Nostrils flaring, I open the door and slip outside, slamming it a little too loud behind me. Fear beats through my chest for a second, but so what if he heard? Let him see I won’t be subjected to his stupid games.
He doesn’t turn to face me. Not immediately. Yet I don’t fail to notice the way his eyes lift from the phone’s screen.
I cross my arms, and in the next moment, he’s mere inches away from my face.
My breath leaves my body the moment his hand wraps around my neck and pulls me closer to him. His warm fingers dig into my skin, squeezing a little until I’m wide-eyed and snaking my own hand around his.
Not because I want it to stop, I realize in horror. But because something passes through me, like a shockwave, like a thrill of sorts. And when he hums in agreement with that vibrating voice of his—as if he knows exactly what he’s doing to me—another,more shameful part of me responds. And it wants… it wants… I don’t know what it is, but it’s all I can feel right now.
What the hell is this?
“Oh, love…” He flashes a cunning, knowing smile as I pulse beneath his grip, in terror or in need—or maybe both.
He watches the reaction my body displays for him and I wonder what it looks like from his point of view. I hate showing him I’m this weak.
“I told you to wait, didn’t I? Actions have consequences. And your little outbursts so far aren’t helping you.”
“Myoutbursts?” I raise my eyebrows, anger flaring through me. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you think I’d make this easy for you after what you’ve done? Am I supposed to pretend I like being around you because you can’t stomach the truth,Wolfgang? And what the hell kind of name is that, anyway? Aren’t you supposed to be Russian, like the rest of your—”
“There you are,” he says, squeezing a little tighter. “I was wondering when you’d bite back. Let me tell you how this is going to go between us. And for your own sake, I hope you’re paying attention, because I will not repeat myself. Do you understand?”
I nod as best I can, my pulse hammering.
“The only reason you’re still alive right now is because I allow it. Everything you are, and everything you hoped you’d be oneday… all of it is mine. I don’t need you to pretend you like being here because, frankly, I don’t give a fuck. You will stay, and you will obey me, and that will be your life until the day I die.”
His grip relaxes, and it’s enough to grant me a short inhale before he squeezes again. That same thrill flutters through my body. “Do not anger me, Victoria, because I promise you, you’re not prepared to see me like that. Against me, you will lose. Every. Single. Time. That clear?”
I mumble the words I want to say, but they barely come out. He retracts his hand, making me choke as I draw more air into my lungs.
“What’s that, love?”
“I said…” I cough again. “Fuck. You.”
A low chuckle comes with a smirk as he dusts himself off and turns toward the house, sparing me one more glance.
“Breaking you is going to be fun.”
6
WOLFGANG
Victoria’s sobbing reaches my ears even through the thick wooden door of the new room I locked her in. I expected this to happen and, in fact, I thought she'd break much sooner than this. But she waited until she thought she was alone to finally feel the weight of what happened.
Her cry is deep, sorrowful,pained. The kind of cry a good man would do anything in his power to stop by barging in there and cradling her in his arms.
But I’m no good man, and I won’t let it get to me.
I worked too hard to secure my position in this family. And even now, when I carry the responsibility of our legacy on my shoulders, I still sleep with one eye open. I will for the rest of my life. Because I wasn’t lying when I told Victoria we were surrounded by monsters in this house.
They all want something from me, and now that she’s mine, I know for a fact they will try to mess with my plans.
My half-brother wants my crown.
His mother—the woman my father married after my own mother died—has made it her life’s goal to make that happen. It started when I was five, and it granted me more trauma than any kid could handle.
To this day, there are times when I wake up wanting to tear my clothes off because they remind me of the snakes, of the rats crawling around the basement she used to lock me in.
No one knew about it. Not my father, who was away or unavailable, especially after Mother’s death, nor the old housekeepers, before Corinne was employed. The cunt made sure to ambush me when no one was around.
