4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Aria
W hen Finn returns in a good mood, that can only mean one thing: he’s done something very bad.
He doesn’t say anything when he enters the bedroom and looks down at my naked body.
I’m spread out wide with my hands and feet tied to each corner of the bed.
It’s a very vulnerable position to be in but I don’t let that break me down.
I only glare back at Finn. Screw him and his handsome face and his evilness for doing this to me.
“What?” I ask flatly.
“Just looking at you. You’re good enough to eat. I’ll have to taste you one day.”
My stomach clenches. The thought of Finn touching me is revolting. And yet… to have someone so powerful want to take me makes my body shiver. Finn doesn’t deserve me though. I will never be attracted to him no matter how handsome his face is.
“You will never touch me,” I spit out.
“You say that now, Aria, but in a few weeks, when I’ve broken you down, you’ll be singing a different tune.”
“You will never break me.”
“It’s cute that you think that. Want to know what I was up to?”
“Not really,” I say.
“I was out causing some chaos. I planted the idea in your father’s head that Viktor Smirnov was behind your kidnapping. Viktor and Dante are on uneasy terms right now. It wasn’t hard to break it.”
I strain against my binds. “What exactly happened?”
“News travels fast. Apparently your father tried to kill Viktor in his efforts to get you back. That didn’t work out. Viktor is not dead and he’s officially declared war on Dante and Erik all over again.”
My jaw drops open. Finn is a lot smarter than I thought he was. At first, I just assumed he was some chaotic criminal but now I see that he has a brain on him. “That’s why you kidnapped me? To make those men go to war again?”
“Pretty much. Smart, isn’t it?”
I ignore his comment. “And my father? Is he all right? Is he alive?”
A low, dangerous grin spreads across Finn’s face. “What if I told you he was dead? How would that make you feel?”
I force my face into a neutral expression. Finn cannot know I love my dad. He’ll use any sort of weakness against me.
“I don’t care if he’s dead,” I respond. “I just want to know. I’ll be getting a lot of money when he dies.”
“Mmm.” He approaches the bed and stares down at me with his handsome smirk. “Your dad is alive, unfortunately for you. I guess you won’t be getting all of his money any time soon.”
I try to hide it but I can’t stop myself from visibly relaxing. My dad is alive. There’s still some good that can come out of this.
But he could have died in his efforts to get me back. He went after Viktor. But what happens when my dad goes after Finn?
Finn cups my face and I hold still, barely breathing. “You’re a little liar, princess. You’re happy your dad is alive. I just might have to kill him for the fun of it. Just ask my brother’s wife, Elena. I killed her dad without even blinking.”
I remember hearing about that from Dante. How much fear and chaos Ivan Romanov’s death caused.
What would happen if my dad was dead? How much chaos would that cause?
“But,” Finn says, letting me go, “I don’t have any plans to kill Elio. He hasn’t done anything to piss me off. Unlike Dante. Unlike Viktor. Viktor is going to be pissed when he finds out I pinned this on him. But as long as it creates a war with Dante again, I’m all good.”
“You would sacrifice yourself to get another war?”
“I would do anything to bring down the men who have pissed me off. I don’t take it lightly.” His eyes sweep over me in a way that I hate.
But I also kind of like.
There’s power in Finn’s look. Knowing he likes what he sees. There’s power in my own body.
“I think your clothes are done,” he says. “If you want to earn the right to wear them again, you’re going to do a little something for me. Got it?”
“Does it get me off this bed?”
“It does.”
I hate his smirk and I know I can’t trust him no matter what but I’m itching to get out of bed. My arms are aching being held above my head like this.
“Then let me go,” I snap.
Finn takes his sweet time untying the ropes around my wrists and ankles. This time, I don’t bother trying to attack him. I feel too tired to anyway.
We go into the kitchen and he pulls out two plates from a cabinet.
“We’re going to eat?” I ask, feeling hopeful. I am starving. It’s morning time now and my body is desperate for food.
“You have to earn that too. By doing this.” He places each plate in my hands. “Hold your arms out to the side.” He shows me, placing his arms out in a T position.
“Why?”
“If you can keep your arms like that, while holding these two plates, for as long as I say you can, then you’ll win your clothes back. You’ll also win breakfast.”
“How long do I have to hold them for?”
“Let me see,” he murmurs, checking his watch. “Five minutes. Just five minutes. But if you drop your arms during that time, then you won’t get your clothes back. And you won’t get breakfast either.”
