Page 13 of Vow to Corrupt You
Dammit. I shouldn’t have said it that way. I have to watch every word that comes out of my mouth. I can’t risk more than I already have. Now… Now, I must comply. Play my part according to his script.
“My dear,” he releases his grip, his hand now rising to my cheek, grazing it with the back of his fingers. “Come. Let’s finish what you started.”
He grabs my hand before I can even react—hell, before I can even process his words—and he leads me upstairs. With each step up, my heart hammers faster and faster. Thum, thum, thum… as he leads me through the dim corridors of the house that I know like the back of my hand, and that now feels so unfamiliar, as if I have never been here before. But I’ve been here countless times with Claudio. It’s odd how every time I’ve been here with my boyfriend, the house felt cozy, so charming. Now it feels so cold. So big. So… frightening. The décor leans more toward traditional than modern, with an array of artwork adorning the walls in earthy tones, and ceramic vases on almost every wooden shelf or table that I’ve never really paid much attention to. Now, they’re like the witnesses to my misery. My downfall.
Nikos pushes on the door of one of the bedrooms. Its cracking sound as it opens makes my heart rate accelerate. Immediately, my gaze falls to Claudio, bound to the rich mahogany wooden bed frame with thick ropes. His eyes widen as our gazes meet, and he struggles against the restraints. A gagging cry, muffled by the tape over his mouth, sends a jolt of terror through me. I scan the spacious room; four identical men in black suits stand in each corner. They stare straight ahead, hands folded low.
“Claudio,” his name escapes my lips in a hushed breath of fear.
I want to run to him, free him—save him—but Nikos’s hand wrapping around my waist halts me in my tracks, holding me in place. I can feel his body warmth against mine, his hot breath brushing the top of my head.
“Let him go,” my voice trembles as I say, my gaze still on Claudio. “It’s me that you want.”
A dark scoff rumbles down Nikos’s throat. “I wonder if you’d defend him so fiercely if you knew the truth.”
I turn around to face him, freeing myself from his hold. “What do you mean? What truth?”
Nikos’s head cocks, a deviant smirk tugging his lips. His eyes flicker between mine while his hands cross on his back. “You see, your beloved boyfriend has been cheating on you for months.” He takes a step toward me, leaning in to my ear. “Yet that didn’t stop him from coming here tonight to fuck you.”
My heart drops to my stomach. No, it can’t be… Claudio wouldn’t have cheated on me. Or… would he?
I peek at my boyfriend, restrained and helpless. No. He wouldn’t have done that to me. He’s not like that. This is just Nikos trying to play with my mind, trying to manipulate me into hating my boyfriend.
I shudder as Nikos rakes his fingers down my bare arm and his lips brush against my ear. “And his cheating didn’t stop him from coming here,” his tone lowers, “to take what’s mine.”
I’m not sure what makes my muscles tense more. The idea that my boyfriend might have been cheating on me, or Nikos’s claiming touch I can feel even through the leather fabric of his glove. Or his wicked, possessive words.
I swallow the lump forming in my throat and lock my gaze on Nikos as he slowly leans back.
“I don’t believe you. Claudio wouldn’t do that to me. You’re lying.”
“Am I, baby?” His brow rises mischievously, and so does the side of his lips. “Why don’t we ask your boyfriend?”
Nikos glances at one of his men and gives him a faint nod. I turn to see the man walking closer to Claudio. With a harsh, abrasive rip, he removes the tape from Claudio’s mouth; its sharp, tearing sound makes me flinch.
Claudio looks at me with his lips slightly parted. The skin around his mouth, where the tape had been, is red and somewhat swollen. But he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he glances at me with guilt, and his forehead narrows more and more.
“I can’t believe it,” My eyes well up with tears. “Please tell me it’s not… true.”
“I’m so sorry, Serena.” His voice is weak and filled with as much regret as fear.
So it’s true, and the bastard is only telling the truth because he’s tied up and has a gun to his head.
My world shatters.
“I don’t want your empty apologies,” I shout, gathering all the strength I have to refrain myself from breaking into a million tiny pieces. I can’t. I don’t want to. Not in front of Claudio. Not in front of Nikos. I can feel him behind me, reminding me that he’s still here, watching me while I’m experiencing my first—and probably the biggest—heartbreak. That is humiliating enough. But I will not break in front of any of them.
“Tell me, Claudio. Who have you been cheating on me with?” I accentuate each word.
Claudio releases a sigh, maybe from embarrassment, but he answers right away. “Ottavia.”
“Ottavia?” My heart dips and my mouth falls open. “My maid?”
A dreadful feeling of betrayal courses through me. It’s awful. It burns like acid, seeping into every fiber of my being like a slow, torturous poison.
“She didn’t mean anything,” he whimpers, looking at me with the most kind of imploring gaze I’ve ever seen. “It was just sex. And she… She seduced me. You must believe me, baby.”
“Of course, you would say that.” A bitter scoff escapes me at his hypocrisy.
