The private jet was waiting on the runway less than two hours later.
I stared at it in disbelief. Sleek. Massive. Quietly intimidating, just like the man standing beside me.
As soon as we boarded, everything felt unreal. Plush leather seats, dim lighting, a table already set with drinks and documents. Not a single commercial-flight inconvenience in sight.
Lucien took his seat like this was routine.
For him, it probably was.
I buckled in and glanced through the window.
As the jet lifted into the air, I watched the city shrink beneath us. Somewhere between the clouds and the silence, it hit me.
I had left my old life behind without even realizing it.
I turned to him. "Those honeymoon rules," I said quietly. "Are they negotiable?"
Lucien leaned back in his seat, fingers steepled. "Rules exist to prevent chaos."
"And what happens if I break one?"
His eyes met mine, calm, steady, unreadable.
"Then we'll make adjustment."
That was not reassuring.
Dubai greeted us with heat, glass, and gold.
Even at night, the city glowed, towers piercing the sky, lights stretching endlessly like it was showing off. From the moment we landed, everything moved with frightening precision.
We didn't walk through the airport.
The airport moved around us.
Security cleared paths before we reached them. Doors opened without hands touching them. People stepped aside without being told. It felt less like traveling and more like being escorted through someone else's territory.
Lucien didn't acknowledge any of it.
He walked calmly beside me, one hand resting lightly at the small of my back, not affectionate, not possessive.
Directional.
The car waiting for us was black, tinted, and silent. As soon as the door shut, the city noise vanished.
"Welcome to Dubai," I said softly, trying to sound normal.
Lucien glanced out the window. "We'll be here for five days."
"Only five?"
"Yes."
The penthouse took my breath away.
Floor-to-ceiling glass walls. The city sprawled beneath us like a kingdom. Everything was white, silver, and polished, luxury without warmth.
"This place feels like it belongs in a movie," I murmured.
"It's secure," Lucien replied.
That explained everything.
I wandered toward the glass, mesmerized by the view, when I noticed a man standing farther inside the room. Hotel staff, I assumed. He was arranging something on the counter, his back to us.
"Lucien," I whispered, "you have someone..."
"Step back," he said quietly.
Not loud.
Not sharp.
Just firm.
I paused, confused, but obeyed instinctively.
Lucien moved forward.
"Leave," he said to the man.
The staff member turned, startled. "Sir, I was told to_"
Lucien didn't raise his voice.
"I didn't," he said calmly.
The man hesitated. "I'm just doing my job."
Lucien smiled.
It was small. Polite.
Deadly.
"You were hired through a subcontractor that doesn't exist," he said evenly. "You've been standing in this room for three minutes longer than necessary. And your heart rate just increased."
The man stiffened.
"I suggest," Lucien continued, adjusting his cufflinks, "you walk out of that door now and forget what this place looks like."
The room went silent.
The man swallowed, nodded once, and left without another word.
I stood frozen.
"What was that?" I asked slowly.
Lucien turned to me. "A mistake."
"A mistake?" I echoed. "That didn't look like a mistake."
"It was," he said, walking toward me. "And it has been corrected."
I hugged myself without realizing it.
Lucien stopped in front of me. His gaze dropped briefly to my hands, then back to my face.
"You're safe," he said.
The words should have comforted me.
Instead, they terrified me.
"Did you… threaten him?" I asked.
"No," he replied.
I exhaled in shaky relief.
"I removed his incentive."
I stared at him. "Which was?"
Lucien leaned in slightly, his voice low enough that it felt like a secret.
"Continuing to exist in my vicinity."
He straightened and added, as if discussing the weather, "No one will bother you here. Or anywhere."
I should have stepped back.
I didn't.
Later that evening, we went out for dinner.
As usual, Lucien wandered off, drawn away by conversations I didn't understand and people who looked like they spoke in numbers and influence. He left me seated alone at our table, perfectly composed, perfectly married, perfectly ignored.
One of the male staff approached soon after.
He looked… normal. Gentle. Polite in the way people are when they genuinely mean well.
"Good evening, ma," he said with a small smile, handing me the menu. "Here's tonight's selection. What would you like to order?"
I scanned the menu, nodding thoughtfully. He complimented my dress, his tone respectful, almost shy.
"Thank you," I said easily. "It's Valentino. Customized."
His smile widened, impressed, and he excused himself to place my order.
Boredom settled in quickly.
So when he returned, I stood up without thinking, chatting casually with him about the menu, the ambience, the view of the city lights beyond the glass walls. I laughed once or twice. My body drifted closer out of habit, nothing intentional, nothing inappropriate.
Then...
An arm wrapped around my waist.
Warm. Firm. Possessive.
I froze.
Lucien had appeared beside me so quietly I hadn't heard him approach. He drew me back against his chest with effortless certainty, his presence instantly changing the air around us.
His gaze lifted to the staff member.
It wasn't angry.
It wasn't loud.
It was worse.
The smile on the staff's face faltered. He swallowed, muttered an apology I hadn't asked for, and retreated quickly.
Only then did Lucien look down at me.
"That wasn't necessary," I said softly, pulling slightly away. "We were just talking. About the menu. And the surroundings."
"I know," he replied.
His arm didn't loosen.
Then, calmly he said,
"I was marking territory."
I stiffened.
"Lucien, did I just smell jealousy..." I laughed
"I don't get jealous," he continued, voice even. "But I do protect what's mine."
Mine.
The word landed heavily between us.
He leaned closer, his breath warm near my ear.
"You should get used to that."
I laughed weakly, because that's what I always did when I didn't know what else to do.
He slowly guided me back to our seat.
We ate quietly and carried on with the rest of the evening as though nothing unusual had happened. Soft music played, the city lights shimmered outside, and for a moment, I let myself enjoy it.
Truth be told, whether Lucien liked it or not, I was getting the best of myself here in Dubai.
Then his phone rang.
Lucien answered immediately.
I couldn't hear what was being said, but I didn't need to. His expression changed subtly, but enough for me to notice. His jaw tightened, his eyes darkened, and that calm stillness I had come to recognize sharpened into something colder.
Whatever the call was about, it wasn't good.
He ended the call and looked at me.
"We leave tomorrow morning," he said.
Just like that.
No explanation. No discussion.
My heart sank.