CHAPTER 3 — "THE ROOM WITH NO ESCAPE"
The door to Adrian's room shut behind her with a deep, echoing thud — the kind of sound that made the walls feel like they were closing in.
Sienna's breath trembled.
The room was massive but cold.
Dark marble floors.
Black silk sheets.
A wall of glass overlooking the storm outside.
No warmth.
No photographs.
No sign of a life.
Just emptiness… and danger.
Adrian removed his blood-stained shirt first.
Not slowly.
Not seductively.
Just practical, efficient motions that revealed a body scarred like a battlefield.
Sienna's heart leaped into her throat.
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
"Relax," he said.
"I'm not going to touch you."
His tone held no reassurance.
It was simply a fact.
A statement from a creature who never needed to threaten — because everything he did was a threat.
Sienna stepped back until her hands hit the wall.
Adrian tossed the shirt aside and walked toward the bathroom, unbuttoning his cuffs.
But before he vanished behind the door, he paused.
His voice dropped into a warning.
"Don't move from that spot."
The bathroom door clicked shut.
Sienna exhaled shakily.
Her entire body felt like a violin string pulled too tight — one wrong touch and she'd snap.
She looked around.
No bars.
No locks.
But she wasn't stupid.
The prison wasn't the room.
The prison was him.
Her instinct screamed: RUN.
But her mind whispered:
He will drag you back.
He will punish you.
He will enjoy breaking you.
Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the room.
Footsteps.
Adrian emerged again — shirtless, hair wet, towel slung loosely around his waist. Water traced the sharp lines of his body.
But his eyes were the real weapon.
Cold.
Hunting.
Calculating.
He looked at her like she was an equation he hadn't solved yet.
"Good," he said softly. "You listened."
He walked past her, but the air shifted with him, like the temperature dropped a few degrees.
He opened a cabinet and pulled out a black shirt.
Pulled it over his head.
Then turned to face her fully.
"Tell me," he said.
"What do you think happens now?"
Sienna swallowed. "You… you let me go?"
Adrian laughed.
Not loud.
Not cruel.
Just amused.
Like she'd told him a child's fantasy.
"Let you go?" he repeated slowly, stepping toward her.
"You saw me execute an entire family. You walked into a territory only my men step into. You stood there watching death like it wouldn't reach you."
He stopped inches from her, lifting her chin with two fingers.
The storm roared behind him.
"I don't let things go, Sienna."
Her breath hitched.
His gaze traveled over her face — not lustful, not gentle, just… studying.
"You're afraid," he murmured.
She nodded, chest rising shakily.
"But you're not broken."
Her heart hammered.
He let her chin go and stepped back.
"Good."
His voice was almost approval.
"I don't keep broken things."
Sienna whispered, barely audible, "Then what am I to you?"
Adrian's eyes darkened.
"A question I intend to answer."
He walked to a drawer and pulled out something small and metal.
Sienna froze.
"What is that?"
Adrian held it up.
A chain.
Silver.
Simple.
But the pendant attached to it was chilling:
A king's crown carved in obsidian.
He walked back to her, each step slow and deliberate.
"This," he said softly, "is the mark of my house. My throne. My rule."
Her pulse raced.
"Why are you giving it to me?"
"I'm not giving it."
He tilted her hair aside, exposing her neck.
"I'm placing it."
Cold metal touched her skin.
Sienna gasped.
His breath brushed her ear.
"You belong to me now."
Her entire body stiffened.
"No—no, I don't—"
He tightened the clasp, fingers brushing her spine.
"You do," he said simply.
"You walked into my world. That alone sealed your fate."
She grabbed the pendant, voice trembling.
"You can't own people—"
"I can," he said softly.
"And I do."
She backed away from him.
He let her — almost entertained by it.
Her voice hardened, fear sharp and raw.
"You can't keep me here forever!"
Adrian stepped closer, trapping her with a single look.
"Sienna."
Her name dropped from his lips like a verdict.
"You are in the room of a man who killed forty-seven people before he turned twenty-four."
Her breath stopped.
"Do you really think you get to argue with me?"
She shook her head helplessly, tears gathering.
Adrian lifted her chin again.
Not with cruelty.
Not with gentleness.
With absolute power.
"Cry if you need to," he murmured.
"But don't mistake your tears for rebellion."
His thumb brushed the tear.
"I've ended empires for less."
Sienna's knees nearly buckled.
Adrian stepped back and nodded toward the bed.
"Sleep. I have business to finish."
She didn't move.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Do you need help lying down?"
"No!" she blurted.
A small smirk curved his lips.
The first sign of amusement she'd seen.
"Good girl."
Her stomach twisted.
He turned toward the door.
But before he left, he looked over his shoulder.
"You're safe here tonight," he said.
"Not because I am kind—but because I am possessive."
Her heart raced.
"And remember this, lamb."
His voice dropped to a chilling whisper.
"If anyone touches you… I'll kill them before they finish breathing your name."
The door closed behind him with another deep thud.
And Sienna realized—
This wasn't captivity.
This was possession.
And the Slaughter King had no intention of ever letting her go.
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