Damien's Pov

The room reeked of blood.

Natalya lay crumpled on the cold marble, her body twitching as ragged breaths wheezed past her lips. Her once-flawless skin was mottled with bruises, her cheekbone split, her lips swollen and torn. Tears mixed with blood, streaking down her face as she choked out another plea.

“D-Damien… please…”

Her voice was barely a whisper, broken beyond repair.

Damien loomed above her, his expression carved from ice. His black leather gloves gleamed under the dim light, streaked crimson with her suffering. He tilted his head, regarding her like a lifeless object—no longer a wife, no longer a person. Just another shattered thing beneath his control.

“I warned you, Natalya.” His voice was silk wrapped around steel, devoid of empathy. “I told you what would happen if you disrespected me.”

She sobbed, curling into herself, her trembling hands trying to shield her bruised ribs. But Damien was not done. He crouched down, gripping her jaw with ruthless precision, forcing her to look at him. His fingers dug into her delicate bones, making her whimper.

“You thought you had power, didn’t you?” he murmured, his lips barely moving. “You thought your name, your family, meant something to me.”

A choked noise escaped her throat. Her shattered eyes pleaded, searching for any mercy in the man she once loved. But there was none.

He shoved her back, the force making her head slam against the floor. Her body spasmed, her whimpering turning into wet gasps.

Still, he did not stop.

He stepped closer, placing his polished shoe against her ribs, applying just enough pressure to make her squirm. “How pathetic,” he mused, pressing down harder. “How weak.”

Natalya sobbed. “Damien—!”

CRACK.

The sound of breaking bone echoed through the vast room. Her scream was cut off by a strangled gasp as her body jerked violently. Her eyes rolled back, and then… silence.

Damien exhaled, watching as her chest barely moved. Blood pooled beneath her, her delicate frame barely able to withstand his wrath.

A flicker of annoyance crossed his expression. “Tsk. Weak.”

Then—

“WHAT THE HELL?!”

Damien’s gaze slowly lifted to meet the doorway.

Luca.

The younger man stood frozen, his chest rising and falling in sharp, uneven breaths. His wide eyes darted between Damien and Natalya’s broken form. Horror painted his delicate features, his lips parted in disbelief.

Damien smirked, tilting his head slightly. “You’re interrupting, Luka.”

Luca’s stomach lurched. He swallowed bile, his entire body locking in place as Damien took a step toward him, unbothered by the chaos he had just inflicted. The casual way he wiped his bloody gloves against his crisp black suit made something primal scream inside Luca’s head.

“What… what did you do?” Luca’s voice was barely above a whisper, trembling with a mixture of fear and disbelief.

Damien sighed. “I punished her.”

“She’s not even—!” Luca’s breath hitched. “She’s barely breathing!”

Damien’s lips curled into something unreadable. “Then she should’ve learned faster.”

Luca took a shaky step back, his mind screaming at him to run, to get away, to escape this nightmare. But before he could, Damien was there. Closing the distance. Trapping him.

Luca barely had time to inhale before a gloved hand cupped his cheek, forcing him to look into Damien’s piercing blue eyes.

“Tell me, Luka,” Damien murmured, voice low and lethal. “Are you afraid of me?”

Luca trembled, his pulse hammering beneath Damien’s fingertips. His breath came in ragged pants, his skin crawling under the intensity of Damien’s gaze. He wanted to scream, wanted to shove him away—but he couldn’t.

Because Damien wouldn’t let him.

“I…” Luca’s throat closed. He couldn’t breathe.

Damien leaned in, his lips brushing against Luca’s ear as he whispered, “You should be.”

******* Luca's pov

Luca’s heart pounded in his chest as he stood frozen in the doorway, his breath catching at the sight before him.

Natalya lay motionless on the cold marble floor, her once-elegant dress now torn and stained with blood. Her face was a battered ruin, swollen beyond recognition. The room reeked of copper, and the oppressive silence felt suffocating. But worse than the violence was the man standing over her, unbothered, cold, a cruel smirk curving his lips as he turned his gaze toward Luca.

Damien Volkov.

The man who had ruined his life, the man who had taken everything from him. The man who claimed him.

Luca’s stomach twisted violently, nausea bubbling up in his throat. He wanted to run, wanted to scream, wanted to do anything except stand there like prey caught in the eyes of a predator.

“Why, Luka… you’re just in time,” Damien said smoothly, his voice dripping with amusement. He took a step closer, slow, deliberate, his gloved hands still stained with his wife’s blood.

Luca flinched, his body instinctively tensing. “What the hell did you do?” His voice cracked, his throat dry. His eyes flickered back to Natalya’s limp form. Was she even breathing?

Damien sighed, tilting his head. “She overstepped.”

“That doesn’t mean you had to—” Luca stopped himself, his pulse hammering as Damien took another step forward.

“You don’t get to question me, Luka.” His voice was dangerously soft now, his blue eyes dark with something unreadable. “You don’t get to act like you’re above all this. Like you don’t know what I am.”

Luca’s fingers curled into fists at his sides, nails digging into his palms. “You’re a monster.”

Damien laughed, low and deep. “And yet, you’re still here.”

Luca’s jaw tightened. He hated how Damien toyed with him, how effortlessly he controlled the air between them. But he couldn’t move. Couldn’t turn away. Not when Natalya was lying there, possibly dead. Not when Damien was looking at him like that—like he was the next thing he wanted to break.

Damien reached out, grasping Luca’s chin between his fingers. His grip was firm, possessive, tilting his head up so their eyes met. “You’re trembling, Luka.”

“Because you disgust me.”

Damien chuckled, thumb brushing over Luca’s lower lip, his touch deceptively gentle. “And yet, you’re still here,” he repeated, his tone taunting. His fingers slid to Luca’s throat, pressing lightly against his pulse. “Do you know what I was dreaming about before this little… distraction?”

Luca swallowed hard, his breath uneven. He didn’t want to know. He didn’t want to hear it. But Damien leaned in, his lips brushing against Luca’s ear as he whispered,

“I was dreaming of you.”

Luca stiffened, his entire body recoiling. But Damien’s grip didn’t loosen. If anything, it tightened, his fingers pressing into Luca’s skin as he continued, his voice dark and honeyed.

“I dreamt of a world where you were mine—completely, willingly. A world where you kissed me every morning, where you looked at me with love instead of fear. A world where you carried my children, my name, my mark on every inch of you.”

Luca’s breath hitched, horror coiling in his gut. “You’re insane.”

Damien exhaled slowly, his grip softening just enough for his fingers to trail down Luca’s neck, over his collarbone. “No, Luka. I’m patient.”

Luca wrenched away, his chest rising and falling rapidly as he backed away from Damien’s suffocating presence. His mind raced. He had to get out. Had to get away before Damien pulled him even deeper into this nightmare.

But before he could take another step, Damien’s voice cut through the air, laced with chilling finality.

“Don’t run.”

Luca’s blood turned to ice. Because he knew. He knew if he tried to leave, Damien wouldn’t let him go.

And this time, he might not live to regret it.

------