Chapter Twenty-three
Alessia
The entire night passed with me wide awake, tossing and turning beneath the sheets. But morning came as if in a hurry. Funny how time flies only when you least want it to. I didn’t wish for the day to come so fast because I knew what it held: an engagement party. But it was too late.
Today marked the beginning of what I feared the most.
I curled up on the bed as if I could hold my own broken pieces together. Tears had dried on my face, but the pain lingered. It ached to be passed around like an object and forced into a life that disgusted me to my core.
Leonid’s plan was cruel. He would even deceive his own son, believing I was carrying his child. But in reality, I would belong to both father and son. A shudder crawled down my spine.
Rodion was the mastermind behind this. The moment he kidnapped me, my life spiraled into this abyss.
Glancing at the untouched tray on the table, I hoped Rodion had died or that whatever sickness was killing him finished the job.
The maid had brought me food earlier, urging me to eat, but I couldn’t.
Hunger was nothing compared to the emptiness inside me.
The door creaked open, and the maid entered, with a dress draped over her arm. She hesitated at the doorway and stared at me with pity. “Miss Romero, please,” she pleaded. “At least sit up. You haven’t eaten all day.”
I stared blankly, my body refusing to move. She sighed, placing a deep blue dress on the edge of the bed. The kind of dress that made a woman feel stunning, but to me, it was just another prison.
“The guests are arriving,” she murmured. “You have one hour to get ready.”
She lingered for a second, as if waiting for me to say something. When I didn’t, she lowered her gaze and left the room. I knew if I didn’t get ready, Leonid would make me. And he wouldn’t be gentle about it.
Forcing myself up, I swung my legs over the edge of the bed. My body felt weak, and my head light. Reaching for the dress, I ran my fingers over the fabric. These beautiful dresses always came before something terrible.
With a deep breath, I dropped the dress back to the bed and headed to the bathroom.
Just as I reached the doorway, the room was plunged in total darkness.
Voices echoed from the hallway as people reacted to the sudden loss of power.
Places like this would have electricity restored quickly. So I waited.
But a soft thud echoed through the room, and I spun toward the sound, heart pounding. If I expected anyone to come, it would’ve been through the door, not the window.
A man stood there, his figure cloaked in shadow. I stepped into the bathroom, hands moving to close the door. Before I could close it, his foot jammed into the gap, and I stumbled back with a gasp.
He stepped in and I moved backwards until I leaned against the sink. “Who are you?”
Before he could answer, the lights flickered back on, casting harsh brightness over the bathroom.
My breath hitched as my eyes adjusted, locking onto the figure standing before me.
Everything else stopped when I looked at him, Rodion, clad in all black.
He locked the door and moved towards me. A chill slithered down my spine.
He shattered my world, stripped me of my freedom, and sold me like I was nothing.
Rage surged through me, wiping out every ounce of fear.
My hands curled into fists, and before I could think, I swung at his chest with all the fury rolling inside me.
He didn’t flinch. His eyes remained locked on mine as I pounded on him.
He could pull a knife and kill me if he wanted, but I didn’t care anymore.
“I will scream,” I hissed, my voice trembling with the force of emotions threatening to consume me. “Just leave, please.”
He didn’t move. Desperate, I shoved him, pushing with all my strength, but in one swift motion, he spun me around, pulling me back against his solid frame. My breath hitched when he trapped me.
The door to the bedroom creaked open. Someone was here, and this was my chance.
I opened my mouth to scream, but Rodion’s hand slammed over my mouth, muffling the sound before it could escape.
A muffled cry died in my throat as I struggled against him, thrashing in his grasp, my body twisted in all attempts to break free. But it was all in vain.
The bathroom door rattled. “Miss Romero?” The maid’s voice filtered through the heavy silence. “Are you in there?”
My eyes darted, searching for anything I could use as a weapon. But Rodion moved with me to the shower, which he turned on. The sound of rushing water filled the room, masking my ragged breathing.
Leonid’s voice came through, and I froze.
“Alessia?” His tone sharpened. “Someone broke in. Are you okay?”
Rodion dragged me back toward the mirror, leaving the shower running. My body heaved with panicked breaths. I looked like prey caught in a beast’s jaws. And Rodion was the predator holding me captive.
