Sweet Hatred-Chapter 239: CONTROL

The hot water burned my skin. I let it.

Let it wash over the mess between my thighs, the ruined makeup down my face, the trembling that wouldn’t stop in my hands. I let the velvet dress slide off me and stay there, crumpled on the tile like a reminder.

Of the chaos.

Of him.

By the time I got out and toweled off, I felt a little less like a walking disaster and more like... a person again. Barely. Still naked, I moved to the closet where one of Kael’s pressed shirts hung. I slid it over my body, the fabric swallowing me whole.

I didn’t hear him come in.

But I felt it, him, immediately. That drop in pressure. That heat licking up my spine.

"You should’ve locked the door," he murmured.

I turned slowly, holding the shirt against my chest, tension pulling my shoulders taut. His suit jacket was off. His tie too. But his eyes, those lethal eyes, were still dressed for war.

"Didn’t think you’d barge in," I said stiffly.

He didn’t answer at first. Just walked over to where I was standing and reached up, his fingers brushing against the damp strands of hair clinging to my cheek. He tried to tuck it behind my ear.

I pulled away.

His hand dropped.

"I’m sorry," he said, voice so low I almost missed it.

My chest clenched. But I didn’t soften. Not yet.

"What do you need?" he asked next, and it sounded genuine. Not controlling. Not sharp.

"My phone," I said, brushing past him and grabbing a pair of shorts from the drawer. "I need my phone."

"I’ll get it."

That surprised me. He didn’t even ask why. He just nodded, like whatever I wanted, I’d have. Like I wasn’t the girl he’d practically wrecked hours ago. Like I was...

"Kael," I cut in, slipping the shirt down and pulling the shorts on. "How the hell did a security breach like that happen? This place was airtight. I helped plan it. Every wing, every entry point, every background check."

He didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he picked up a brush from the vanity and gently took my damp hair in his hands.

"Turn," he said softly.

I blinked.

"You said you were tired. Let me help."

I turned.

He brushed carefully, gently, like I was glass and he was trying to unlearn the way he’d gripped me earlier. Each stroke calmed something wild in me.

And then he said, "It was internal."

"What?"

"There are cracks. Not in the design. In the people. Someone disabled a quadrant of the surveillance system and slipped the gate’s override through a silent protocol breach. It wasn’t forced, so It was... permitted."

My stomach turned.

"How many people?"

"Two at least. Maybe more. One was the shooter. The other was inside. We’re still confirming faces."

"And the vice president, was he the target?"

Kael went still behind me. His fingers tangled in my hair before he finished brushing and set the brush down. His voice was low, dangerous.

"No."

I turned, facing him, confused. "But he was shot."

"He was never meant to die," Kael said, eyes narrowing. "That was a distraction. Just enough to send everything into chaos. To ruin the merger. To make headlines."

"And the real target?"

His eyes met mine. Cold. Steady.

"Me."

I felt the air leave the room.

"They wanted to sabotage the event. Humiliate me. Maybe even kill me but that was never the main goal. It was about destroying what I built. Undermining my power. Everything that happened tonight, was about that."

He stepped closer.

"I need to know who did it. I will find them. And when I do—"

He didn’t finish.

He didn’t have to.

Because I could already feel the storm returning to his bones.

Kael’s hand was still tangled in my hair. Not gripping. Not pulling. Just there.

Like he forgot to let go.

Like maybe he didn’t want to.

The silence between us throbbed.

Finally, I muttered, "So what now? We play bunker until the wolves stop circling?"

His eyes dragged over me slowly, lingering on the oversized shirt I was drowning in, his shirt and the way it clung to my damp body in places.

"No," he said with eerie calm. "We don’t play anything."

I stiffened.

"And you’re not going back to your room."

"I know but what if I just need to grab a few—"

"No."

My jaw clenched. "Kael, I have my things there."

"Whatever you need, you tell me. You don’t step one foot out that door unless I say so."

I turned away from him, muttering, "You’re impossible."

"I’m protective," he corrected, moving around me, blocking my path to the door.

My heart thundered. "Is that what this is?"

He tilted his head. "You think I’d let someone put a bullet through me and you become collateral damage?"

"I’m not your—"

"You are," he cut in. Calm. Deadly. "You are. You may hate that. But it doesn’t change the fact."

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. My legs ached from everything. From the weight of the night. From him.

I crossed my arms. "So I’m what now? A hostage? A prisoner?"

"You’re safe," he said. "Under my watch."

That sent a ripple down my spine. Of fear. Of fury. Of... something else I didn’t want to name.

I whispered, "Do I get a say?"

Kael stepped into my space, slow, deliberate. His fingers grazed my jaw, tipping it up so I had no choice but to meet that storm in his eyes.

"You always get a say," he murmured. "But not about this. Not when your life’s on the line."

I was too tired to argue. Too raw to beg for space I’d never get.

And too confused to admit part of me liked it.

"You’re shutting down the entire island?" I asked.

His thumb brushed over my bottom lip. "No one leaves. No one comes in."

"And me?"

"You don’t leave my suite."

"Kael—"

"I said," he whispered, "you stay with me. Until this is over. Until I find who’s behind this. Until I know for sure no one’s coming for you next."

That last part. That’s what got me.

Because it didn’t sound like something out of control. Or dominance. freewebnøvel.coɱ

It sounded like a man whose whole world would collapse if something happened to me.

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