“Can I not try again?”
“Sure. Tomorrow.”
My eyes widen. “Tomorrow?! But I’m hungry now.”
“You’re not in position to boss me around, princess. I’m not your damn maid. And this will be good for you. Put you in your place a little. Humble you.”
“Fuck you,” I snarl. “I don’t need humbling.”
He doesn’t say a word as he lifts my arms into a T position. It wouldn’t be so bad holding my arms like this if I didn’t have to also hold two heavy glass plates in each hand.
“Let’s begin.” He sets the timer on his watch.
Within seconds my arms are trembling. How am I going to hold out for five minutes?
“You don’t work out much, do you?” he asks.
“I do yoga and Pilates.”
“So, you’re weak then.”
“People who do yoga are not weak. Have you seen the things some people can do?”
He snorts. “What, like put your body into a pretzel? It’s a little impressive, I’ll be honest, but it’s not strength. Not real strength. Not the kind I have. If you wanted to be strong like me, you’d lift weights instead of those sissy girly exercises.”
“You are such an asshole,” I say through gritted teeth. It’s taking everything inside of me to keep my arms upright.
“I get that a lot.” He checks his watch. “Thirty seconds down.”
Holy… I know I will not be able to last the full five minutes. I keep telling my body to ignore the pain and continue on. The body can handle a lot more than the brain can.
But my brain is failing me. It’s telling me to give up because I will never be able to win against Finn. He is an unmovable force.
“You’re really shaking now.”
“Shut up.”
He chuckles and the sound only makes me want to slap him. “I don’t think you’re going to be able to do this, princess.”
I know I won’t be able to but that doesn’t mean I’m going down without a fight.
An idea hits me.
The heavy glass plate in both my hands would make for a great weapon. Surely Finn must have a key to be able to get in and out of the house if he locks it from the outside.
Moving fast, I fling the plate right at his head. He dodges out of the way but I use the other plate and drop it on his foot. He shouts and jumps around. It’s actually hilarious.
But I didn’t knock him out like I wanted to.
Oh well. This will just have to do.
I let out a laugh at the sight of his ridiculous jumping.
“You think that’s funny?” He grabs me around the waist and takes me into the living room where he shoves me over the back of the couch. And before I can even react, he spanks me.
Actually, honest to god, spanks me.
I go still and my laughter disappears. “What the hell?”
He spanks me again. The pain of it is excruciating but what hurts more is the humiliation. Finn is spanking me like I’m a troublesome child and not a grown woman who deserves respect.
“Stop!”
“You need to learn your lesson, princess.” Spank. “I’m in charge here.” Spank. “You will not beat me.” Spank.
Every hit hurts more than the last. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to sit down after this. That must be another form of torture for Finn – make me stand until I can’t stand any longer.
“You are a monster!” I scream, trying to wriggle away from him. It only serves to press my body against his. I instantly stop moving.
Finn finally relents and stops spanking me.
But he doesn’t back away. He keeps a firm hold on my waist. The position we’re in is an extremely vulnerable one. My bare backside to his front.
If he wanted to, he could rape me right now.
The thought makes my body turn to ice. I’m not sure if Finn senses that or not but he backs away.
I slump against the couch, catching my breath.
“Your ass looks good all red like this.”
“Fuck you.”
“You want me to fuck you? I’d be glad to do it. Take your body when no other man has ever done.”
I push myself upright with my shaky arms and face him head on. “Just stop toying with me. Either kill me or let me go.”
“That’s not how this game works, princess. I’ve barely scratched the surface of the fun we can have together. I’m not giving you up for anything. You’re my ticket to getting back at Dante.”
“He will find you eventually. You know he will. What are you going to do then?”
“I’ll kill him.”
“And if he kills you?”
“Then I can die knowing I went out with a bang. Can you say the same?”
I bristle. “I’ve done a lot with my life.”
“Like what? Getting your nails done? Going to the spa? Getting a facial?”
“You treat me like I’m vapid for putting effort into my appearance. But I’ve done a lot more than that in my life.”
“Like what?”
“Like survive a kidnapping. When I was twelve, I was kidnapped by Sergei Belov. And I survived. And look where Sergei Belov is now. He’s dead.”
Finn’s only response is to smirk. “I’m not old like Sergei Belov was. I won’t die. And you don’t have the protection of Erik Koslov. I know he was the one who saved you back then. Dante told me all about it. You think you’re so tough, princess, but you’re not.”