Alicia's POV
The knock startled me awake.
It wasn't the casual tap of a delivery man or the crisp rap of a doorman. No, this was desperate, sharp, too alive to be anything ordinary. It pulled me out of the dreamless haze Liam's presence always left me in.
My body ached, hips bruised, lips tender, thighs burning with the memory of how he had kept me through the night, pushing me past every limit until exhaustion finally swallowed me whole. But now, the sound at the door yanked me upright, clutching the silken sheets around me.
Another knock. Louder.
And then my phone buzzed beneath the pillow. I grabbed it quickly, my heart hammering when Chloe's name flashed on the screen. For the hundredth time in two days, she was calling.
I wanted to answer. God, I wanted to tell her everything, to say I was trapped, to beg for her help. My thumb hovered over the green button, but fear paralyzed me. Liam always seemed to know. Even when he wasn't here, his presence lingered like a shadow pressed into my skin.
The knock grew into pounding.
"Alicia!" Chloe's muffled voice bled through the penthouse door. My pulse roared in my ears.
She came. She actually came.
But a new sound made my stomach twist….the deep, measured tread of footsteps across the black marble floors. He was home.
Liam Knight.
My lungs seized as his voice, smooth and lethal, echoed through the vast entryway.
"Miss Blake doesn't answer to anyone but me."
The words chilled me to the bone.
I pressed my back to the bedroom wall, trembling, my hand clamped over my mouth as if that could somehow keep me safe.
Chloe's POV
Her knuckles stung from pounding, but Chloe didn't care. Every second Alicia didn't appear tightened the knot of panic in her chest. Kiel hovered just behind her, his tall frame a protective shadow, one hand at her waist, the other ready to pull her back if things went bad.
"Chloe," he muttered low, his jaw flexing. "We shouldn't be here like this. Knight isn't just anyone"
She cut him off with another slam of her fist against the polished wood. "I don't care who he is. Alicia's in there, and she needs me!"
Kiel swore under his breath, but Chloe was beyond listening. She had replayed Alicia's whisper from that late-night call too many times: Liam won't let me leave… I can't see my mom…
The door finally clicked.
And when it swung open, Liam Knight filled the doorway like a shadow out of a nightmare.
He was breathtaking….impossibly tall, shirt sleeves rolled up, tie loosened, dark hair slightly mussed as if he'd just finished something intense. But there was nothing casual about him. He was a storm dressed in silk and steel, and his eyes made Chloe's skin crawl.
"Mr. Knight?" A calm, professional voice broke through the tension. Detective Howard stepped forward, flashing a badge. He wore no uniform, just a gray suit, his tone polite but firm. "We received a report concerning the wellbeing of Miss Alicia Blake. We need to confirm she's safe."
Liam's lips curved into a polite, disarming smile. "Detective." His voice was a whiskey pour….smooth, controlled, intoxicating. "You've been misinformed. Miss Blake is perfectly fine. She's resting."
"Then perhaps she could step out? Just a word would suffice."
"I would hate to disturb her." Liam leaned casually against the doorframe, the perfect image of the considerate lover. "She's had an exhausting few days. I insisted she take time to herself…..no noise, no stress. You understand."
Chloe's chest burned. She shoved forward, but his body shifted like a shield, blocking her path without so much as brushing her. He didn't need to touch her to stop her. His presence alone was a wall.
"You're lying!" Chloe's voice cracked, tears threatening to spill. "You're keeping her….."
"Careful." His tone dropped, still soft, but laced with something that made her blood run cold. His gaze locked on hers, steady and suffocating. "Accusing a man in his own home is dangerous."
Kiel tensed, hand slipping into hers, grounding her, but she shook him off.
Detective Howard cleared his throat, stepping in to ease the tension. "Mr. Knight, surely you can understand. We just need to confirm her wellbeing, that's all."
"And I'm confirming it now," Liam replied, his charm cutting like glass. "Do you really think I…..a man whose life is under public scrutiny daily could hide someone against their will in the middle of Manhattan?"
The detective hesitated.
Chloe saw it…..the shift. Liam's calm authority was swallowing him whole.
Her stomach flipped in rage and fear. "Alicia!" she screamed, pounding her fists against the doorframe. "If you can hear me, I'm not giving up on you!"
Alicia's POV
Her voice pierced the air, pierced me. I pressed my hand harder against the door, sobbing silently as I shook.
"Please, Chloe…" I whispered into the wood. "Don't make him angry."
But Chloe couldn't hear me.
Silence stretched in the entryway.
Then Liam's velvet voice: "Miss Blake doesn't need to explain herself to anyone."
Tears streamed down my cheeks. Every word he spoke bound me tighter in his cage.
Chloe's sob cracked like a whip. "If you hurt her…."
The detective stepped in again, uneasy. "Perhaps tomorrow, Mr. Knight. Just a visit. To put this matter to rest."
Liam chuckled low, warm, devastating. "Detective, I'll have my assistant send you a schedule. Now if you'll excuse us, Miss Blake is waiting for me."
The door shut.
Alicia's POV – After
The silence afterward was worse than the shouting.
And then I heard it, the slow, deliberate footsteps across marble, coming closer, closer, until the bedroom door swung open.
Liam stood there, framed in shadow. His tie was gone now, his shirt collar undone, but his aura was sharper than ever. He didn't look angry. He didn't need to. His calm was the weapon.
"You heard them." His voice was low, intimate. "You heard every word."
I nodded, my throat tight.
He stepped closer, until the wall pressed cold against my back. His fingers lifted my chin, tilting my gaze to his. His eyes gleamed dark, fathomless.
"The world believes you're safe," he murmured, "because I said so."
A sob escaped me. He brushed it away with his thumb, gentle, tender and mocking.
His lips grazed my ear, his breath hot against my skin. "Now they know you're mine, too."
And when his mouth claimed mine, I realized the cage wasn't just these walls. It was him. And the terrifying part was…I didn't know if I wanted to break free anymore.