Page 135 of Captivated

Because she kept laughing.

Rich’s narrowing gaze left her for a brief moment as he tried to right himself, but that was his fucking mistake. Liliana bolted out of the back seat, and launched herself at him. Her fist connected with his mouth at the same time her other hand ranked bleeding lines down the side of his face.

“Don’t touch me, you bastard,” she hissed.

She was kicked back into the car by the guard who decided to step in two seconds too late.

Rich leaned in right after, hovering above Liliana with a bleeding mouth, and a sore-looking face. It terrified her, but it also brought her the greatest sense of satisfaction, too. She never would have fought back before, fearing it would only get worse.

It was probably still going to get worse.

She didn’t care.

She wasn’t lying down like a dog for this man.

She wasn’t his bitch.

“Keep those surprises coming,” Rich murmured, blood staining his teeth, “they get me hard, Lilibet. And you remember what my cock feels like when it’s hard, and I’m shoving it into one of your holes, don’t you? It’s been too long since you got a taste—too bad you’re going to have to wait.”

Rich slammed the door.

Liliana kicked it right after.

Fuck him; fuck all of him.

And fuck his stupid nickname, too.

She hated that nickname.

“Welcome home, my queen.”

Liliana looked up from her hands to see a gate opening to allow them entrance to a long, twisting driveway that led up to what looked like quite an estate. She didn’t recognize the place, and since Rich had forced a hood over her head for long portions of the drive when he became sick of talking to her, she really had zero fucking idea where she was.

She might have been impressed by the estate were it anyone else showing it to her, but instead, all Liliana could really feel in those moments was a heavy sense of dread settling into her stomach. She didn’t know where she was. The estate was quite private, by the looks of it. Several guards stood around the property as the car was parking.

How in the hell was she going to get out of this one?

“A home fit for a queen,” Rich said.

Queen, like the Lilibet thing. Actually, that’s how he came up with that stupid fucking nickname. She despised people calling her Lily—kids used to tease her when she was younger because of her brother. They said Johnathan was crazy when he acted out, and then stories spread like wildfire. They’d call her Silly Lily, and she hated it.

Rich liked Lily.

Instead, he settled on Lilibet, like the old former queen’s nickname, because that’s what he told Liliana she was going to be. His queen.

And then he beat the hell out of her.

“Please stop calling me that,” Liliana muttered.

It was the only thing she could think to say.

Rich passed her a dismissive glance. “What, you’ll wear their princess title, but not the queen’s crown when it’s all but handed to you?”

“It’s principessa,” Liliana uttered, “I am a principessa della mafia and it would do you well to remember that, Rich.”

Except he didn’t care, she knew.

That was half of the problem.