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The grin that spreads across his face tells me everything I need to know.
He has been using me as nothing more than a pawn in his twisted game.
What he doesn’t realize is that I am more than just a pawn.
I’m the motherfucking queen.
Nineteen
So much for dinner.
Rumbling eases from my stomach as we return to Adrian’s home. My palms are sweaty but running them along the form-fitting dress does nothing but worsen the anxiety bubbling inside of me. I’m scared and starving, and the combination is making me sick. I step out of the ridiculous shoes he put me in as I enter the foyer sighing with relief when my sore feet hit the carpeted floor.
“Go take a shower and get out of that stupid dress,” Adrian orders, his voice dripping with condescension as if I was the one who chose it. “Then, come down for dinner.”
I grumble under my breath as I stalk past him. The events of the day are beginning to wear on me. My adrenaline is crashing, the remnants of my orgasm on his gun still surging through me. I can feel my cheeks heat remembering how I got off on it. The last thing I want to do is have dinner with his crazy ass.
A sudden gasp falls from my lips when he grips the back of my neck pulling me back toward him. I crash into his hard muscular chest. Placing my hands on his chest I attempt to push away, but he tightens his hold on me to the point of pain.
“Do you want to be a big girl and tell me what you are grumbling about?” he asks. My jaw clenches tighter as I swallow back the rising fear that burrows up my throat. I've come to learn something in my time with Adrian. He's a demon that feeds on fear and the more you show it, the more power he has over you.
Straightening my shoulder the best I can with the hold he has on me, I take a long breath, staring him straight in the eyes, and tell him, “Go to hell, Adrian.”
He remains unmoving, unblinking.
Then he laughs.
“Don't worry, dear wife.” He smiles down predatorily at me. “If I go to hell, I'll take you with me. Now be a good little girl and go up to your room and change. You have thirty minutes before I come up and get you and if I do…” He chuckles darkly. “You won't enjoy the consequences like you did earlier.”
I turn crimson at the reminder of what he'd done earlier with his gun. How fucked up do you have to be to like something like that? Immensely, is the answer to that. I am immensely messed up and I can't even fully blame it on my childhood. There is something about this man and the way he takes control that has me submitting to things I never would have in my wildest dreams.
Or in this case nightmare.
“Fine,” I grit out. “Whatever you want, Adrian. There's nothing left that you could take from me, anyway.”
Another predatory smile. I need to learn to keep my mouth shut. Knowing Adrian, he'll see it as a challenge.
“Oh, my little mouse,” he susurrates seductively. “There is always so much more that I can take.”
He releases me from his hold, causing me to stumble slightly. I give him a jerky nod, tears pushing at the back of my eyes as they take him in. This monster. This devil. I should never have come here because now I'm under the thrall of a man without a conscience or a beating heart. Without a second glance, I turn and make my way up the stairs to his bedroom.
Our bedroom.
Lilacs.
Gardenias.
Evergreen.
The familiar words calm my racing heart but do little to ease the ache or the confusion. I can't help but want this man—my late best friend's husband. A man who only uses me for degradation and humiliation and who only sees me as a tool that he can barter with and use. He doesn't care about marrying me. All he cares about is what I can bring him. My family's fortune and businesses.
What's to stop him from killing me the moment I sign the papers declaring myself his wife?
Will he fuck me and then kill me? Or will he just kill me because he doesn't want to waste his time? I take a deep breath as I close the bedroom door behind me and strip off the small piece of fabric he declared was a dress. The heels make their way straight into the bathroom trash without a second thought.
Fog immediately engulfs the bathroom when I turn the knob on the shower as hot as it will go. Maybe I can wash the humiliation down the drain because I'm pretty sure my pride and dignity are already down there. I could use a therapist right now or even a friend, but I have neither. Stepping into the shower and under the hot spray I let the water wash away the dirt and grime of the day.
My mind wanders back to the tomb I saw inside the mausoleum, and I wonder if it's something that I should mention to Adrian. Would he even care? I spend the next half an hour contemplating what to do next. If I push back against the marriage, I do not doubt that Adrian will keep me prisoner here, but maybe, just maybe, if I show him that I am submissive enough he will allow me some freedom. Freedoms which I can use to find out what it is my family was hiding.
