Page 82 of Keeping My Girl

CHAPTER44

Selina

ALL I WANT is to be at home in Nico’s arms. I don’t know how I didn’t realize it before this moment. He’s my home. He’s my…everything. And I love him. I love him with all of my being, soul and body.

And if I ever escape from here, if I ever make it out of here alive, I want to tell him all of that. Because if I die before he knows how much I care for him, how much he means to me, I won’t be able to rest in peace. I will haunt this earth forever, mourning my mistakes and missed opportunities.

“Are you awake, my little pet?” Constantine’s voice instantly breaks me out of my reverie, forcing me to come to terms with my present and horrible situation.

I look him dead in the eyes. I want him to feel my hatred, the hate I have carried around for him for years. It’s been lingering deep inside of my chest, just waiting for the right opportunity to show itself.

A high-pitched feral scream breaks free from my lungs, and I relish in the surprised look he gets on his face. It’s nice to be the one scaring him instead of the other way around.

Constantine quickly schools his features and takes a step towards me. When my scream dies in my throat, he tells me, “My, my, little pet. If I wanted to hear you scream, I would just fuck that tight, little asshole of yours.” A devilish smirk forms on his lips, and I want to bite it off of his face.

He comes closer to me, and I strain in my bonds, snapping my teeth together like a wild dog, wanting to actually bite him if he comes any closer.

His hand snatches out to grab my throat before I can even blink, before I can even react. His chokehold on me grows stronger with every passing second, and I struggle to breathe as he crushes my windpipe.

“It’s a shame I’ll have to retrain you. I don’t know what the Vitales did, but they gave you some sort of backbone while you were gone.” His hot breath fans over my face as he promises, “I’ll remedy that soon enough. I’ll break every bone in your fucking body if I have to until you obey.”

I struggle against him, but my efforts are proven futile. My vision starts to blacken around the edges, and I fear that this is the end for me. It’s hard for me to remember the number of times I thought I would die at the hands of Constantine. There are just too many to count.

“I could end your life at any given second,” he snarls into my ear. “Don’t you fucking forget that!”

He releases me then, and my entire body sags towards the ground, my shoulders screaming in pain from the strain. I cough and sputter as I suck in lungfuls of precious air.

“You’re mine!” he says before he lashes out, punching me in the stomach.

I gasp from the pain, all the air suddenly leaving my lungs in a rush as a silent cry leaves my lips.

“You’ve always been mine,” he tells me, spittle flying from his mouth and onto my face. “And you’ll always be mine.”

He turns and walks away from me, running his fingers through his hair, messing up perfection. Now I know he’s really upset. If Constantine is anything, it’s a perfectionist.

And knowing that he’s on edge, I decide to defy him even further. Instead of being the docile, little mouse that I always used to try to be, I decide to let him know exactly how I feel. Looking up at him through blurry vision, I tell him loud and clear, “I don’t belong to you. I never did. And I never will.”

Maybe it’s my last act of defiance. But if he’s going to kill me, I want him to know that he’ll never own me. My heart belongs to Nicholas Vitale. And I will love him until my last dying breath.

“What the fuck did you just say to me?” Constantine asks, turning quickly on his heel and heading straight towards me.

He raises his fist in the air, and I close my eyes, trying to ready myself for the blow, but it never comes.

“Put your fucking hands in the air!” I hear someone cry out.

My eyes flutter open, and I see a man dressed in all black holding up a rifle with the words SWAT written across his chest in big, white letters.

I watch in utter disbelief as Constantine puts his hands in the air and follows the man’s next instruction, which is to get on his knees.

Thinking I must be dreaming or maybe I’m already dead, I don’t allow myself to feel relieved until I see Nico coming into the room behind more SWAT members.

A sob bursts free, and my entire body sags in relief when he comes running towards me.

“Help me get her down!” Nico yells as he comes for me, lifting me up in his arms to take some of the tension off of my shoulders. “It’s okay. You’re safe,” he says as I tuck my face against his chest.

I vaguely feel my numb hands vibrating as someone cuts through the ropes, and then I’m free, falling into Nico’s arms.

“I’ve got you, Lina. I’m here. I’ve got you,” Nico whispers to me.

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