Chapter 23
23
R oman and I have barely spoken to one another since he returned to the manor last night, but he never seems to run out of things to talk about with Niko. The two of them have been holed up in his office for the better part of an hour now, and I’ve again turned to espionage.
I’m forced to change up my tactics this time since the office door is slightly ajar. Pacing the hall would be far too conspicuous, so instead I’ve been sneaking up to eavesdrop at regular intervals, then rushing back to the study to jot things down in my notepad. Hopefully when I look it over later, I’ll be able to piece some things together and make sense of it.
This is definitely an exercise in patience. Each time I’ve approached the office door, I’ve tiptoed over slowly, barely even breathing. I’m careful not to make a single sound as I shuffle closer to the edge of the doorframe, straining my ears to hear the men’s hushed voices from inside.
“How far back does this go?” Niko questions.
“That’s what I intend to find out,” Roman replies in a low growl. He sounds agitated. “There’s no denying the connection, though, especially in light of this…” his voice trails off, followed by the distinctive sound of rustling paper. He must be showing Niko a document of some sort.A brief silence falls as his second-in-command evidently looks it over.
“Shit,” Niko hisses, the sharp edge in his tone conveying his shock at whatever he’s viewing.
Curiosity gets the best of me. Cautious not to make a sound, I lean forward to peer through the gap in the door, determined to sneak a peek at whatever elicited that reaction from Niko. He’s seated across from Roman’s desk with a sheet of paper in his hands, my husband fiddling with the frayed edge of the bandage around his own as he watches him skim the document. It obviously contains something important, but no matter how much I squint, the text on the page is too small for me to make out.
Guess I’ll just have to hope one of them verbalizes what’s on that paper.
I slowly start to back away from the gap in the door when Roman’s gaze suddenly lifts. My heart stutters in my chest and I jerk out of sight, pressing my back against the wall and clasping hand over my mouth to muffle my panicked breathing.
Maybe he didn’t see me...
“I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut this short, Niko,” Roman states flatly. “Something has come up.”
Shit.
Shit, shit, shit.
My thick socks slide against the black marble flooring as I scramble down the corridor away from his office, anxiety suffocating my throat like a noose. I need to come up with a plausible explanation fast if I’m going to get myself out of this one. If I run and hide, it’s as good as an admission of guilt. It’d only confirm that I’ve been plotting against my husband, and I have no doubt that he’d lock me up and throw away the key.
I need an excuse, and I need it now .
I’m in such a state of panic that it’s as if my brain isn’t even working. I’m no closer to forming a cover story when I dart into the study, the men’s voices carrying down the hall as they exit Roman’s office. I’d better just run and hide. Remembering the secret door in the bookcase, I dash in that direction, but just as I’m about to reach for the shelf to pull it wide, a lightbulb goes off in my head.
This house of horrors could be my salvation.
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve caught a flicker of movement in my periphery only to turn and find nothing there. The manor is most definitely haunted, and its ghosts just became my alibi.
I draw a deep breath, shoring up my composure and willing my frantic pulse to slow. This could work. The glimpse Roman got of me could only have been for a millisecond. He’ll be expecting me to run. When he comes in here and finds me acting completely natural, it’ll take him by such surprise that he’ll question whether he saw me at all. Shit, for a spur-of-the-moment plan, It’s kind of brilliant.
Concentrating on getting my breathing under control, I reach for a book on the shelf, flipping it open right as Roman and Niko enter the study.I’m the picture of nonchalance as I glance over at them, both men turning their heads to look in my direction simultaneously.
I swear Roman falters a step.
“See you later, Mrs. Volkov,” Niko calls out, flashing me a grin.
I smile back at him shyly as I lift a hand, wiggling my fingers in a little wave.
“I’ll call you,” Roman grumbles to Niko while I turn back to the bookshelves and pretend to peruse the titles.
I hear the door close behind Niko as I return the random book I’d grabbed to its rightful place. Then I hear Roman’s heavy footsteps crossing the room toward me as I run my fingers along the aged spines, fully committed to the part I’m playing of a bored housewife searching for something interesting to read.
Pain shoots through my scalp as Roman snatches a handful of my hair, yanking me backwards forcefully and spinning us both around. Before I can even react, he shoves me down over the side of the sofa, my body folding over the arm and my cheek smacking against the leather cushion.
“Are you spying on me, wife ?” he snarls.
“What? N-no,” I choke.
“Don’t lie to me,” he snaps, his fingers tightening in the strands of my hair until my eyes water.
I grit my teeth against the pain, struggling to break free of his hold. “I’m not!”
