The arena still shook with the echo of Dominic Kane’s victory — the kind of fight that left people silent in awe and fear. He walked out before the announcer even finished screaming his name, blood on his jaw, eyes still burning like he hadn’t finished. His team stayed back; even his coach knew better than to get too close when Dominic was fresh off a fight. He moved fast, shoulders tense, the energy around him violent and raw.

Behind him, Gabrielle Serenity Kane followed at her own pace — slow, poised, unbothered. She wasn’t one of the girls who screamed his name or clung to his arm. She didn’t flinch when he shattered bones or raised his voice. She’d married him knowing exactly what he was. Her grandmother’s warnings hadn’t mattered. No one told Gabrielle Serenity what to do — not even the beast she chose to love.

The cameras followed them as they stepped outside, lights flashing, voices calling his name. Dominic ignored them all, brushing past everyone until they reached the black car waiting by the curb. He yanked the door open, slid into the driver’s seat, and slammed it shut hard enough to rattle the frame.

The second she got in, the tension hit — thick, electric, dangerous. The kind that didn’t scare her, just made her colder.

Dominic started the car, his voice rough, low, still sharp from the fight. “Did you hear what that idiot said before the match? Tried to get in my head. Called me overrated.” He scoffed, knuckles tightening on the steering wheel. “He’s lucky I didn’t kill him right there.”

Silence. He hated silence. It made him feel watched. Judged. He glanced at her, his lip curling. “You’re quiet again. What, disappointed? Didn’t like the way I ended it? You’d prefer I shake his hand after he spits on my name?”

When she didn’t answer, his smirk turned darker. “You love acting like you’re above it all. Like you’re better than me.” He let out a humorless laugh. “You’re not. You live off your family’s money, off that fancy Serenity name, and you married me like I was some damn pet you could tame.”

He turned his head slightly, eyes cutting toward her — cold and cruel. “But you can’t tame me, Gabrielle. You’ll never control me, no matter how calm you act. I see the way you look at me. You think you’re my equal?” He scoffed again. “You wouldn’t last a day in my world without my name on your finger.”

The car sped down the road, headlights carving through the dark, both of them silent — two storms in the same space, neither willing to move first.

As the mansion gates came into view, Dominic’s expression didn’t soften. He slowed the car just enough to park in front of the grand entrance, his jaw tightening, eyes still full of that wild energy that never left him.

Then, finally, his voice dropped — quieter, but just as sharp. “Now fix your face before we walk in there. I don’t need your grandmother thinking I hit you just because I should’ve.”