Chapter 17 She’s my obsession
Damian’s POV.
I couldn’t think straight. I just stood still, so many thoughts were going on in my head.
The study was quiet, so quiet that if a pin dropped, you would hear it so loudly.
The city lights out the tall windows blinked so brightly. I loosened my tie slowly.
My anger was heavy and dense, the kind that sat in my chest and pressed down until breathing felt like work.
Dante.
I kept imagining his mouth in hers. I kept imagining her hesitation, and they way he said she didn’t pull away.
My jaw locked.
I didn’t give him any permission, he didn’t even ask, he just took.
Like he always does.
I told myself it wasn’t jealousy. That would be weak. I told myself it was just anger over crossed lines, over carelessness, and over the fact that my brother never understood consequences.
But my body kept reacting to something else.
Jealousy burned me slowly. It crawled under my skin like sweat and stayed there.
I moved back to the window and stared back at the dining below. It was empty and quiet. That was where she had walked earlier.
That was where Lucia’s voice carried sweet and sharp poisonous words at the same time.
I replayed that moment without mercy.
Lucia leaning closer to me, her hand on my arm. She held me so familiar and easily. She spoke as if she owned this place, like Isla was just a temporary piece of furniture in my life.
And Isla, she sat there calm, her spine straight, and her face unreadable.
That was what unsettled me the most.
A woman whose scream was unpredictable. A woman who knew how to hit words where it hurts was dangerous.
I wanted to stop Lucia, but on second thought I didn’t.
I should have cut it short. Should have shut Lucia down the moment she crossed that invisible line. I had seen and knew exactly what she was doing.
And still, I let it happen.
The truth sat darker beneath it.
If I defended Isla, it would show too much. It would show that she mattered. And once people get to know that, they would make use of it.
People are always looking for things to use against you.
I picked up the glass on the desk and took a slow sip. Whiskey burned down my throat. But it didn’t touch the heat in my chest.
I didn’t want Isla. That was the cleanest lie I had ever told myself.
I didn’t want her before the wedding. Before she stepped into this house with that quiet tense shoulder, as if she had expected the world to strike at any moment.
She was just supposed to be a role. Something I could easily handle and just put away.
And now, she lives in my head.
Her voice followed me into rooms she had never entered. I could still feel her presence even after she left.
I hated and craved it.
I set the glass down before it cracked. My grip was tight enough to leave marks.
I had been cold since the wedding. I thought distance was safer, I just had to keep it clean.
And still, when she looked at me, I couldn’t help it.
That look undid something that I had swore not to let loose.
Last night at the gala, when I saw her across from the room, something shifted. She didn’t really notice me at first.
When she did, her eyes caught me for a second and Lucia just stepped in.
And then… Dante stepped in where I should have stood.
My brother had not always been reckless with emotions. But the way he looked at her said everything.
He liked passion. He liked chaos, and liked taking what wasn’t handed to him.
He kissed her knowing exactly what it would do.
I walked around once, twice, and then stopped.
I wouldn’t confront him again, not yet. Words spoken too soon always had its way of ruining plans.
Lucia has watched everything. She had always been watching, always waiting for cracks.
Her behavior with Isla wasn’t pleasant to me.
I didn’t enjoy it. And I didn’t stop it either.
And that made me angrier at myself than I was at her.
Because a part of me wanted Isla toughen. She needed to fight and push back harder.
And another part of me wanted to crush anyone who dared look at her the wrong way.
Contradiction lived rent free in my head these days.
My phone vibrated. I didn’t move.
It vibrated again. Slowly, I took it out.
Unknown number. Of course, the messages had been coming more often, as if whosoever was sending them was growing patient.
I opened it. There was only one sentence.
“She’s slipping out of your hands.”
My jaw tightened. This wasn’t just a coincidence.
Someone knew. Someone knew that there was a fraction forming between us.
My thumb hovered over the screen. I wanted to reply, I wanted to demand answers.
I just did nothing. Silence was power, and still, the message stayed with me.
She’s slipping. The thought echoed louder than it should have.
Because it felt true, she already was and I can’t let that happen.
Isla was changing. I saw it in the way she moved now. She’s less careful and more distant.
As if she was pulling herself backward, like she was protecting something.
And I was the one pushing her there.
I hadn’t touched her properly. I hadn’t claimed what was already mine. I treated her more like a problem than a wife.
And now Dante had touched her first.
That thought twisted deeper. Possessiveness creeped in unwelcomed.
She was my wife. The word felt so heavy.
She’s mine. And yet I stood outside while another man kissed her.
My brother.
I ran a hand through my hair and exhaled slowly. Losing control wasn’t an option. I had built my life on restraint.
But restraint didn’t stop me from wanting. And didn’t fade.
I wanted her badly. So badly that it scared me.
I tried to distract myself with meetings, calls, and work that used to consume me without effort.
But nothing worked. The more I tried, the harder it became.
Her face followed me everywhere. And her silence hurt more than her response ever could.
I didn’t enjoy Lucia’s presence today. And I didn’t enjoy how easily my attention shifted to her because it was just a habit I haven’t been able to kill.
And I didn’t like the look on Isla’s face when she noticed.
That look kept replaying in my head. I leaned back against the desk and closed my eyes for a moment.
I didn’t want a woman to be the reason my brother and I fell apart.
But I didn’t want to lose her either. And that was the problem.
My phone vibrated again. Another message.
I didn’t open it this time. I already knew what it would say.
Lots of pressure was building inside me. Around me. And from places I couldn’t see yet.
Someone was testing my limits. And if Isla slipped any further…
I wasn’t sure what I would become to stop it.
That uncertainty was something that terrified me more than any enemy ever had.