The hand that seized her wrist was not unfamiliar.
Linda's breath hitched as Daniel yanked her through the narrow side path of the mansion, dragging her into the shelter of a stone wall draped with ivy. His grip was firm, unyielding, his eyes flashing with that familiar storm of dominance and suspicion.
"Where the hell were you?" His voice was low, rough, and furious. "My sister's wedding is days away. Every woman in this house is working — and you vanish? Do you take me for a fool?"
Linda's pulse raced. She swallowed hard, forcing her trembling lips to curve into something steady. "I—I wasn't gone for long. I went to check with the flower vendor down the street. They sent the wrong shade of roses. I thought—"
"Thought what?" Daniel cut in, stepping closer. The shadows swallowed his face, leaving only his eyes gleaming sharply. "That you can disappear whenever it pleases you? That I wouldn't notice?"
Her gaze faltered, shifting sideways for only an instant, but that was enough. Daniel saw it. His jaw clenched, and suspicion slithered deeper into him like poison.
"Listen Me carefully this is the last time i will remind you , DONOT . SHAME .ME .OR . MY FAMILY." , he growled , and didn't leave gap for her to speak
"Sit tight, do chores , talk less, atleast till this wedding arrangements end , got it ? .. you should have got it !"
---
Pinned Against the Wall
In one swift move, he pressed her back against the cold wall. The ivy rustled against her shoulders, and his arm shot up beside her head, caging her in. Linda gasped softly, her palms flat against the stone, her body taut with nervous energy.
"You're hiding something," he said, his voice quieter now, edged with menace. "Your eyes betray you. Do you know what happens when people hide things from me, Linda?"
Her throat tightened. She shook her head quickly. "Daniel, please. You're imagining things. I've done nothing wrong."
"Nothing wrong?" His mouth twisted into a sharp, humorless smirk. "Then why does your heart race like a rabbit caught in a snare every time I touch you?"
He leaned closer, his breath grazing her ear. One hand trailed down, brushing the curve of her jaw, then deliberately tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear with infuriating slowness. Then his hand came to stop near her collarbone , he was tempted to get going down ... instead of going down , he went up grabbed her jaw , squeezing her cheeks not painfully but firmly .His hands were never meant to use fragile things ( Linda was neber the fragile thing ) , the firmness of the motion only magnified the tension coiled between them.
"You belong to me," Daniel murmured, voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Do not test my patience, Linda. If I ever find out you're keeping something from me…" His thumb brushed over her lower lip, fleeting and deliberate. "…there will be consequences which you wouldn't want to know"
Linda's chest heaved, her loyalty and fear clashing violently inside her. She kept her silence, too afraid that words would betray her secret encounter.
"Be careful, MY revolutionary queen. If I find out there is something You're doing behind my back , I don't go easy on you. Till now I respect your choice .. if something wrong happens, I'm afraid you'll be tied to my bed"
Linda's breath hitched , tied to the bed ringing into her head several times like a mantra.
Daniel lingered a moment longer, his presence suffocating, before finally stepping back. His gaze raked over her one last time — suspicious, possessive — then he turned on his heel and strode back toward the mansion.
Linda sagged against the wall, pressing a trembling hand to her chest. She had escaped his wrath tonight, but the storm was far from over.
---
The Puppet Master's Game
Elsewhere, in the Armani mansion, smoke curled into the air, twisting like serpents under the dim chandelier glow.
David leaned back in his chair, cigarette balanced between his fingers, a smug smile carved into his lips. Across from him sat his father, old Armani, eyes sharp with calculating pride.
"You should have seen her," David said smoothly, exhaling a thin trail of smoke. "So naïve, so desperate for a taste of freedom that she clings to me like I'm salvation itself."
His father chuckled, the sound low and pleased. "And Daniel?"
David's grin darkened. He tapped ash into the tray, eyes narrowing with vengeful hunger. "Daniel is blind with arrogance. He thinks he owns her, but he has no idea she's already stepping into my world. One thread at a time, I'll unravel him. His empire, his pride, his precious woman — I'll reduce them all to ashes."
The elder Armani's smile was slow, cruel. "Good. A man like Daniel deserves to fall, and you will be the one to deliver the final blow."
David leaned forward, the cigarette glowing like an ember between them. "Let him tighten his grip on her. The tighter he holds, the easier she'll slip through his fingers… and straight into mine."
Smoke thickened in the room, wrapping around David like the very shadow of his schemes.
-------
Linda, pressed against the wall of her gilded prison, and David, smirking in smoke-filled luxury — both lived the same night under the same sky, unaware that their choices were threads in the same web.
And Daniel, in all his fury and suspicion, had no idea the fire that was waiting to consume him.
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PLEASE SUPPORT,
LOVE FROM,
♡LINDA AND DANIEL♡