Chapter Twenty
Seraphina
With my knees drawn tight to my chest, I trembled against the headboard, every creak of the house set my nerves on edge.
I couldn’t tell how long I’d been here. Days, maybe weeks.
I didn’t know because I’d been out of it.
The darkness he had me in I couldn’t distinguish night from day.
But from what I remembered, Dorian hadn’t been back for a couple of days.
The blood and dry cum on my thighs were the only evidence that he’d even been here.
Although it was a relief he hadn’t been in for a few days, I couldn’t celebrate because I didn’t know how long it would last.
Of course, he blamed me for Sergio’s actions.
I was blamed for everything he didn’t like.
But how could I have stopped him? Sergio Puglisi didn’t listen to anyone.
He didn’t bend for anyone even if others got destroyed in the process.
I’d learned that the hard way, and the memory of it still made my stomach turn.
I replayed every part of my life with Sergio and Dorian, searching for something I missed or something I could’ve done differently.
And the only thing I came up with was I should have stayed far away from both of them.
They were both toxic and thrived on negativity.
Would Sergio ever hurt me, like Dorian? Of course not.
All I had to worry about with him was my heart and soul being shredded into pieces.
Dorian, on the other hand, was a physical threat and eventually he’d kill me after he had his fun.
I shivered again, this time not from fear but the biting cold of the air conditioner.
It blasted icy air into every corner of the room.
I was naked, stripped of everything without the courtesy of even a blanket.
No sheets. No clothes. Just my goose pimpled skin against a mattress, and the knowledge that this was another way for Dorian to torture me.
This wasn’t the first time I’d experienced what he called cold therapy, at least this time he hadn’t thrown ice cold water on me.
Dorian was always calculated and very deliberate.
Everything he did to me happened in the privacy of our home.
He liked to watch me suffer in silence and liked the way pain made me small.
I hated him for it. I hated the way he turned comfort into punishment, warmth into a weapon that he could withhold whenever he thought I deserved it.
It wouldn’t shock me if he was somewhere watching my misery on camera.
I didn’t look around the room. What was the point? My eyes moved, but everything was swallowed by darkness. No light. No sound. No hint of anything that might give me any clue on how to get out of here, just the thin mattress beneath me. Wherever I was, it wasn’t anywhere I’d ever been before.
Of course that was Dorian’s goal. I didn’t like his brother Vasilas one way or the other. We were cordial because I was married to his brother, but from what I knew of him, I didn’t believe he’d approve of the things his brother did to me.
The silence closed in around me like the world had forgotten I even existed. And maybe it had. Maybe it was better if I no longer existed, especially if I had to go back to being Dorian’s punching bag.
“You can’t think like that,” I chastised myself as I tried to push those thoughts out of my mind. “You have a family who loves you. They’re searching for you.”
He’s searching for you.
From somewhere in the house, a creak sliced through the silence. My head snapped toward the door. My heart thudded so hard against my chest I felt it in my teeth.
I stopped breathing, straining to hear. Was it just the bones of the house settling, or was someone coming?
The sound came again, clearer this time. Not a random squeak but footsteps. Slow and unhurried. My lungs locked up. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the pain build like a storm brewing inside my head.
Not him. Please, don’t let it be him.
“Let it be anyone but Dorian,” I whispered, the sound of it so faint I wasn’t sure I even said anything. “Anyone but Dorian.”
Not that I didn’t believe in prayer, it just never worked for me. But desperation would turn anyone into a believer. If it meant I wouldn’t have to see his face, hear his voice again, feel the cold calculation behind his smile, I’d beg anyone who would listen, as long as it wasn’t him.
The footsteps echoed in the hallway, growing louder until they reached the room, and then silence. My heart stopped as the sound of the door being unlocked, then the rattle of the doorknob echoed around the room.
The door opened wider, and my eyes opened.
A silhouette filled the threshold. His anger I felt from where he stood. I didn’t need light or words to know it was Dorian.
