Page 15 of Heir of Darkness

If she was smart, she might have started to beg for forgiveness the way she had been taught to. Beg him to forget about what happened, for him to consider her perfect reputation and still want to marry her. But she didn’t and she wasn’t going to.

Eventually, he pulled in front of a small cabin. It took too many turns to get there and was too far from any main road. Ifshe made a run for it, she would get lost in the woods. At this point, that might have been her best chance at survival.

Valerio turned off the car, submerging them into darkness. “Get out,” he said, opening his door and stepping out. He walked around the front of the car to get to the passenger side. She made no effort to move. She wasn’t planning on leaving the comfort of the car.

He opened her door, waiting for her to get out.

“Either you do it yourself or I’ll carry you out again,” Valerio said, his patience clearly wearing thin.

“Are you going to kill me?” she asked in a quiet voice.

“Don’t tempt me.”

Luna took a deep breath, undoing the seat belt and getting out of the car. The cool air bit at her skin. Valerio closed the car door, and together they walked to the front door. He pulled out a key to unlock it before throwing it open.

She looked at him, trying to plead some reason to him, but his emotionless face remained. With cautious steps she entered the cabin, greeted with the scent of fresh wood surrounding her. Luna couldn’t see anything around them, except what little light from the moon slipped in from the window, showing there was a small couch.

His heavy footsteps walked past her, arranging something she couldn’t see. A match swiped against the striking surface of the box before the small flame was thrown into a fireplace that lit the living room up. Only in the warm light could Luna make out a small kitchen behind the couch that only had a small stove, oven, fridge, and a tiny counter. The fireplace was made from red bricks, stretching the entire way up the wall while the rest of the walls were covered with wood panels.

There was a small hallway that ran between the kitchen and two doors that were closed. The space was small and modest compared to what she normally associated with Valerio.

“What is this?” Luna asked.

“A cabin,” he answered, standing. He turned to look at her now.

She bit back the urge to roll her eyes. “It’s fitting that someone like you would have a cabin in the woods. Is this where you’re going to kill me?”

“I don’t kill people here,” he said. “I do that at the warehouse.”

She gave him a disgusted look. “That’s not funny.”

“Who said I was joking?”

A sharp chill ran down her back, the unease in her gut intensifying. “I want to go home.”

“Do you? It seems like leaving you by yourself is only causing problems.”

“I told you I don’t want to be a part of this contract.” She took a step back, trying to cover the fact a part of her feared him. He noticed it; of course he did. He moved forward a step.

“And I told you that I don’t care.”

Her same frustration returned. “You don’t even know me.”

“Oh, I know you,” he said, taking another step forward.

“No, you don’t. You were gone for seven years.”

“Did you miss me?”

Luna caught her mistake. “I didn’t say that.”

“Are you upset that I was gone for those seven years? I did it for you, you know. To give you a chance to come to terms with this.”

She threw her hands up. “Is that how you think this works? That I would just wake up one day ready to give up my life? That I would call you home, ready for marriage? Is that why you came back now? Huh? Got too impatient waiting for me to come to terms with something I never wanted?”

The words left her mouth like venom. She couldn’t stop herself from trying to push him back, but his hand caught her arm, interweaving his hand with hers.

“I missed you,” he said. “You know I did. That’s why I’m here.”

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