
You just obey. Because the moment you stop being useful, you stop being necessary. ”
Silence. No one’s talking, and my stress levels increase. What if one of them snaps and attacks the other?
Instinctively, I knock on the door as if trying to prevent a killing. No one responds. I take a deep breath, and I open it decisively.
Both turn their heads and stare at me.
“I-I’m sorry,” I falter, trying to look composed. “I thought you were alone.”
Landon shakes his head. The intensity in Cain’s eyes eases.
“Next time, you’ll knock and wait, Rosie.”
Landon scoffs under his breath.
“I’m sorry.” I lower my eyes. It’s clearly the worst time to ask what I want.
“Leave us.” Cain shoots him a death stare.
Landon lingers for a few seconds, his jaw clenched as if his pride has been crushed. He looks at me, eyes spitting fire as he passes.
Asshole!
He walks outside and closes the door behind him, leaving me alone with Cain. God, I’m so stressed.
He prowls closer to me, a predator poised to pounce, causing chills all over my skin.
“Tell me, r??i?ko,” he whispers near my ear. “Why that outfit?” His fingers trace my shoulder, then lower down my arm.
“You don’t like it?”
“You wore it for a reason,” he growls.
“Is it working?”
“Are you asking me if I want to tear you apart in every way possible, or if I’m fool enough to take the bait?”
“What?” How did he know?
He pulls back with a sinister smirk on his lips and walks up to his desk again. He sits on his chair, resting his elbows on the heavy ebony surface. “I’m listening, little rose. What is this all about?”
I exhale sharply. “I want to go out.”
“No,” he growls. As expected.
“Not alone.” I walk closer. “We’ll be together. You’ll take me anywhere you want. I just want to go outside.”
His eyes fix on me. “I said no,” he repeats calmly, opening some documents to read.
Oh, you kretén! You won’t ignore me like I’m nothing!
I try not to let my annoyance show. Let’s try this again. I stroll closer to his desk and notice an old Rubik’s Cube at the edge of it.
“You know how to solve this?” I ask, taking it in my hand.
His eyes follow it, but he doesn’t react. As always, he’s calm. “I don’t.”
“Seriously?” He doesn’t reply but returns his eyes to the papers. I need to keep pushing. “It looks old.”
“My mother gave it to me,” he says without looking back at me.
His mother … that must mean it’s important to him, yet he doesn’t try to take it away from me, as if he trusts me with something so precious.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t know,” I stutter.
He sets the documents on the desk and intertwines his fingers together, raising his eyes to meet mine.
“You don’t have to apologize,” he says quietly. “If I didn’t want you to hold it, I wouldn’t have let you.”
“So, what’s the story behind it?” I don’t ask because of what I want to do. I ask because I genuinely want to know.
“Like I said, my mother gave it to me. It’s the only thing I have left from her. Well, at least the only thing I can hold in my hands.”
My eyes drop. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“You apologize too much,” he says quietly.
My gaze snaps back up to him. “What?”
“Why did they fuck you up so bad?”
My heart races. “W-What do you mean?”
“Your parents. What have they done to you?”
“How do you know?” My eyes widen.
“You and I are more alike than you think, little rose. I’ve told you before.
I see the brokenness inside you.” He picks up the pack of smokes from his desk and lights one.
“The fractures. The parts of you no one else bothered to look at.” He exhales.
“You hide them so well, but they’re there, screaming behind your eyes. ”
Tears well in my eyes before I can stop them. He’s the first person who’s ever spoken to me like that. The first to tell me the bold, unfiltered truth. The first to treat me like I’m something precious. Like I’m worth worshipping. Like the ground I walk on matters.
I thought modeling was about this, but it’s not. In the modeling industry, you have to be a bitch, but also kind. You have to be gentle but also tough. They don’t care about you. To them, you’re just money—a piece of meat.
But to Cain, I am not all that. I can be my true self, and for him, it’s enough.
Without saying another word, I set the cube on the desk, wipe my tears, and confidently walk closer before climbing onto the desk in front of him and parting my legs.
He leans back further in the chair, inhaling his smoke and savoring the moment.
“You see the broken parts, but you never looked away. Is that still enough for you?”
He moves closer, his fingers slowly sliding up my calf as he presses his lips on my inner thighs and plants delicate kisses.
“I don’t care if you’re broken. I don’t need perfection.” He kisses me higher, causing my legs to shake. His fingers flex against my skin, pulling a soft hiss from me. “I need obedience. I need loyalty.” He looks up at me through dark lashes. “I need you.”
Slowly, I unbutton his dark blue shirt, letting my hand drift up to his neck. My fingers glide over the tattoos on his skin. “Are you mine?” I whisper.
He doesn’t move—he just lets my fingers trace his skin.
“You know it already.”
“I want to hear it,” I murmur, sinking into his touch.
He raises his head, brushing his lips against mine. “My heart belongs to you.”
It’s the first time he’s said something like this.
And God, why does it make me melt?
It makes me weak.
Because I wasn’t prepared.
Because I swore I wouldn’t fall.
Because I told myself he was dangerous.
Because I thought I was stronger than this.
Because I thought I knew what love was.
And perhaps—worst of all—because some part of me wanted to be his.
Six mistakes.
Six cracks in the walls I built.
And his whole existence slips through every single one.
“I shouldn’t want this. I shouldn’t want you,” I whisper. My fingers curl into his shirt, pulling him closer.
“But you do.”
“I do.”
He smiles softly against my lips. “Does it scare you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you like that feeling?”
“Yes.”
A low hum rumbles in his chest, almost a growl, as he rests his forehead against mine. “Let’s go outside, shall we?”
“What?” I squeal in surprise, pulling back. Did I hear right?
“I choose the place. I drive. I set the rules.”
I nod, the smile widening on my lips. My heart is pounding in my chest, and my stomach is full of butterflies. I feel like a child who’s just been promised a trip to the playground.
Without thinking twice, I jump on him and plant quick, small kisses all over his face.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!” I say between kisses, diving into his arms.
He’s frozen at first, but then he wraps his strong arms around me, holding me tightly in his embrace.
Then, he pulls back and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “I don’t know how the hell you do this,” he whispers.
“Do what?”
“Dissolve every dark thought in me.”
I look up at him, stunned to silence for a moment. Nobody has ever said anything like that to me. My heart stumbles in my chest.
So, I do the only thing that feels right. I reach up and hold his face in my hands, my thumbs brushing over his prominent cheekbones. His eyes flutter shut for a moment, as if he is allowing himself to get immersed in it.
“You say we’re more alike than I thought, right?” I ask.
He nods sharply, his brows softening.
“I can see it now.”
His gaze drops to my lips, then back to my eyes. “You do that too,” he murmurs. “You make it impossible to stay cold when you’re near.”
I don’t move.
Because that version of him, the one no one else gets to see, is standing inches from me. And he’s not hiding anymore.
He clears his throat. “Shall we?”
“Yes!” I say with a smile.
At the time, it felt like the beginning of something good.
I wish I’d understood what I was asking for.