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A burst of resentment blossoms through me, cutting through the fog of arousal and need. I want to scream at him that he can’t call them animals or claim that he wouldn’t hurt me like that, not when he set the whole fucking thing up. But I don’t because I’m barely standing under my own power after his punishment, and I can’t take anymore right now. I would either collapse or combust, and I can’t bear the thought of either. So instead, I look directly ahead, still holding the position he instructed me to until he tells me otherwise, and listen to him speak.
“You are still my wife, Caterina,” Viktor says, some of the dark severity returning to his voice. “There are certain things that I expect from you. There will be consequences if you try to leave me, disobey me, or embarrass me. Theremustbe, for my household to run the way it’s intended. How can I expect my staff or my men to obey me if my own wife will not? How can I expect them to be content when you are given everything, and you still try to run from me?” He’s quiet for a moment. “What I’m doing is for your own protection, Caterina.”
Another rush of resentment and anger runs through me, leaving me quivering under his touch. “I could protect myself,” I hiss. “Wasn’t that the point of those lessons? Or was that all just another sham?”
I bite my lip then, forcing myself not to say anything else, not to make it worse. I can feel Viktor’s hand tensing, pressing against the welts.
“I see your sharp tongue is back.” He steps forward, reaching for my chin and turning my face so that I’m looking at him. I meet his gaze, giving him just a hint of the defiance that I want to throw in his face so badly. “You’ll endure one of my punishments every night, Caterina, until you learn to submit to me. The sooner you come to terms with that, the happier your life with me will be.”
He lets go of my jaw with a jerk, stepping backward. “You can stand up and dress now,” he says casually, reaching for his belt to thread it through his pants. “I’m sure you want to talk to your friends.”
“Am I allowed to go downstairs, then?” It’s difficult to pry my fingers away from the bedpost. My hands and back feel stiff, and I turn away from him, unable to meet his eyes as I gather my clothes up from the floor. I know it could have been so much worse, but I’m burning with resentment as much as unfulfilled need.
Viktor steps up behind me as I reach for my underwear, his hand going to my ass. I freeze in place as his hand slips between my cheeks, across my drenched folds, and I gasp as he slips a finger inside of me, a shock of pleasure rushing over me that makes me feel even more humiliated than before.
I want him to stop. I want him to keep going. Iwant, and I don’t know how to untangle all of it.
He chuckles darkly, pulling his finger free and reaching out with his other hand to tip my chin up so that I’m forced to watch as he licks my arousal from his finger. “Delicious,” he says with a smirk. “You’re so very wet for me. You must need to come so badly.” His hand tightens on my jaw. “Is that true,printsessa?Do you need me to make you come?”
I swallow hard. I know what the penalty will be for lying to him, but I can’t bring myself to admit it. I can’t tell him that the spanking made me want him to fuck me, to debase me even more, to make me beg and writhe and scream for him even while I hate him with every fiber of my being.
“No,” I whisper, and Viktor laughs, slapping my welted ass and making me cry out.
“I’ll remember you lied when it comes time for your punishment tonight.” He strides towards the door, twisting the knob and making me grab my dress and hold it in front of myself, just in case someone happens to be walking by. “Enjoy sitting down at dinner tonight,” he says, his lips twisting in a cruel smile. “I’ll see you then,printsessa.”
And then he walks out, leaving me there.
CATERINA
Sofia and Ana are in the large living room when I come downstairs, sitting by the roaring fire on the sofa with a tea service in front of them. They’re talking quietly when I walk in, trying not to make it evident from the way I’m walking that Viktor just whipped me thoroughly with his belt. It’s bad enough that I can feel the silk of my panties clinging between my thighs, wet and cool against my flushed skin.
“Caterina!” Sofia leaps up from the sofa, setting her cup down and coming around to embrace me gently. I want to sink into her arms and sob, but I manage to avoid doing that, hugging her back instead and then coming to sit next to her as she pours me a cup of tea, forcing myself not to wince. Fortunately, the sofa is very soft, making it easier to sit down normally, but I’m dreading dinner.
Ana is sitting on her other side, her feet tucked up underneath her. I can see her wheelchair folded up next to the sofa, and my chest tightens. I’d hoped that things had gotten easier for her while I was gone, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
I open my mouth to say something, but I’m interrupted by a knock at the door. A pretty girl who looks to be in her early twenties walks in, dressed in a black and white uniform. It’s not revealing at all, but it looks exactly like others that I glimpsed walking in, and I can only guess that she must be part of the staff. I wonder bitterly if she’s one of the girls Viktor has bought, someone like Sasha maybe, that he gave the option of a different kind of job.
“More tea?” the girl asks sweetly, and Sofia nods.
“Thank you, and extra honey and cream as well.” She picks up the tea tray, handing it to the blonde girl. “Thank you,” Sofia says again, and the girl gives a quick nod, her eyes down as she carries it out.
My stomach twists with nausea again. I have no real reason to think the girl is anything other than ordinary household staff, but Viktor has made it so that I can’t help but think the worst of him. After all, why shouldn’t I?
“Are you okay?” Sofia asks gently, her hand covering mine. “Luca told me some of what happened to you. I’m absolutely horrified. But he also said you’re recovering well?”
The sudden insane urge to tell her the truth grips me, what I’d overheard, how certain I am that Viktor staged the entire kidnapping to break me, to make me submit to him, then pretended to care for me and nurse me back to health to earn my loyalty. But I stop just short of actually starting to say the words. I don’t know if she’ll believe me if I tell her. There was a time when I would have felt that I could tell her anything, but she isn’t just my friend. She’s also Luca’s wife, and she has concerns of her own, her own family to manage, and her own place in the hierarchy. I can’t endanger her by telling her something that could cause so many problems. If she believes me, she might tell Luca—and there’s no telling what could come after that. Luca might say that the treaty is more important than saving me from a man who would do such a thing, despite his promises to protect me if Viktor turned out to be dangerous—a thing that could strain their relationship. Or he might break the bargain, and the fallout from that would be severe, too.
I’d been ready to go to Luca when I’d thought that I might be able to escape. But I know that it’s no longer an option. We’re all under his roof, in his safe house that’s practically a fortress, and it’s not safe for any of us.
What Viktor did will remain between the two of us, no matter how much I want it to be otherwise. No matter how much I want to be free.
“I’m getting better,” I manage. “Viktor kept me in the other safe house long enough to let me recover as much as I could before moving me here.”
“I know how hard it is,” Ana says softly from the other side of Sofia. “I still don’t feel like myself, even though the doctors all say the injuries are healing well. I can’t make myself try to walk—” she stops, her voice cracking a little. “You’re braver than I am, Cat,” she finishes with a small smile. “But then again, you always were brave.”
“We all are,” I say firmly. “All three of us.” I glance at Sofia, remembering how she was responsible for Franco’s death. She’d saved herself and Ana and maybe even me too, when she’d faced him down and shot him.
Sofia bites her lip, her hand going to touch her stomach as the blonde girl brings in another tea tray and pours three cups before slipping away. I can see the way she breathes in when her hand smooths over the small bump, and I can tell how frightened she is, even though she’s doing a good job of hiding it.
