Chapter 30 #2
Castellanos made a muffled sound behind the gag, his face going red, his whole body straining against the tape.
"You're going to pay for what you did," I said quietly. "Not just to me, but to every girl who walked through that place. Every woman you hurt, every life you destroyed. Whatever happens to you now, whatever Wade decides to do with you, you earned every second of it."
His breathing was ragged, chest heaving, so unused to being powerless.
"But more than that," I continued, "I need you to know that I won. That the girl you tried to break is standing here whole, and that I have a life waiting for me that you'll never touch. That you failed."
Silence filled the room.
Castellanos stared at me like he was seeing a ghost. Like he couldn't reconcile the woman standing in front of him, her chin up, voice steady, protected by a man who would burn the world for her, with the girl he'd tried to destroy.
Now he saw exactly what he'd failed to do.
"I'm done now," I declared, more to Wade than to anyone else. "I'm done with him."
Wade's arm tightened around my waist, and he leaned down to press a kiss directly to my lips. "You were perfect, darling," he murmured, loud enough for everyone to hear. "Absolutely fucking perfect."
He turned us toward the door, already guiding me out when Castellanos thrashed suddenly—a muffled, desperate sound coming from behind the gag.
Wade stopped walking. He didn't turn around—just went very, very still.
"Remove it," he ordered flatly.
One of the guards yanked the rag out of Castellanos's mouth.
He gasped for air, coughing, and then, like the absolute fool he was, spat blood onto the concrete and attempted to laugh.
"You think you've won?" he rasped, his voice shaking with fury and pain. "You think he'll keep you when he knows you spread your legs for me in my office? When he knows—“
I didn't even feel Wade let go of me. One second, he was at my side; the next, he had Castellanos by the throat, lifting him partially off the bench, the tape around his ankles straining.
"I warned you," Wade sneered.
Then he slammed Castellanos back down onto the bench hard enough that I heard the impact echo off the walls.
Castellanos wheezed, gasping for air, blood trickling from his torso again.
Wade leaned in close, his hand still around Castellanos's throat, squeezing.
"You will never," Wade whispered, each word enunciated with deadly precision, "speak about her again. You will not think her name. You will not remember her face. And when you die, and you will die screaming, her name will not be anywhere near your lips. Do you understand me?"
Castellanos's eyes rolled, panic taking over, and he managed the smallest, most pathetic nod.
Wade released him and stepped back, adjusting his shirt like nothing had happened.
He turned to me, softening immediately, and held out his hand. "Come, darling. We're done here."
I looked at Castellanos one last time—slumped, wet, and terrified. He looked pathetic.
"Gladly," I answered, my voice steady as I took Wade's hand, and the heavy door slammed shut behind us with a finality that echoed through my bones.
The second we were alone in the hallway, Wade spun me into his chest and wrapped both arms around me, holding me so tightly I could barely breathe.
"I am so proud of you," he breathed into my hair, his voice rough with emotion. "So fucking proud, Marie. You were incredible in there. You faced him, and you won."
Despite everything, the fear, the shaking, the way my heart was still racing, I believed him. I pressed my face into his shirt, breathing him in.
"I did, didn't I?" I whispered, pulling back just enough to look at him with a wobbly but genuine smile. "I told him off. I think I was actually pretty cool.”
Wade let out a breath of laughter, kissing my forehead hard. "You were magnificent."
Because I'd faced my monster, and I'd walked away whole.
The car sat idling in the underground garage, Thomas in the driver's seat. Wade opened the back door and helped me inside, his palm cupping the back of my head as I ducked in. I sank into the seats gratefully, my whole body suddenly feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds.
"I have never," his lips pressed into my hair between words, "met a braver girl in my entire life."
"You walked in there terrified," he continued, "And you stood your ground. You said everything you needed to say. You looked the man who tried to destroy you in the eye, and you didn't flinch. I’m so proud of you," he whispered, and then he kissed me.
It was full of everything he couldn't say. I kissed him back desperately, my fingers clutching at his shirt, needing him closer even though there was no space left between us.
When he finally pulled away, his forehead stayed pressed to mine, both of us breathing hard.
"I need to go back in for a few minutes," he breathed quietly. "Just to handle some final details. You’ll be safe here with Thomas."
My fingers tightened in his shirt. "How long?"
“Five minutes. Six at most." He kissed my forehead, my nose, then my lips again, soft and quick. “Then I'm taking you home and licking your little pussy until I'm satisfied. Okay?"
Heat flooded my face immediately, my breath just stopping. He said it so casually, like he was discussing dinner plans, but his eyes were dark and intent on my shocked ones.
A thrill shot through me, chasing away the last of the fear.
“O-okay," I managed, my voice barely working through the surprise and anticipation.
"Good girl." His hands were steady as he buckled me in, adjusting the strap so it sat comfortably across my chest.
"Stay here. He tucked a loose braid behind my ear. "I'll be right back."
He kissed me one more time, and then he closed the door behind him with a soft click.
I watched through the tinted window as he walked back toward that steel door, his posture somehow turning dangerous. The man who'd held me so gently disappeared, replaced by someone who looked capable of terrible things.
The door opened, he stepped through, and it closed behind him with that same heavy finality.
I sat there in the back of the Rolls-Royce, buckled in, wrapped in his lingering warmth, and tried to remember how to breathe normally because of what he'd promised to do when we got home.