13
Vivienne
R age. Betray. Confusion.
I’m feeling all of those emotions at once, and the problem is that I have no freaking idea why I feel that way.
I knew what Antonio was before I decided to seduce him. I know he hates me, and all of this is just his perfect plot for revenge, but I think a part of me died when he took those pictures of me last night.
Whatever hope I had that a part of him was human, at least, is long gone. I only have hatred left to offer him now.
Slipping out of bed and sliding my legs into the fluffy slippers next to the bed, I walk to the vanity mirror to tie my hair in a bun. Surprisingly, I no longer feel any pain or burn like I thought I would.
I’m not even bleeding or spotting. I read online that a lot of girls do.
The red hickey around my neck catches my attention when I raise my hair.
It’s so red, like an imprint. A mark to show that I was now fully his and there’s no going back. I’d given him my virginity—it was the only thing I could give to earn his trust, but that wasn’t even enough.
God, I want to hate him so badly. I want to curse him until my tongue dries out, but as I run my finger over the hickey, all I can think of is the way he kissed and fucked me last night. The way my body reacted to each thrust of his cock inside me and the flicker of his tongue on my clitoris.
My scalp prickles with need, the hair at the back of my neck rising on end as I imagine him standing behind me and doing all of those things to me again. My heart starts to race, and heat simmers in my stomach.
Good heavens, I don’t think I’ll be able to get over last night quickly. It’s a memory engraved in the nastiest part of my mind.
But Papa… My God, Harper… I hope she doesn’t see those pictures because she’ll think of the worst of it. She’ll be in so much pain if she thinks I’m being tortured and raped here.
As for my father, I don’t care what he thinks. It’s not like he cares about me that much anyway. I’m probably nothing but tainted goods to him right now. If he does react to those pictures, it will be nothing but a matter of his reputation and ego, and not because he truly cares for me.
I’m so lost in my head that I flinch when someone knocks. I hold my chest and inhale deeply. “Who’s there? Come in!”
The door creaks open, and Agatha’s head pops into the room. With the way she’s standing, someone could think she’s a floating, bodiless head.
“Good morning, Mrs. Mancini,” she says.
I roll my eyes. I’ll never come to terms with that, too. “Just call me Vivienne,” I correct her.
She nods. “Good morning, Vivienne. It’s time for breakfast.”
After last night, I would have to be a beast to have an appetite to sit at the same table with that Italian asshole. I don’t care if I’m starving. I would rather that than share a meal with him. “I’m not hungry.”
“Mr. Mancini?—”
“I don’t care what Mr. Mancini said or what he’ll do. I’m not eating with him.” I force a smile to hide the anger raging in my veins. Agatha did nothing wrong to me, it’s not right for me to direct my anger at her. “Please, tell him I am not hungry.”
She reluctantly nods and leaves the room.
Minutes later, the door swings open, and Antonio marches in. His face is stone cold, his blanker than a white wall. “Come downstairs; you do not get to turn down breakfast,” he says.
I pretend not to hear him and keep staring out the window. A bird perches on a tree miles away, and I watch in amusement as it starts to groom its own wings.
“Vivienne!”
I flinch at the tone of Antonio’s voice and turn around to face him. “Goodness, you almost gave me a heart attack.” I push my hair behind my ear and act as if I didn’t notice him walk inside minutes ago. “When did you come in?”
“Don’t play games with me, Vivienne.”
“Games?” I scoff at his audacity to get mad after what he did last night. “You took photos of me after we had sex and sent them to my father, and somehow, I’m the one who’s playing games?”
“Watch it, gattina . You don’t want me to cut off that sharp tongue of yours and ship to your papa, do you?”
A shiver runs down my spine. How can such vile threats slip out of his tongue so easily? I don’t understand. My heart begins to pound faster with fear, but I don’t back down.
I’m a Cole, and Cole don’t tremble in front of their enemies. My papa used to tell me that all the time when I was a kid. “Do it.”
His brows shoot up to his hairline.
“What’s that look? Are you surprised I am not on my knees begging you?” I chuckle sardonically, holding his gaze. “But remember this; in the end, I plan to repay my debt. An eye for an eye, Antonio. I might even repay double, you fucking monster.”