“Glad to see you’re awake, my lovely wife,” he said, his voice void of any emotion. “We have a lot to discuss.”
I remained silent. There was no use in trying to make the case that I had no part in what happened, again. He didn’t care I hadn’t left with Sergio because I wanted to. He had already decided we had planned the entire thing.
He slammed the door behind him after he walked into the room causing me to jump. He flipped the light switch, and the overhead lights flooded the room in harsh, blinding white light. I threw my arms up, shielding my eyes from the sudden glare. It felt like a lamp of an interrogation room.
Dorian was here, and I didn’t know what to expect next.
“How long have you been planning to leave me, Seraphina?” he asked, his voice low and tight, like he was holding back his anger.
His steps were slow as he moved to the foot of the bed, not like a man approaching his wife, but like someone approaching a threat.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. My throat felt like it had been sewn shut from the fear rolling through me.
He tilted his head, studying me, like he was trying to read my thoughts with his eyes. “Was it months ago?” His tone sharpened. “Or was it before that?”
I shrank back, pressing against the headboard like the wood could absorb me. If I could fold myself into the mattress, vanish into the seams, I would. Anything to escape the way his hateful gaze pinned me down.
He started pacing, one hand running through his hair, the other clenched at his side.
“You think I don’t notice things, but I do.
I see everything. The way you flinch when I touch you.
The way you look at the door like it’s some kind of exit strategy.
” He paused, eyes locking onto mine. “You’ve been planning this. Haven’t you?”
I opened my mouth to tell him no, that I hadn’t planned anything, but what was the point? I already told him the last time he asked me. He didn’t believe me then and he wouldn’t believe me now. He never did.
He took another step forward. “Tell me I’m wrong, Seraphina. Tell me you haven’t been lying to my face every goddamn day and planning to leave me for him!”
I couldn’t let him spiral any further. I had to think and do it fast. Dorian was unraveling. The room felt smaller like the walls were closing in because his paranoia was thick in the air. He wouldn’t listen to reason. He wouldn’t listen to me. But I knew what he would listen to.
“Dorian.” I forced warmth into my voice I didn’t feel. “You know how much I love you.”
A lie. But a necessary one.
It was time to take my power back from this man. I had rolled over for way too long. And if I continued to do so, he would kill me. If not tonight, then soon.
He paused, eyes narrowing as he searched my face for the truth. “You wouldn’t lie to me,” he said, but it sounded more like a threat than a question.
“I wouldn’t leave you,” I whispered, letting my voice tremble just enough to sound sincere. “You’re everything to me, Dorian. You’re my husband. The love of my life.”
He moved fast. Too fast. He rushed toward me, and I didn’t have time to brace myself before he was on top of me, straddling my legs, his breath hot and erratic against my skin. My heart pounded, but I kept my face soft, my body loose.
I had one shot to get this right.
“I don’t believe you, Seraphina,” he growled, his eyes wild and his voice vibrating with fury.
I reached up, brushing my fingers against his jaw, letting them linger. “Then let me show you,” I said, my voice low and seductive.
I leaned in. My lips grazed his ear and my hand slid down his chest. Not with affection, but with purpose.
He stilled. His breathing slowed and his grip loosened.
Good.
I tilted my hips just enough to make him think I was giving in. Giving him something that I never gave him willingly.
Then, I drove my knee up so hard into his dick, catching him off guard. He gasped and his body folded forward, then I shoved him off with everything I had. He hit the floor with a thud, cursing, and reaching for me. But I was already moving.
I bolted from the bed, sprinted to the door, and yanked it open. “You bitch! I’m going to kill you!” he roared behind me, but I didn’t look back. I ran down the hallway with adrenaline surging in my system, as I ran out the front door.
The cool night air hit my bare skin, and I couldn’t care less that I was barefoot and naked. I ran into the forest that loomed in front of the house. The clean, crisp smell of pine needles filled my lungs with each stride as I tried to get as far away from him as I could.
I was out.
I was alive.