Bound to the Don

Chapter 26

Third person pov...

Louis sat alone in his study that evening, staring at the contract Armando had given him. The Valencia estate was everything he had ever wanted, an asset that if acquired, would solidify his position in the underworld and beyond. Yet the price for it was Salma.

His mind drifted to the first day he brought her into this house as a collateral. She was plain, unremarkable, and constantly in tears, a fragile girl who seemed utterly out of place. She had annoyed him with her weakness, yet he kept her. Why? Maybe it was because some part of him, a part he barely acknowledged, couldn't bear the loneliness that gnawed at him. Without hesitation, he had claimed her.

She became his after Armando discarded her like a broken tool, someone deemed worthless. At first, she had meant nothing to him. Yet somehow, over time, she had become...something more. A presence he couldn't quite ignore. How had she managed to infiltrate his carefully constructed walls?

If he had known back then what he knew now- that Salma would make him feel this vulnerable-he would have gotten rid of her the moment Armando rejected her. It would have been easier to sever ties before emotions complicated the matter. But now? Now it felt too late.

Or was it?

His conscience whispered the truth. No, it wasn't too late. He could still fix this. Vulnerability was not something he tolerated in himself. He could remove her from his life before he fell any deeper under her influence.

Her presence had already begun to change him, something even Armando had noticed. That realization alone was enough to set Louis on edge. If his feelings for Salma spiraled out of control, his enemies would exploit it, turning her into a weapon against him. He couldn't afford such a risk.

He turned his gaze back to the contract. The Valencia estate wasn't just about power, it was leverage. A way to loosen Armando's grip on him and regain his autonomy. The deal was simple: Salma in exchange for the estate and two million dollars.

But why was Armando willing to pay so much for her? Why offer such a sum for someone he had once dismissed as worthless? Louis couldn't shake the feeling that Armando had a hidden agenda. Yet he pushed those doubts aside.

The pen in his hand felt heavier than it should as he stared down at the blank signature line. This was the logical choice. Letting Salma go would mean regaining control over his emotions and eliminating a dangerous weakness. It would protect him from falling deeper into her spell.

His hand hovered over the page. She wasn't supposed to matter. She had always been collateral, a payment for the money her brother stole. But over the weeks, she had become something else entirely. Someone he wasn't ready to admit he cared for, not even to himself.

In his world, emotions were liabilities, and attachment was a sign of weakness. Louis would rather die than let himself be seen as weak. He gritted his teeth and pressed the pen to the paper.

The ink flowed smoothly as he scrawled his signature at the bottom of the contract. It was done.

It was better this way, he told himself. The estate would solidify his position, and Salma was just a maid. Attachments were for fools, and Louis refused to be one. Opportunities like this didn't come twice, and he wouldn't let sentiment stand in his way.

As he set the pen down and leaned back in his chair, a hollow ache settled in his chest. He ignored it, brushing it off as irrelevant.

Weakness had no place in his life. Salma would be gone soon, and with her, the vulnerability that threatened to consume him. Or so he hoped.

---

Salma

I spent the entire day in turmoil, my mind racing with one dreadful possibility after another, what if Louis actually signed those papers?