I don’t know what part of what I said provokes him, because, in a blink of an eye, he’s across the room with his fingers around my throat. He’s pressing me to the ball, pressing his body against mine.
I inhale him like he’s the most intoxicating thing to have ever existed. And I think he is because I can’t get enough of that citrus scent or the heat rolling off him. My head is instantly a mush, filled with filthy thoughts.
Behave, Vivienne. You’re not supposed to find this hot.
“I think you’ve forgotten where you are and who your life depends on, gattina ,” he whispers harshly, his breath a hot tang along my neckline.
It feels like a lover’s caress, and I wish he’d just kiss me instead of talking. “I know where I am and who I’m with,” I tell him, straightening my spine and refusing to back down. “It’s impossible for me to forget how you kidnapped me and forced me to marry you.”
“We’re not going through this again, gattina ,” he says calmly.
“We are,” I shoot back sharply. “Insult me again like you did last night, and I’ll kill myself before you have a chance to blackmail my father with my half-naked pictures, pig.”
I expect him to go crazy with rage, instead, his eyes crinkle with amusement. He’s stunned by my guts, but not in a bad way. “We have to put that mouth of yours to some good use.”
We both look at the bulge in his sweatpants at the same time and he winks at me.
I gag, pretending I’m absolutely disgusted by the idea of it. But I’m not. My mouth water at the thought of having him fill it up with the size and length of his dick. I wonder what he tastes like and how much it’ll ache sucking him up.
“Now, what dirty thought is running through that perverted head of yours?” he drawls mischievously.
My stomach flutters, and my face heats up with a blush. “I’m not disgusting, asshole.”
Too embarrassed to face him, knowing he can see right through me fully, I shuffle past him and head downstairs. I’m hungry anyway, and I might as well eat since he came to ask me himself.
I stiffen when I hear him walking behind me. I wonder what he’s thinking or looking at. “Stop looking at my ass, Antonio.”
He huffs out laughter and starts to walk down the stairs even more quickly. “For someone who was a virgin until last night, your mind is nasty.” He doesn’t give me a chance to muster a retort as he jogs down what is left of the stairs.
He’s already sitting at the head of the table when I join him, and I take the chair furthest away from him.
Filling my plate with grilled beef, broccoli, and carrots, I grab a fork and dig into the beef with it. “I need new clothes.”
He glances at me with his brows shot up, but he doesn’t say a word.
“Unless you’d prefer taking me home so I can grab my things and let my sister know I’m still alive,” I say, straining the last word.
He drags his attention back to the food. “I’ll take you after breakfast. You can buy whatever you need.”
“Why do you need to take me?”
He sighs as if that’s the dumbest question ever. It could be, and I asked just to piss him off. “Should I let you go on your own so you can run off?”
I scoff and roll my eyes. “For someone who dared to kidnap me from a restaurant both my father and Enzo were at, you’re smart. I give you that.”
“One more thing, you’re going to have new bodyguards from now on. I’ll introduce the two of them after breakfast. They can take you out when I’m unavailable, and you’re not to move around the mansion without them.”
Ice trickles through my veins. Having bodyguards watching me means it’ll be close to impossible to escape this place. I mean, it’s already that with all the bodyguards around and all.
But having personal ones… Oh God. I’ll never be able to leave. I may never see Harper again or get my freedom, not unless Antonio dies.
My chest tightens and I struggle to breathe as my panic surges through me like wildfire. I glare at Antonio, cursing him at the back of my mind and hoping he dies in a very painful way. His death is the only way I can regain my freedom, it’s the only way I’ll truly be happy.
“Bodyguards?” I laugh manically. “More like prison guards. You’re only giving them to me so they can watch me. You want to be sure I don’t escape from here.”
A smug smile creeps up his face, and his eyes darken. “You’re right.
His phone beeps, and he shifts his attention to it, ignoring me completely. He doesn’t notice the way my chest heaves with each breath or the tears welling up in my eyes.
Fine, he can laugh now because it won’t be long before he’ll be breathing his last. And I’ll have a good last laugh while I kill him.
Heck, I might even fuck him before I send him straight to hell.