Page 70 of Dance of Madness

Hecame on me.

I should be terrified. Furious. And maybe I am. But not as much as I should be.

Instead, I…don’t know how to feel.

Actually, that’s a lie. I knowexactlyhow I feel. I’m just not ready to say it out loud. Try as I might to force myself to be horrified and disgusted by his total disregard for my boundaries, my body, my consent, and so much more, I keep finding myself unable to be as angry as I should be.

Brooklyn is going off about Prince Charming fromCinderellaand his obvious foot fetish. “Not to mention how fucking stupid he is. I mean he spent the whole night dancing with her, and he doesn’t just, like,recognize her fucking face?”

Meanwhile, I’m lost in thought, drowning in the memory of the fever dream that turned out to be real. To waking up and feeling his driedcumon my body.

I lick my lips, slipping my phone out of my bag and tapping on the exchange I’ve read a million times but have yet to respond to. I don’t even know how he got my number, to be honest.

Nero

Next time, sleep in nothing. It’ll save me time, and you some laundry.

Right. He’s also not evenremotelytrying to deny what he did.

At. All.

Nero

Your mouth made the hottest little moans when I rolled your clit with my fingers. I wonder how those moans would feel with your lips around my dick.

Nero

Maybe that’s how I’ll wake you up next time. With my cock stretching your pretty mouth wide open.

I mean…Thisis what I’m dealing with. Even if Iwasgoing to respond…I mean, how the fuck do you even reply to that? A freaking thumbs up emoji?

Nero

Have you washed your sheets or clothes yet, or do they still have me all over them.

Nero

I’m hoping for the latter. I might be developing a fetish for you covered in my cum, always.

Nero

Does your pretty pussy miss me, little princess?

Nero

You can ignore me all you want, Milena. I’ll still see you soon.

I close the app before the pulse between my thighs can get any worse.

God, he’s sick. So am I, for getting turned on by this.

Butwhy?

That’s the question I can’t answer. How much of this is me actuallywantingthis brand of depravity and ultra-dark kinkiness, and how much is guilt.

Because there’s an inconvenient truth here that I can’t ignore: my family destroyed his. Papa's menkilled his father and motheron that night of violence and mayhem. Almost killed Nero himself.

I’ve carried that with me for four years, tucked deep inside. I’ve never told anyone. Never said it out loud.

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