CHAPTER SIX #2
“Why did you kiss me?” I almost choked on my words.
He took another step forward, forcing me back.
I… can’t… breathe.
“Please, stop.” I was pleading this time, begging for some kind of reprieve from his recklessness, his destructiveness.
I was losing control… no—
Adrian made me lose control.
“You kissed me, knowing I’m your brother’s fiancée,” I blamed, my voice cracking. “How could you do that? You are more vile and immoral than I thought you to be!”
He chuckled. “Words far worse than those have been used to describe me, Princess.”
And it was then I noticed the real him, his truth. All this time, Adrian Salvatore wore his malevolence like a second skin beneath his tailored suit.
I should have never let him get this close. It was all my fault. I allowed him to pull me into this game of his, full of deception and sin.
He fooled me once before, the day of my mother’s funeral. And now he had fooled me again.
I thought I knew what I was doing, but I had been too gullible, too weak.
I placed a hand out, trying to stop him from advancing toward me. “I am to be married to your brother. You need to stay away from me.”
Adrian’s eyes darkened, piercing into mine. “You whimpered into my lips, into my kiss,” he said, his voice raspy and thick.
“Stop it!” I hissed, horrified by the weakness I had shown him. I took another hasty step back, blindly in my desperate attempt to escape this infuriating man.
This time, my heels got caught in the grass, and I tumbled back, something hard hitting the back of my knee. I yelped in surprise, flailing to catch something to stop my fall.
Adrian jerked forward, his hand wrapping around mine, interrupting my fall.
I stayed suspended in the air, my body bent back. He held my hand firmly.
“Serafina,” he tsked, my name rolling on his tongue. “It’s like you’re trying to find new ways to keep me close to you, despite you putting an act of running away.”
He was… delusional.
He had to be.
Outraged by his audacity, I snapped, “Let go!”
The words barely left my lips when his grip loosened. “My pleasure, Princess.”
His fingers released mine, and the world tilted. I felt the sudden absence of his support and there was a moment of weightlessness before my back collided with cold water. The shock of it stole my breath as I plunged beneath the surface, the fountain’s icy embrace swallowing me whole.
For one suspended moment, there was only silence and cold and darkness.
Then my survival instinct kicked in.
My lungs burned. I kicked desperately against the weight of my sodden dress, fighting my way to the surface. I broke through with a violent gasp, water streaming from my face. I knew my makeup was ruined. Everything was ruined.
The night air, which had felt so pleasantly cool before, now bit into my wet skin like tiny needles. “You—” The word came out as a choked sound.
But whatever I was going to say died in my throat as I looked up.
Adrian towered over me, standing at the fountain’s edge, tall and imposing against the night sky.
The moonlight cast a shadow on his villainous face, but I could still see the sharp angle of his cheekbone and the cruel curve of his mouth.
His eyes glittered with malicious delight as he looked down at me, that infuriating, blasphemous smirk playing on his lips.
“You asked me to let go,” he said, his voice a low purr.
He crouched down at the fountain’s edge, his movements predatory and deliberate. I tried to scramble backward, but the water slowed my movements, my dress weighing me down like an anchor.
Without warning, his hand reached out and he did the most outrageous thing I could ever imagine.
Adrian cupped my breast through the soaked satin.
The fabric, now wet and clinging to every curve, offered no protection from his brazen gaze and touch.
His thumb brushed deliberately over my nipple, which had hardened painfully in the cold.
A jolt shot through my body… shock, outrage, and something else I couldn’t quite understand.
“Such a responsive little thing. Look at you,” he murmured, his eyes darkening with something primal.
Hunger. Need. Lust. His eyes never left mine, even as his thumb continued its torturous circles.
“All that fire, doused but not extinguished. I wonder what my brother would think if he saw you now. His fiancée, drenched and touched by a man she didn’t belong to. ”
Humiliation burned hotter than any physical sensation.
With a strangled cry, I slapped his hand away and pushed myself to my feet.
Water cascaded from my ruined dress, the once-pristine white now translucent and clinging obscenely to my body.
It left nothing to the imagination. My hair, so carefully arranged by Lucia, hung in wet ropes down my back.
I was a mess and I loathed Adrian Salvatore with every fiber of my being.
“Don’t you ever touch me again,” I snapped, though my chattering teeth diminished the effect.
The silver mask hung askew on my face, now a mockery of the perfect facade I’d maintained all evening. I ripped it off my face and threw it into the fountain.