Blood dripped from the hand clamped over my mouth, warm droplets sliding down his palm and streaking my chin. The sharp, metallic taste filled my tongue, my teeth had broken skin.
Someone slammed against the door. Rodion’s gaze burned into mine, daring me to scream. Surprisingly, he withdrew his hand from my mouth.
The urge to scream burned in my throat, but I swallowed it down like poison.
I could end this right now, but I knew this would end in blood and violence that wouldn’t stop until someone was dead.
Rodion didn’t need permission. He moved like someone who took what he wanted without mercy.
And if a war started in this mansion, I wouldn’t survive it. I would be collateral.
“Alessia!” The door rattled again.
My voice leapt ahead of my mind. “I’m taking a shower.”
Silence stretched before Leonid growled, “Why didn’t you say something?” He cursed under his breath. “Be downstairs. Ten minutes.”
His footsteps receded, and the bedroom door slammed shut. I sagged against the sink, my entire body shaking. My reflection mocked me, lips smeared with Rodion’s blood. My fingers twitched toward the faucet, desperate to wash it away, but before I could reach it, Rodion moved.
In a blur of motion, he grabbed me and spun me around. He crashed his lips against mine. I gasped into the kiss, but he didn’t stop. It was rough and demanding. He kissed me like he owned me, like he was branding me.
A psychopath. I hated him. I didn’t kiss him back. Hell, I couldn’t fall into this trap again. He tore away, seized me and pushed me backward. My butt collided with the sink, the edge biting into my skin.
“I hate you,” I seethed.
His lips twisted into a wicked smile. “I like it that way,” he said. I didn’t even get the chance to breathe before his hand slipped beneath my dress, fingers gliding higher with deliberate ease. His mouth hovered over mine, the heat of his breath teasing my skin.
“There’s something we didn’t finish,” he murmured.
“You sold me to him, so why are you here? To remind me, you can take whatever you want whenever you please?”
His gaze dropped to my lips as he pushed against my locked legs. I couldn’t let him touch me, because one touch and I would lose the last piece of myself I had left. One touch and I would forget the monster he was.
“Why?” I sobbed, clutching his wrist, trying to stop him even as his fingers pried against me.
Rodion looked straight into my eyes as his fingers moved their way past my guard.
“You know I don’t deserve it. I didn’t even deserve it then—” My words broke when he shoved his knee between my legs and spread them. “Why?”
“We made a deal,” he said, like that was all that mattered.
“No, I never agreed to this. You know I didn’t.”
“Weren’t you ready to die for your parents?” His hand slid my panties aside and touched where I was weakest. I choked on my breath, tears escaping as I closed my eyes. “A deal is a deal, Little Gem.”
“I’m tired.” The words left me in a broken whisper, my body betraying me under his touch. “You sold me. So just disappear. I don’t want to see you.”
“Is that so?” His breath ghosted over my lips. “Then look me in the eye and say it.”
I forced my eyes open, blurred from tears. I stared into him and whispered, “I don’t—” but the moment his finger slid inside me, the rest of the sentence withered into nothing. My knees buckled as I stood on my toes, gasping his name. “Rodion.”
“What was that?”
“I hate you,” I bit out, trembling against the rhythm he controlled. He thrust deeper, and I gritted through the sensation. “I hate you so much.”
“I know, Little Gem.”
And then he crushed his mouth against mine, his finger moving faster as he pushed deeper.
I didn’t kiss him back. I kept whispering how much I hated him.
But when he shoved two fingers in and curled them just right, my voice caught, and his name slipped out again like a prayer I never meant to say.
He chuckled, then bit my lower lip before shoving his tongue into my mouth, tasting me like I was something he owned. The kiss turned possessive.
Cries broke in my throat as my legs gave in. I saw stars. I felt nothing but him, and for one goddamn second, I allowed myself to feel again. I whimpered, chasing that release, but he pulled out just before I could reach it, his lips leaving mine as he stepped back.
He watched me with a smug smile. “So you want it?” He lifted his fingers to his mouth, tasting the proof.
I swallowed the scream in my throat. He backed away, leaving me slumped against the sink.
“Rodion,” I breathed.
“Next time, I might let something else finish it,” he said, already walking to the door.