Page 59 of Vow to Corrupt You
Involuntarily, I chew on my thumb as I contemplate what to tell her. I’m lost. I don’t know why Nikos turned into an iceberg all of a sudden. Is it because something triggered his past trauma when I asked him to touch me? Is it because he got what he wanted, so now I serve no other purpose? Is it because Gianna was right, and is it his way of breaking me?
Eventually, I end up blurting it all to Chiara as if I were reciting the words I’d memorized. With each sentence, her expression darkens. Before I’m done telling her, we arrive at the campus parking lot, and Chiara turns to me with her brows knit together.
“Nikos is a complicated man.” Tell me something I don’t know. “But given everything you’ve said, the time he has given you, the things he said after the dinner with your family, I do believe that, in his twisted way, he cares about you. Perhaps even… loves you.”
“He’s not capable of loving, Chiara.” As I say these words aloud, all the hope I had in me fades. That’s the thing about your thoughts. Once you say something out loud, it seems more real. It becomes real. I knew that marrying Nikos meant he wasn’t the type to love. I never expected him to love me. Except… I did. I was hoping I could change him. I wanted to believe the good girl could be the bad boy’s redemption.
But now I know the bad boy is the good girl’s eternal damnation.
CHAPTER 31
Serena
I approach Mr. Lombardi after class, holding my test with a bold, thick, red F written across the paper. Given the recent changes in my life, I know I wasn’t the best student this session—not anymore, at least. But I knew I’d spent hours studying for that test, and I couldn’t write it so poorly that I’d fail it.
“Yes, Miss Conti?” The professor looks at me. “Excuse me, Mrs. Romano?”
Why do I sense a shift in him ever since I changed my last name? Even now, he says it with such disdain. I get it that Nikos has many enemies. But what could my professor possibly have against the mob?
“With all due respect, Mr. Lombardi, but did you read my essay?” I feel a wave of nervousness surge through my body. I hate confrontations of any sort. “I feel like I thoroughly addressed the topic and proved my point.”
He lets out an irate breath, glancing at my test. “It seems you did not, Mrs. Romano. Next time, try harder.”
He gathers his belongings from the wooden desk, heads toward the door, and I follow him.
“Could you please, at least, justify your opinion? Give me some guidance. I thought it was—”
He turns to me as he reaches the door, shutting it.
Icy chills sweep down the length of my spine as I realize we’re completely alone in the classroom.
Why would he close the door?
My heart tumbles in my ribcage.
He stares at me with a coldness that could freeze the entire building.
“Perhaps you should try harder next time, Mrs. Romano. The name will not grant you the education. We are not influenced by your husband’s power here.”
My eyes narrow compulsively. “What are you talking about? I don’t count on my husband’s power. Quite the opposite.”
He shoots me a scornful glance. “Is that so? Because to me, it seems like you are doing the bare minimum ever since you married that,” he clears his throat, “man.”
Okay, now I’m sure he has something personal against Nikos. But what?
He opens the door and intends to leave, but I rest my hand against it, preventing him from doing so.
“What is it that you have against my husband?”
His brow twitches, and his tongue moistens his lips as he turns to face me again. “Nothing against him. I wouldn’t dare.”
“Okay, then is it about me?”
“You hurt my son’s feelings,” he finally says.
I take a step back, completely floored by his confession.
Who the hell is his son? It’s not Claudio; I know his father.
