His Property: A Billionaire Possession Romance

The next morning, Aria woke to silence.

No music. No coffee brewing. No Leon at the foot of the bed in a suit and tie.

Just stillness.

She sat up slowly, the sheets warm and soft against her bare skin. Her dress from the gala was draped neatly over a chair. Her heels placed beside it like someone had handled them with care.

She wrapped herself in one of Leon's shirts and padded barefoot down the hallway.

She found him in the library.

Not reading.

Just standing at the window, shirt sleeves rolled up, tie loose, eyes unfocused.

Like he wasn't looking at anything—just trying to breathe.

"You're quiet," she said softly.

He turned.

Didn't smile.

Didn't speak right away.

Then finally: "I'm trying not to think."

She stepped closer. "About what?"

He didn't answer.

Not at first.

But then he said, voice lower than usual, "About the cost."

"The cost of what?"

His jaw clenched.

"Letting someone matter."

Aria didn't rush him.

Didn't press.

She simply crossed the room and curled into one of the leather chairs, knees pulled up, arms loose around them.

"You don't have to perform for me, Leon."

He blinked. "I'm not."

She tilted her head. "Then tell me the truth. Not the story you give the board. Not the script."

He hesitated.

Then sat down across from her.

And for the first time since they met, Leon Castellan looked...

small.

"When I was younger," he began, "I built my life around control. Not money. Not power. Just control."

She listened.

"When my father died, there was chaos. Lawyers, debts, vultures circling my mother. I was fourteen."

Aria's chest tightened.

Leon's voice remained steady. "I learned quickly that people will smile at you while stealing everything you have."

"So you stopped trusting."

"I stopped needing."

He leaned back.

"Later, when I started the company, I created contracts not because I didn't want connection—"

"But because you couldn't afford to lose control of it."

His eyes flicked to hers.

Sharp.

But not angry.

Seen.

"There was someone," he said. "Years ago. Before the contracts."

Aria didn't flinch.

Didn't ask for her name.

Just waited.

"She was… beautiful. Bright. I thought she loved me. But it turns out she loved the idea of owning someone powerful more than being chosen by him."

"What did she do?"

"She sold private conversations to the press. Manipulated investors. Slept with a rival CEO."

Aria inhaled slowly. "And you still hired me?"

He smirked, faintly. "Maybe I hoped you'd destroy me faster. Get it over with."

She stood and crossed the room.

Knelt in front of his chair.

Took his hands in hers.

"I'm not here to destroy you, Leon."

"Everyone says that."

"I'm not everyone."

He stared at her.

The storm in his eyes broke.

And something shifted.

A crack.

Not in his strength.

In his fear.

He leaned forward.

Pressed his forehead against hers.

"I don't know how to be soft," he murmured.

"You don't have to be," she whispered back. "You just have to be honest."

That night, they didn't touch like before.

There were no fireworks. No bedsheets kicked to the floor. No possessive hands.

Just arms around waists.

Soft mouths on collarbones.

Breath shared in quiet rooms.

And the kind of kisses that didn't need to lead anywhere…

Because they already had.

Later, curled against his chest, Aria asked the question that had been hovering in her heart all day.

"Do you still think you're incapable of loving someone?"

Leon didn't answer right away.

But when he finally spoke, it was raw.

"I think I'm afraid of how easy it would be to love you."