“Look at what you’ve done,” I whispered brokenly, my voice trembling with both fury and humiliation. “Are you happy now?”
Adrian rose to his full height, towering over me once more. His eyes, a stormy shade of blue, swept over me, trailing over my drenched form with unabashed interest. “Immensely,” he replied.
I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly feeling more naked than if I’d worn nothing at all. The engagement ring glinted on my finger, a cold reminder of where and to whom my loyalties should lie, and everything I had just jeopardized. If anyone saw me like this, with him…
“I hate you,” I hissed, stumbling out of the fountain. The hem of my dress dragged behind me like a sodden train. “You’re vile. Despicable. A cold, cruel bastard.”
I’d been taught that ladies didn’t curse; we didn’t use foul language.
But Adrian had obliterated everything I had learned, every moment of decent morality I had practiced in my life.
“Such harsh words from such pretty lips.” Adrian’s voice followed me as I stalked away, my arms wrapping around myself. “Lips that were so soft against mine just moments ago.”
“For the love of God, just shut up!”
He laughed. He… just… freaking… laughed.
He truly was enjoying this, my humiliation. What have I ever done to him to deserve such treatment?
Angry, mortifying tears welled up in my eyes. I quickened my pace, desperate to get away from his taunting, to find somewhere I could recover my dignity before anyone from the ballroom saw me like this.
Water pooled at my feet as I moved, each step making an uncomfortable sound.
Adrian followed, matching my retreat with a slow, deliberate stride.
My heels slipped on the wet stone as I tried to walk, nearly sending me sprawling again. I kicked them off in frustration.
“Serafina!”
Matteo’s voice cut through the night air like a knife, distant but drawing closer. My heart lurched into my throat as panic seized every muscle in my body. I froze, barefoot and dripping, my ruined dress clinging to me like a second skin.
No, no, no. Please, no.
“Serafina!” he called again, his voice edged with impatience.
Terror made my teeth chatter more violently than the cold. “He can’t see me like this,” I whispered frantically. “He can’t—"
I whirled around, searching for an escape but Matteo had already seen me… us, and he was stalking in our direction.
To my utter shock, Adrian’s expression shifted, something unreadable flashing across his features. In one fluid motion, he shrugged off his black tuxedo jacket and draped it around my shoulders, his hands lingering for just a moment as he adjusted it to cover me properly.
The unexpected warmth enveloped me, heavy and smelling of him—sandalwood, mint, whiskey, and something uniquely Adrian, something darker.
I stared up at him, confusion warring with suspicion. His eyes met mine, something I couldn’t quite understand flickering in their depths.
“Pull it closed,” he instructed, his voice low and devoid of the mocking tone that had colored it moments before.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Matteo materialized in front of us and ice filled my veins.
His gaze swept over me, taking in my bare feet, wet hair, and Adrian’s jacket clutched around my shoulders. Behind him, two security men followed, their eyes scanning the garden perimeter. They stayed behind, close enough for protection, far enough to give us privacy.
My mouth opened but no words came. What could I possibly say?
My mind raced through excuses, each one more implausible than the last. I couldn’t tell him the truth; that his brother had kissed me, touched me, made me fall into the fountain.
All of that on our engagement night.
“What happened here?” Matteo’s voice was controlled, but danger lurked beneath the surface. His eyes flicked between Adrian and me, calculating.
“I—" My voice cracked, betraying me. Shame and fear clogged my throat. I wished the ground would just open and swallow me whole, take me far away from these two brothers.
“She fell,” Adrian said smoothly, stepping forward to stand beside me. “I was taking a smoke break when I heard a splash and I found your fiancée in the fountain. It seems she tripped on her heels. I fished her out for you.” He scoffed once. “You’re welcome.”
Matteo’s eyes narrowed, assessing my bedraggled appearance. He didn’t look one bit convinced by Adrian’s words. “Is that true, Serafina?”
I nodded jerkily, unable to meet his eyes. I was a goddamn liar and my stomach heaved, but what choice did I have? The truth was far worse.
“The dress is ruined, I’m afraid,” Adrian continued smoothly. “Such a shame. She looked exquisite in it.”
Matteo moved closer, his gaze raking over me. I shrank deeper into Adrian’s jacket, wishing I could disappear entirely.
I was tired.
I wanted to be alone.
I wanted to breathe, away from them.