MADDEST OBSESSION - Chapter 10: Chapter 10

The tension still lingered in the room like thick fog as Aria lay awake in bed. The kiss haunted her, replaying on a loop she couldn’t escape. The way his lips claimed hers, the heat of his touch—it was intoxicating. Terrifying.
She rolled onto her side, staring at the dark silhouette of Dominic seated by the window. His back was to her, but she could sense his alertness, as though he too was haunted by everything unspoken between them.
“Are you going to sit there all night?” she whispered into the quiet room.
He didn’t move. “I’m watching.”
“Watching what?”
“The city. The men I’ve posted to guard you. The shadows that crawl when I’m not looking.”
Her heart skipped. His paranoia was justified in their world, but it unnerved her.
“You think they’ll come after me?” she asked, her voice barely audible.
“They already have.” His voice was like steel wrapped in silk. “The Moretti enemies aren’t just mine anymore. They’ll use you to break me.”
Aria sat up, the sheets pooling at her waist. “I never agreed to this kind of danger, Dominic.”
“You agreed to marry me.”
“For my father’s empire, not for my life to be constantly threatened!”
He finally turned to face her, his eyes dark and unreadable in the dim light. “That’s the cost of being married to a man like me.”
She swallowed hard, meeting his gaze. “Then tell me something, Dominic. Was this marriage ever really about uniting our families? Or was it always about control?”
He stood, his powerful frame towering as he approached the bed. “It was about many things, Aria. Power. Revenge. Protection.” His voice dipped. “But don’t pretend you don’t feel it too.”
Aria’s breath caught as he sat on the edge of the bed, so close she could feel his heat. His hand reached out, fingers tracing a line from her shoulder to her wrist, sending a shiver through her.
“You fight me at every turn,” he murmured. “Yet you crave me.”
“Crave you?” she echoed, forcing herself not to flinch at his touch. “Or hate you?”
His lips curved into a dangerous smirk. “The two are not so different.”
The room crackled with unspoken tension. She wanted to pull away. But instead, she held his gaze.
“You think you own me,” she whispered, her voice shaky but defiant. “But you don’t.”
“I already do, Aria.” His voice was low, predatory. “And I intend to make sure you understand that.”
Before she could reply, he leaned in, his breath ghosting over her skin. But this time, he didn’t kiss her. Instead, he whispered against her ear, “Tomorrow, you’ll accompany me to the gala. You’ll stand by my side like the queen you are. And the world will see who you belong to.”
Aria’s pulse quickened. The gala. The public display. The next level of the game he was playing.
He pulled back slightly, waiting for her response.
“I won’t be your puppet, Dominic.”
“No,” he agreed. “You’ll be my partner. But only if you stop fighting me and start embracing what this marriage truly means.”
Her chest heaved as she fought the storm inside her. This wasn’t what she’d wanted. Yet a dangerous part of her—a reckless, untamed part—was drawn to the power he offered. The twisted safety of belonging to a man feared by everyone.
His eyes softened for a brief moment as if sensing her internal struggle. “I don’t want you broken, Aria,” he said, voice almost tender. “I want you standing beside me—strong, untouchable.”
For the first time, she saw it—a glimpse of something deeper beneath his icy control. Not just possessiveness. But a
warped form of devotion.
And that terrified her most of all.