I walked into the dining room. And he was there.
Standing with his back to me, shoulders broad and still, staring out the window at the ocean like he hadn’t swallowed me whole the night before.
Grey suit, matching slacks. Clean, composed, and unmoved. As if he hadn’t bled me last night. As if he hadn’t shattered something sacred and stitched it up.
He looked like power. And I hated him for it.
I decided to make my presence known. Though my body shivered at the sight of him. I ignored the rings and let my heels click against the marble. Because I wanted him to see me. I needed him to. So he could hurt me again.
Because hate had become my drug. Hating him. Hating myself more.
But then I stopped when I noticed another presence.
The same man who brought the marriage agreement on the first day. The day Zagreus kidnapped me.
He stood smaller beside Zagreus, shorter and leaner, more human in the presence of a monster. Still in his pressed suit, glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.
The lawyer cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses. “… request your presence, sir.” he said stiffly. “Any more delay and the board will proceed without you.”
Zagreus didn’t move. Didn’t even look at him. Just kept staring at the ocean.
It made the room colder than the sea wind ever could.
I stood there, far enough he wouldn’t notice yet close enough I could hear them clearly.
Zagreus finally spoke. “I don’t care, Jeremy. Let them.”
The lawyer stiffened, and so did I.
‘I… sir, with respect,” he adjusted his glasses again, a nervous flick he couldn’t hide, “the Syndicate needs your presence. It’s been six months since your last appearance. Questions are being asked and allegiances are fraying.”
Zagreus finally turned from the window. And now he was facing the lawyer. “I built the table they sit at,” he murmured. “They forget that too often.”
He took a slow step toward the lawyer, and the poor man shuddered. “If they need reminding...” A faint, cruel glint tugged at his lips. “Tell Romanovski I’m coming to his party.”
The lawyer nodded too quickly, stepping back. Retreated with haste until I heard the door clicking shut behind him.
Zagreus still hadn’t turned to me. But something told me he knew I was here. He knew from the moment I woke up.
“You’re not going to look at me?” I hated how soft my voice came out.
Still, nothing.
Only the crash of waves behind the glass. Only the way his shoulders lifted once.
“I looked at you last night,” he said quietly. “So closely, I could’ve painted your soul from memory.”
I flinched because I remembered. And because some small, broken part of me wanted him to look at the destruction he’d made.
He turned slowly. And when his eyes met mine, it was like the universe exploded. Hunger. Pride. Possession. All of it coiled behind those stormy-grey eyes.
His eyes were so dark I forgot what the world looked like in the light.
As if he could undo me. Like he was moments away from ripping this dress off of me.
Because his gaze stripped me away anyway. Layer by layer. Until I wasn’t the woman, just a toy he could use whenever he wanted.
And somehow… my thighs pressed together.
