22. Adalina
Chapter 22
Adalina
E nzo enters the room, his eyes avoiding mine as he sets a tray of steaming pancakes and crispy bacon down on the table. He leaves without a single word, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
My stomach growls, but I don’t move toward the tray. I’ve decided to go on a hunger strike. There’s no particular reason why. Despite not being mistreated by Dante, I resent being trapped in this room. The walls seem to press in on me, suffocating and overwhelming my senses. It’s a familiar sensation, having been imprisoned before. My father would sometimes allow me the privilege of watching television in the living room, but most days, I was left alone with my pain and thoughts as they swirled and churned inside me.
To combat my growing boredom, I disappear into the books on the shelves, but the Theory of Education does not entertain me for long. Dante said his sister is a teacher, and almost everything on her shelves reflects that. She has a few bodice rippers hidden behind the intellectual stuff, but they all feature pirates or Vikings.
I decide my time will be better spent figuring out how to shock Dante into returning to the room; his bodyguard makes for boring companionship. I shuffle through Lucia’s box of naughty toys in the closet and pull out a vibrator. I am not comfortable with using another woman’s sex toys, but desperate times call for desperate measures. I make sure to wash it with soap and water. Twice. I doubt she’ll come back to claim it any time soon, but better safe than sorry.
Back home, I’m used to manual stimulation. If my father found a dildo or vibrator among my things, he’d beat me with it. Since I don’t have a bedroom door, my self-love is often confined to my daily showers. Whether it’s teasing my nipples or clit until I’m in a heightened state of arousal or fucking myself in the shower with the base of my hairbrush, I get my kicks the old-fashioned way. So, I’m curious how quickly this vibrator will do the trick.
In the bedroom, I count down the minutes until Enzo returns. Yesterday, he came back after an hour. Today, he does the same. With only a minute left, I eagerly climb onto the bed and position myself. As I lay down and spread my legs, I feel the cool air tickle my skin. Then, with anticipation building inside me, I press the vibrator against my waiting clit. Instantly, my senses are flooded with intense pleasure, causing my entire world to split in two. My body involuntarily bucks against the toy, desperate to feel more sensation.
My original plan to make Enzo squirm and feel uncomfortable quickly fades from my mind as I become fixated on the speed at which this vibrating toy will bring me to orgasm. As the locks twist and the door slowly opens, I quickly pull myself together and prepare to perform.
Enzo stops with one foot in the door, his eyes widening in disbelief at the sight of me on the bed. For three long seconds, he stares at me while trying to compose himself. It takes every effort for him to tear his gaze off me and go about his business. I hear him mumbling under his breath, but I can’t make out what he says. He gathers the tray with my untouched breakfast and slams the door behind him. Curiously, he doesn’t lock it.
A few moments later, Enzo’s presence is replaced by Dante’s. His chest rapidly rises and falls, his nostrils flaring as he fixates on me with a mix of anger and desire. “Are you pleased with yourself?”
“Give me thirty more seconds, and I will be,” I grin cheekily.
Dante moves with a powerful, almost primal energy. He strides across the room, his steps heavy and decisive. In one swift motion, he snatches the vibrator out of my hand and flings it across the room. The plastic device ricochets off the wall with a loud thud before clattering to the ground; the vibrating stops.
My eyes follow the scene with mild interest until Dante grabs me by the throat and leans over me. My heart races as I feel the heat of his breath against my face, his intense gaze pinning me in place like helpless prey. The scent of cologne and danger surrounds him, making my senses reel. Fear and excitement mix in a potent cocktail that leaves me trembling in his grasp. “Don’t even think about touching my pussy without permission. Do you understand me?”
“What are you going to do to stop me?” I tease, the words hanging in the air, daring and challenging him to do what we both know he wants to do.
“Not everything is a game, Adalina.” He growls, each syllable laced with a warning. “You may still learn that I can be more cruel than your father.”
There is a hollow, empty feeling in my chest that begs to be filled. It keeps me up at night, begging the universe to bring me a savior. It permeates my body from head to toe. “Do it then,” I challenge. “Show me your cruelty.”
Dante’s fingers tighten around my throat, cutting off my oxygen supply. My vision blurs and darkens at the edges. “You’re insane. Do you know that? I extend an olive branch, and you squander it with incessant taunting and relentless attempts to push me over the edge.”
I don’t know how to tell Dante that I’m broken inside, that my father’s abuse carved scars into my soul that run deeper than any physical pain could ever inflict. No one can ever wound me as deeply or as permanently as Tommaso has. But Dante’s attempts to tame me feel like salt in an open wound, a cruel and futile effort to control something that has long since been irreparably damaged. I will not be tamed, for even my own flesh and blood could not break me. What makes him think he can succeed where others have failed? My strength and determination are unshakeable, and I will not go down without a fight.
“Now you have nothing to say?” Dante’s brows furrow as his eyes narrow into sharp, piercing slits. His expression is filled with frustration and annoyance, and a hint of anger simmering just beneath the surface.
A second later, he releases my throat, and I gasp for air. My lungs expand with relief, but I can still feel the burning imprint of his fingers on my skin. “You can’t scare me,” I choke out. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
Dante walks across the room to grab the vibrator, shoving it in his pocket. “You think that now, but just wait, Adalina.”
The threat lingers in the air, a poisonous fog that suffocates and distorts my senses. My world has never been large, but being in Dante’s home has shrunk it to near nonexistence. I don’t believe he stole me from my father and locked me in a gilded cage just so he could kill me in the end, but he may have no choice. I will not bow or break for a man—not today, not tomorrow, not ever.