Degrading power play

**Ivery Clark POV** 

The bedframe groaned beneath me as I tried to inch back, but Alrigo’s weight hovered over me, his shadow a cage I couldn’t escape. 

His hand pressed firmly on the mattress beside my head, trapping me, and I felt the air shift, heavier, suffocating as he leaned closer.

“What do you think yo—”

“Shhh…” Alrigo silenced me, his face mere inches from mine. “Not another word.” 

I stopped breathing and I could feel the heat of his breath as he spoke, every word dripping with menace.

“Do you know what irritates me the most, Ivery?” His finger traced the line of my jaw, and I was afraid he was going to break it.

“It’s your audacity. The fucking defiance of yours. After everything I’ve done for you—after what you’ve cost me—you still have the gall to sit here and ask for something.”

“You really have the nerve to act however you like, ma bella. To think you can *still* challenge me.” he snarled, his voice low and threatening. “You don’t dictate the terms, *pet*. You are meant to kneel, not question, not resist. You are supposed to submit."

“F-fuck you…” I tried to protest, but my voice was weaker than I wanted it to be.

He chuckled darkly at that, the sound sending a violent tremor through my spine. 

“You can’t resist forever, Ivery. And Freedom?” he repeated, his lips curling as if the word tasted foul. “You really think freedom is waiting for you out there?” 

Alrigo mocked, his voice sharp, “There’s nothing out there for you. You don’t belong out there. You belong here. With me.”

“I don’t belong to anyone.” I seethe out.

“Oh, you think so?” he laughed, dark and humorless, his tone shifting to something cruel. “You don’t seem to realize, ma bella, you are mine. Your life, your body, your very existence—it’s all tied to me now.”

He growled low in his throat, “Even if you run, I’ll always pull you back. You belong to me, Ivery. You always will.”

“You’re delusional. Whatever this is—it’s nothing but hate now.”

“Hate?” His lips curled into a mockery of a smile, “Then why does your pulse race every time I’m this close?” 

His hand slid to my throat again, his thumb brushing over the erratic beat of my pulse. “You call it hate, but your body betrays you, Ivery.”

I twisted beneath him, trying to create space, but he pressed closer, his weight trapping me, his presence suffocating.

“Let me go,” I hissed.

“Not until you understand.” His hand shifted, cupping the side of my face, forcing me to meet his eyes. “This connection we have—it’s as real as your next breath. And you think you can mock it? Spit on it? You can try to deny it all you want, cara mia, but you’ll never escape it.”

Tears brimmed my eyes, “What do you want from me, Alrigo. How much more arrogant can you get? You act like you're doing me some great favor. As if your treatment, your constant grip over me—your control—is something to be thankful for.”

“You act like keeping me here is for my sake, but we both know it’s for yours. I don’t care how many people tremble at the mention of your name,” I continued, my voice unwavering. “You’re weak. You’re nothing but a coward. Trapping me in this gilded prison, thinking you have the right to bend me to your will…” 

I shook my head, every word dripping with mockery. “Do you honestly think anyone would fall to their knees for you, Alrigo? You’re a king with no kingdom. A tyrant with no purpose beyond being the dog that desperately claws at what’s just out of reach.”

His breath stilled at my words, but his anger only escalated. “Shut up.”

“What are you so afraid of, Alrigo? That I might leave? If this is the way you think you can hold onto someone, you’re nothing but a coward. Hiding behind walls you’ve built around me, keeping me locked here like a fragile piece of porcelain on display—what the hell do you think that makes you?”

“Do you think imprisoning me makes you a king? No. It makes you pathetic, weak. A pathetic man too terrified of someone else having power over their own life. Too scared to let me walk out, to let me choose to stay. Because deep down, you know you can’t make me want you.”

Alrigo sneered, “Make you want me..? You think I care about your wants? In your dreams.” 

“Then what's holding you back? You want my loyalty, but you can't even show me the simplest respect. Freedom, even just the illusion of it, is enough to make me lose whatever affection you think I owe you. You want me grateful? Then stop locking me in this goddamn cage and maybe I'll think about showing some loyalty.”

Alrigo’s eyes blazed with something deranged I couldn’t name. And then, without another word, he pulled back just enough to let the cold air rush between us.

“You so overestimate yourself. Good, you want freedom? Normalcy? Fine…but you'll pay for it.” Alrigo growled and in a sec9nd he yanked me out of the bed, startling me.

*What the fuck!?*

"Alrigo!" My voice cracked, betraying the panic swelling in my chest. "Where are you taking me?”

He didn’t answer. He never did when he was in one of his moods—those silent storms that promised chaos no matter how much I begged.

The shadows in his dark eyes were fathomless as he dragged me down and shoved the door open, revealing the sleek black car waiting outside.

*Is he taking me somewhere..!?*

“Where are you taking me?” I choked out, trying to dig my heels into the ground, but his momentum was unstoppable.

Alrigo opened the car door and shoved me inside, his expression cold, calculated, and impenetrable.

“Drive,” he ordered.

The car pulled away from the mansion, the lights of the city a blur outside the tinted windows. 

*No..!*

My heartbeat roared in my ears. His presence beside me was a suffocating weight, the leather interior of the car closing in around us like a cage.

“Alrigo, please,” I begged, desperation edging into my voice. “Whatever you’re planning—don’t do this!”

“Do this?” Alrigo growled, his voice low but dripping with menace. “Do what, exactly? Assert my power? Remind you who you rules over who? Because I will keep doing this as long as I please. Rowan or no Rowan. Ivery or no Ivery, it all depends on me.”

Minutes passed, though it felt like hours, before the car came to a stop. 

The car stopped in front of a building that seemed to breathe wealth and decadence. The outside shimmered under the city lights—a sleek black and gold sign bearing no name, only an emblem of a crown and serpent. 

A line of well-dressed patrons waited outside, guarded by men in sharp suits and colder eyes. The faint thrum of music pulsed through the air like a heartbeat.

I glanced at Alrigo, dread curling in my stomach. He stepped out of the car without a word, his tall, imposing frame silhouetted against the glow of the establishment. 

I froze. "Alrigo," I began, my voice trembling. Alrigo’s hand shot out and grabbed my arm, hauling me out into the cool night.

“Walk,” he ordered, his voice low but carrying a weight that sent shivers down my spine.

I pulled against his grip, panic clenching my chest. “W-What is this place?”

His expression remained cold, calculating. His fingers curled tighter around my arm, as though reminding me that escape was impossible—he was in full control here.

“This is my bar, Ivery,” he said, his words deliberate, wrapping around me like a dark promise. "The place where the wealthy mingle with those in the underworld, where the rules are written by people like me. And you…are going to work here. ” 

My eyes widened in utter disbelief. “Work here? Y-You own this place?”

“Yes,” he purred, leaning in close enough that I could feel the heat of his body. “You wanted to get out of your little cage, didn’t you? Well, this is your chance. I wasted too much money on you, Ivery. And you'll pay every cent you owe me. Every moment you spent thinking you could defy me. All of it, you’ll pay—here.”

*What…!? He can't be serious…!*

“Pray you don’t regret choosing the path of freedom, ma bella. Because from this moment forward, there will be no kindness left for you. Only cold steel and the crushing weight of your choices.”

His smile widened, cruel and unfeeling. “You wanted to see how dangerous I could be?” he hissed. “Then consider yourself my newest experiment in terror. Let’s see how long you last in my *world*.”