"You didn't hit hard enough to scar," he says, snapping me out of my reverie, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. "But she does have some pretty bad bruises."
I expected that. I'm just relived that her beautiful, flawless skin didn't get ravaged by my fucking psychotic episode. I truly don't think I would have been able to live with myself knowing that I scarred her.
"We talked a little last night," Jax says. "She's curious about you. Wants to know why you're…you," he says with a dark chuckle, but I don't find any humor in it. "I told her that it's your story to tell, Luc."
I nod. That's good that he didn't confide in Adeline. I don't need her fucking pity. Just like I don't need Jax's.
"Her father is the one who was beating her, not the fiancé."
"I see," I whisper.
"And it turns out she's in an arranged marriage of sorts. Salvatore is forcing her to marry Giovanni, but I think Adeline actually thinks she could fall in love with the guy, given the circumstances."
Grinding my teeth together, I try to process this new information. No wonder Giovanni had no qualms about selling her. If Salvatore is forcing him into the marriage, he probably doesn't evenlikethe girl, let alone love her.
But Adeline thinks she could fall for him…or has she already fallen?
"How long are you keeping her here, Luc? You can't keep her forever. You know that, don't you?"
I glare at my cousin. "I'm not letting her go." Then I quickly add, "Right now."
His eyes narrow. "All right. I just hope you know what you're doing."
I hate the fact that he's questioning me, but I really hate the fact that I feel like I don't know what the hell I'm doing…about anything anymore, and especially not when it comes to Adeline. "I want her back in her room.Today," I demand.
He gives me a single nod.
I turn on my heel and leave, fuming at the fact that I left Adeline in Jax's room. I don't know why the thought of them together infuriated me so much, but I know deep down my fucked-up brain has already laid claim to her.
She's mine.
And I don't want Jax or anyone else to have her.
This obsession over her is driving me mad. I need to stay the fuck away from her for a while. I can't allow myself to have thesefeelings. It's such a foreign concept that it makes me angry to even think about someone,thisgirl, changing me.
She's under my skin in a way I never knew possible, and the darkness in me is slowly beginning to crack.
But I refuse to let any light into my black soul…even if it makes me a monster and even if it makes her hate me.
CHAPTER 24
ADELINE
IT'S BEEN FIVE dayssince I last saw Lucien, Jackson or had any human contact besides someone slipping in my meals three times a day.
The monotonous routine is messing with my head.
Wake up, shower, eat, nap, eat, pace, eat, go to sleep. Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat. Over and over and over again.
Without TV or so much as a magazine or book, I'm going stir-crazy, and I know this is all part of my punishment. Part ofhisplan.
And the thing is…it's working. I would do almost anything to go back to the way things were before I threw that dinner plate.
I don't know if it's cabin fever, a bout of deep depression, sheer loneliness, Stockholm syndrome or, hell, maybe all of the above, but I…miss him.
But above all else,I need him.
He is my only way out of this tedious regimen he's stuck me in. And at this point, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get him to like me again and to stop punishing me for what I did.
