Page 71 of The Enforcer's Possession
The air between us crackled with unresolved tension.With everything we weren’t saying.With the weight of decisions that would define whether we had a future or just a marriage contract that would dissolve under pressure.
I waited for his answer.And tried not to think about what I’d do if he chose wrong.
He moved then.Not rushed, not explosive -- Dante didn’t do anything without calculation.Each step was measured, deliberate, the approach of someone who’d spent years learning to read threats and responses.I felt my pulse kick up as he closed the distance between us, not stopping when he reached me but continuing past, circling to my left with that predator’s grace that made my body respond even when my mind was focused on the negotiation.
I turned but didn’t pivot to follow him completely.Held my ground.Let him circle while I stayed rooted to my position near the bar cart, scotch glass within reach if I needed the liquid courage.
“Partnership,” he repeated.“Explain exactly what that means to you.”
He completed one circle, came around to my right side, still maintaining that calculated distance.Close enough that I felt his presence like heat against my skin.Far enough that I’d have to move to touch him, far enough that the space between us became its own kind of statement.
I tracked him, refused to let him intimidate me into backing down.“I already explained it.I need my intelligence and capability to have respect and not be easily dismissed.”
“I’ve never dismissed you.”He stopped behind me, and I felt rather than saw him there -- the weight of his attention on my back, the way my body wanted to turn toward him even though I forced myself to stay facing forward.
“You control what I wear, where I go, who I see.You make decisions about my life without asking my opinion.That’s not respect, Dante.That’s ownership.”
“You knew what you were agreeing to.”He moved again, coming around to my left, completing another circuit.“You proposed this marriage.Offered yourself in exchange for protection from your father’s choices.”
“I did.”I finally turned to face him as he came back around, meeting his dark gaze.“But I didn’t know what I was capable of yet.Didn’t know I could kill without hesitation.Didn’t know I could handle combat situations or make tactical decisions or save your life when it mattered.I’ve proven myself tonight in ways neither of us anticipated.”
Something flickered in his expression.Not quite acknowledgment, but close.“You did.”
“So the terms need to change.I’m not asking you to give up control completely.I understand what you are, what you need.But I need something too.”
He stopped moving, stood his ground as I approached.“What do you need?”
“Like I said.I want to be consulted on decisions that affect me.To have my voice matter when we’re planning operations or dealing with family politics or making choices about our future.”I stopped three feet from him.“I still want you to be dominant in private.In our bedroom.I’m not asking you to change that.”
His eyes darkened at the acknowledgment, pupils dilating slightly.“No?”
“No.”I felt heat flood my cheeks but pushed through it.“I want you to order me around when we’re alone.Want you to pin me down and make me beg.Want everything we’ve had in that regard.But outside the bedroom, I need to be treated like your equal.”
He studied me for a long moment, and I could see him processing what I was offering.The division between public partnership and private dominance.The way I was asking him to compartmentalize his control instead of giving it up entirely.
“And if I can’t do that?”he asked quietly.“If the lines blur?If what I need extends beyond the bedroom?”
“Then we negotiate.”I held his gaze.“Case by case.Situation by situation.But with the understanding that I have the right to push back.To argue.To refuse if something crosses a line I’m not willing to accept.”
He resumed his circling, but slower now.More thoughtful.I could see him working through the implications, calculating what this new arrangement would cost him versus what he’d lose if I walked away.His hands had stopped flexing -- they hung loose at his sides now, though tension still rode his shoulders.
“You killed for me tonight.”There was something in his voice I couldn’t quite identify.Pride, maybe.Or possessive satisfaction.“Saved my life without hesitation.”
“I did.”
“You followed orders during the operation.Executed your role perfectly.Proved you could function in combat situations.”
“I did,” I repeated.“But I also made independent decisions when they were necessary.Shot that guard.Chose to execute Marco instead of letting someone else do it.I acted as a partner, not just as someone following your commands.”
He completed another circle, and when he came around to face me this time, I saw something shift in his expression.A subtle relaxation in his shoulders.Something softening around his eyes that made him look less like a predator evaluating prey and more like a man recognizing an equal.
“You want respect,” he said.
“I want partnership.Respect is part of that.”
“And in exchange, you stay.”It wasn’t quite a question.
“In exchange, I stay.”I felt my heart hammering but kept my voice steady.“I give you everything I am -- my loyalty, my body, my willingness to stand beside you in whatever darkness this life requires.But I need to be treated like someone who wants that position instead of someone who’s been forced into it.”
