Page 10 of Deadly Vows

Luca releases me, standing. He makes his way to the door, pulling it open. He doesn’t leave immediately, standing in silence before turning to look at me.

“I’m going to kill him. Slowly and painfully. And just when he thinks I am going to give him the sweet mercy of death, I am going to play him the last song you decided to grace him with before I start his torture all over again,” he says, smiling sadistically.

Nausea washes over me at the thought of Luca using me to implement torture. It’s why I didn’t want to play a difficult tune for the man in the first place. I don’t have the stomach for it. I quickly stand, my legs trembling as I attempt to plead with him.

“Luca, please. Don’t—hck!”

Luca cuts me off, snatching my jaw roughly in his grip. He’s angry, adding an uncomfortable pressure on my jaw, forcing me to whimper in pain.

“What did I tell you would happen if you interfered?” He increases the pressure of his grip, and I cry out, my hands flying to his in a panic. I am weak compared to him.

Luca pulls me in close, his eyes dropping to my lips.

“I really don’t want to have to follow through, seeing as I need your mouth for... other tasks.” He releases me, scoffing as he looks at me. “Stop pissing me off.”

He doesn’t say another word to me as he leaves the room, leaving me alone. My legs feel like mush, and I can no longer hold myself up. I slowly fall to my knees, my breathing in a panic as I grip my chest in an attempt to calm myself down.

This is Luca Pasquino. The real Luca. The man who is known for killing someone with his bare hands. The man who is feared by all.

I choke back a sob, covering my mouth with my hand. My reality has finally reared its head. Our simple honeymoon phase has ended with this night, and Luca has finally crossed the line, no longer resembling the man I met at our wedding. He is a man not deterred by emotion or conscience. He is a man ruled by desire alone. I squeeze my arms over my chest, holding myself in the middle of our bedroom. I don’t know how long I stay, silently sobbing to myself as any clear vision of my future immediately disappears.

Chapter Five

Elise

Every morning, I brush my hair out. It’s a routine I’ve put in place to keep some form of control in my life. I’ve been doing it since I was thirteen with thirty-four strokes on each side. In my mind, it’s helped keep my hair long and lustrous all these years. It’s the one thing I could control about myself and my life. My eyes fall to my cheek in my reflection. A bruise has begun to form from Luca’s attack yesterday. I touch it lightly, flinching from the pain. Luca didn’t come to bed last night, nor have I seen him this morning, something I am grateful for. I don’t know how to face my husband after what I did yesterday. I never would have attempted to undermine my father’s authority in such a way, and I did so within a week of my marriage. Luca’s trust in me was already on thin ice because of my family, but I fear I may have ruined any future chances with my actions yesterday.

I tense when the door to the bedroom opens. Luca enters with a blank expression, his eyes glossing over me as he walks by. He doesn’t speak or acknowledge my presence. He only glances,his eyes following the movement of the brush as he walks by. I quickly set the brush down, standing to leave when he chooses to speak.

“Grab your violin. Wait in my office.”

Luca’s office is much bigger than my father’s. I try not to touch anything as I look around the room I was in only for a brief moment yesterday. There’s barely anything personal in here. There are no pictures and no glimpse into the man that I married. The blood from the man who was here yesterday has been completely removed, leaving the office as neat as it possibly can be. My stomach knots in discomfort at the possibility of Luca forcing me to do something like that again.

I don’t know if he did that to punish me for overstepping, or because he was just bored. It’s like I said, I know nothing about him. The door to Luca’s office opens, and he enters with his usual demeanor. He’s wearing a black suit today, the color making his eyes stand out against his dark hair. His eyes shift to mine briefly, his steps shifting so that he approaches me. I fight the natural instinct to shrink away as he stands over me. His eyes fall on the bruise on my cheek, and he reaches for it, gently stroking it with his thumb.

He releases a breath when I flinch from the contact, his eyes meeting mine.

“Obedience. That’s all I asked you for,” he says.

His hand falls away from my face, and he gestures for me to sit in the chair across from his desk. I quickly take my seat just as he sits in his, leaning back in the seat with his hands clasped in his lap. He watches me intensely, thinking about how he wants to go about the morning. Luca gestures to the violin that sits next to me on its stand.

“Play me a song,” he says.

My fingers tremble as I reach for the instrument, pulling it to my chin before glancing at him.

“What song?” I ask, a little shaken.

“Any song.” His mood is making me nervous. But he doesn’t seem inclined to speak more on the matter as he lowers his head, shuffling through the papers on his desk. It’s a silent command that he is waiting for me to play. I take in a soft breath and begin. I play the same song I played the day we met in my father’s home. Luca continues to work for the first few minutes, but his attention is slowly pulled back to me. And by the song’s end, he is leaning back in his seat, watching me curiously.

“Play another,” he says.

I quickly play another melody, this one from a recent performance. Luca nods his head slightly as I finish, leaning forward in his chair. His expression is unreadable as he watches me.

“Another.”

I play another one, this one much shorter than the other two, so I get through it quickly, but my fingers tremble as Luca watches me, his thoughts a complete mystery.

Finally, he laughs. “You couldn’t play any of those when I asked?”

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