When Desire Turns Sharp
Liam learned something important about power that night.
It wasn't always loud.
Sometimes, it was quiet enough to suffocate you.
The gala was Dominic's territory—black marble floors, crystal chandeliers, men in tailored suits who bowed their heads just slightly when he passed. Liam felt every stare, every unspoken question.
Who is he to stand beside him?
Dominic's hand rested at the small of Liam's back. Possessive. Controlled. Public.
Too public.
"You're tense," Dominic murmured, lips barely brushing Liam's ear.
"You invited me into a room full of people who'd sell my soul for a favor," Liam replied softly. "What did you expect?"
Dominic's jaw tightened—not in anger, but restraint. "I expected you to trust me."
Trust.
Liam smiled, sharp and beautiful. "Then stop treating me like a secret you're proud of only when it suits you."
The words landed harder than any slap.
Across the room, Eli watched everything with narrowed eyes. He didn't miss the way Dominic leaned closer to a blonde executive afterward—too close. Didn't miss how Liam's shoulders stiffened.
Victor noticed too.
"You're bleeding him," Victor muttered to Dominic. "Careless."
"I'm protecting him," Dominic snapped.
"No," Marco cut in smoothly, eyes flicking toward Noah near the bar. "You're controlling him."
Dominic turned away.
That was when it happened.
Liam stepped back—just one step—out of Dominic's orbit.
Marco caught his eye, smile softer than expected. "You okay?"
Liam hesitated. Then nodded. "I don't belong here."
Marco's voice dropped. "You belong where you're wanted."
The words were innocent.
The timing was not.
From across the room, Dominic saw it—the tilt of Liam's head, the way his smile returned slowly, dangerously. Something ugly twisted in Dominic's chest.
Jealousy.
Raw. Unfamiliar. Unwelcome.
Later, in the penthouse, the silence screamed.
"You embarrassed me," Dominic said at last.
Liam laughed softly. "No. You ignored me."
"You walked away."
"Because you wouldn't stand with me."
They faced each other—two men burning for control, for reassurance, for something neither wanted to ask for.
Dominic stepped closer. "You don't understand the risks."
Liam didn't move. "Then teach me. Or let me go."
The air cracked.
Dominic kissed him then—not gentle, not slow. Hungry. Claiming. Liam responded just as fiercely, fingers gripping Dominic's jacket, anger bleeding into need.
But when Dominic's hands tightened—too firm—Liam pulled back.
"Don't," Liam whispered. "Not like that."
Dominic froze.
For the first time, he realized something terrifying.
He could lose him.
And downstairs, unseen, the city kept breathing—while other sparks quietly ignited.
Eli noticed Victor watching him from the shadows.
Noah felt Marco's gaze linger longer than it should.
Jax smiled when Sebastian finally looked back.
Midnight was no longer just tempting.
It was dangerous.