Page 35 of Chains of Obsession

Those three words hold a power I never thought I’d crave. For a man like me, trust has always been a dangerous gamble, but with Amelia, it’s different. She’s different. There’s a quiet confidence in her now, a strength born from surviving the fire we’ve both endured. She’s not the same woman I forced into this life a year ago.

“You’re thinking too much,” she murmurs, her voice breaking through the silence.

“I’m thinking about you,” I reply, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head.

She tilts her face up to mine, her lips curving into a small, knowing smile. “Good. Because I’m thinking about us.”

I can’t help but smirk. “Am I supposed to be worried?”

“Always,” she says, echoing my earlier words with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

But her tone softens as she continues. “I never thought I could feel this way, Matteo. For you. For this life. But now…” She pauses, searching for the right words. “I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”

Her honesty stuns me. Amelia’s walls have always been as impenetrable as my own and hearing her admit this, feels like a victory I never expected to win.

“You’re mine,” I say, my voice rough with possession. “You’ve always been mine, even when you hated me for it.”

She doesn’t flinch at my bluntness. Instead, she leans closer, her lips brushing against my jaw as she whispers, “You’re mine, Matteo. Every dark, twisted part of you.”

The words ignite something primal in me, a need so overwhelming that it consumes every rational thought. I grip her waist, pulling her into my lap as my mouth claims hers in a kiss that’s anything but gentle.

It’s a collision of need and power, of two souls too stubborn to yield but too connected to let go. Her fingers dig into my shoulders as she matches my intensity, her defiance and passion fueling the fire between us. I break the kiss only to trail my lips down her neck, savoring the way her breath hitches when I nip at the sensitive skin.

“You drive me insane,” I murmur against her throat, my hands roaming over her body with a desperation I can’t contain.

“Good. Because you do the same to me.” She breathes, her voice laced with challenge.

I rest my forehead against hers. “Amelia, I’ll give you the world. You’re everything to me—my obsession, my reason, myqueen.”

Her lips part, but no words come out. Instead, she cups my face in her hands and kisses me with a tenderness that nearly undoes me. As the night stretches on, we talk about the future, the empire we’ll build together, the family we’ll fight for, and the darkness we’ve both embraced. Amelia may have once longed for freedom, but now she’s chosen something else. She’s chosen me, just as I’ve chosen her and in this life we’ve carved out of chaos and pain, that choice is everything. For the first time in years, I feel something close to hope. Not just for us, but for the life we’re creating—a life that will be ours, no matter the cost and God help anyone who tries to stand in our way.

Amelia’s laughter has filled the vast halls of the estate, a haunting melody that wraps around me like a vice. She’s changed in ways I never anticipated. Her sharp defiance remains, but it’s been honed, sharpened into something darker, something uniquely ours.

Where once she might have flinched at the sight of blood or balked at the mention of revenge, now she stands at my side, unwavering and fierce. She doesn’t just wear the crown of the queen of my empire, she owns it.

I watch her stand and make her way to the window. She is wearing one of my black shirts, the fabric too large for her slender frame, yet somehow it looks better on her than it ever did on me. It might be the way her baby bump looks under the fabric.

“Do you ever think about what’s next?” she asks suddenly, her voice soft but tinged with steel.

I wait a few minutes before getting off the couch to cross the room and stand behind her. My hands settle on her hips, pulling her back against me. “Next is whatever we decide it to be,” I murmur against her ear.

She leans into me, but there’s tension in her posture, a hesitation. “What if someone tries to take it away?”

“They won’t. No one will ever take you or our child from me. I’d burn the world down first.” I growl, my arms tightening around her.

Her laugh is low, dark, and it sends a shiver through me. “And I’d help you light the match.”

The words shouldn’t excite me the way they do, but this is my wife—my perfect contradiction. She’s mine in every way that matters, but it’s her choice to stay, her willingness to embrace the darkness, that binds us together. Turning her in my arms, I tilt her chin up to meet my gaze.

Her eyes hold the same storm they always have, but now there’s something else—a hunger that mirrors my own. Her lips are swollen, her cheeks flushed, and I’ve never seen anything more beautiful. As I lead her to the bed, the world outside ceases to exist. It’s just us—two souls intertwined by love, obsession, and a shared darkness that no one else could ever understand.

In this moment, there’s no betrayal, no enemies lurking in the shadows. There’s only the promise of what’s to come. As I lay beside her and she falls asleep I know one thing is true: nothing will ever come between us again. Amelia’s breathing is steady beside me, I find my hand instinctively drawn to the small, growing curve of her stomach.

The thought of the life we’ve created fills me with a reverence I didn’t know I was capable of. It’s as if this child, not yet born, has given me a purpose far greater than anything I’ve ever known.

Amelia stirs slightly, her eyes opening to find me gazing at her. “What’s on your mind?” she murmurs, her voice heavy with sleep.

I brush a strand of hair from her face. “You. Our child. The future.”

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