He folds his body over mine, pinning me tighter to the arm of the sofa. “ Liar ,” he whispers into the shell of my ear, his warm breath skating across my cheek. “You’ve got five seconds to come clean before I reach the end of my patience, Eliza. Five .”
My heart slams against my ribs.
“ Four .”
I cry out in frustration, bucking against him.
“ Three .”
Panic sets in.
“ Two .”
“I’m scared, okay?!” I shout, my voice so shrill that it doesn’t even sound like my own. “You put the manor on lockdown, but you haven’t told me a thing about what’s going on! What do you expect me to do, just wait for something to come crashing through the front door?”
“You think I can’t keep my own wife safe?” he growls.
“ Can you?” I scoff, trying and failing to buck him off me. “What happened to your last wife, Roman?”
He glares down at me, something positively chilling lurking in those green eyes. “She forgot her place,” he replies coldly. “And it seems you’ve done the same.”
My heart trips over its valves, my blood running cold.
I knew it.
“Let go of me!” I shout, kicking and thrashing against him.
“No,” he replies callously, wrenching my head back so I’m forced to meet his soulless eyes.“You are mine, Eliza. Mine. Iown you, and that means I can do whatever I like with you.”
“Fuck you!” I spit, any sense of self-preservation flying out the window as years of repressed rage andresentment surge to the surface. “You don’t own me, nobody fucking owns me!”
Roman chuckles under his breath, a cruel smile coming to his lips. “Wanna bet?”
Keeping me pinned with the weight of his body, he unfastens his belt, sliding it from the loops. I spit and curse as he wrenches my arms behind my back and wraps the leather tightly around my wrists, binding them together at the base of my spine while I spew venom at him. None of it fazes the devil I married. He proceeds to push my sweater up my waist and yank my leggings down, my panties coming with them. Gripping my hips, he kicks my legs apart, lines up, and shoves into me from behind.
A scream tears from my throat as pain splinters between my thighs, rippling through me as my husband asserts his possession with deep, forceful thrusts. He drags me backwards to meet every one of them, his fingertips digging bruises into my hips as he drills his savage claim into me.
“Who owns you, wife?” he grits out, the smack of his pelvis against my ass reverberating through the room like depraved applause.
“Fuck you,” I hiss, even as the pain slowly gives way to pleasure, the friction of my clit against the arm of the sofa building with every hard punch of his hips. I can’t contain my breathy moan as my climax builds, hating the way my body reacts to his debasement. Right when my release is in reach, Roman abruptly pulls out like the sadistic bastard he is, sliding the tip of his cock up to notch against my rear hole instead. I yelp, my body instantly tensing in apprehension.
“Wrong answer,” Roman murmurs as he pushes against the tight ring of muscle, landing a hard slap on my ass cheek that makes my body jolt. “Who owns you, Eliza?”
I gasp as he forces the head of his cock past my resistance, gritting my teeth against the burning stretch. Still, I don’t give him the response he’s seeking. I won’t.
The pain only intensifies as he works his thick cock in deeper, a feral groan vibrating from his throat at the tight fit. I sink my teeth into my quivering lower lip to stifle a whimper, tears springing to my eyes.
Fuck , it hurts .
I choke on a stilted inhale as Roman starts pulsing his hips, fucking my ass in shallow thrusts, pushing in further with each one. When he’s fully seated, he grabs a fistful of my hair, my back arching as he yanks my head back and ups his pace, not giving me nearly enough time to adjust to the foreign sensation. A broken cry falls from my lips, tears freely flowing down my cheeks.
Like always, my pain only fuels him, his thrusts turning wild. At this point I’m not sure if I’m crying because it hurts or because it feels good– the ache is somehow starting to blur into rapture, overwhelming my senses as my mind goes gloriously blank. It isn’t long before I’m hurtling toward a soul-sucking climax, and the only thing left to do is let go.
My muscles seize as my orgasm rockets through me, Roman cursing as I clench around him. With a final buck of his hips, he floods my ass with the heat of his release, squeezing my cheeks roughly as he empties inside me. Then he pulls out and I collapse limply over the arm of the sofa, shuddering a sob.
I’m breathless. Numb. Violated. Empty.
“Who owns you?” he asks again in a low, gravelly tone.
“You,” I whisper defeatedly.
“That’s right, wife ,” Roman murmurs in satisfaction. “I own every inch of you.” He tucks his dick away and zips his slacks, then steps up beside the couch and looks down his nose at me, his cruel expression devoid of compassion. “Remember that the next time you think about crossing me.”