Page 26 of Jealous Vows

Agony lances through my templeswith every shift of the world.

Wait, the world doesn’t shift.My hips hurt from the bar stretched across my midsection, only the bar is warm.And uneven.And moving.

I groan as my senses rush to full alertness.

Romeo carries me over his shoulder like a caveman.My handcuffed wrists bop against his ass with every step he takes.His addicting scent fills my nostrils.Numbness tingles up my legs and arms.Even the rush of adrenaline doesn’t rid my head of the painful pounding.If anything, it makes it worse.

The world upends.Pain streaks up my backside as I land on a hard chair.Romeo squats and closes a metal cuff around my right ankle.He rises.

I lean over and dry heave.It hurts.My stomach is empty.There’s nothing to purge, but my abdominals insist I try harder.

Powerful hands gather my hair and pull me upright.Despite my brain and instincts demanding I escape, I sag against the back of the wooden chair and close my eyes against the bright lights.

“You won’t trick me into pitying you, Sienna,” Romeo warns.

All I can manage is a lame nod.I need water, food, and a week of sleep but know those aren’t available to me.In some twist of fate, I leapt from the pot—my stepmother’s oppression—into the flames—Romeo’s control—and have no way off the stove.Part of me even wonders why I should fight anymore.I saw Valentina andZioMario.

Their indifference hurt worse than I could’ve ever imagined.A knife to the back would be less painful.At least that would be an answer.At least I’d know where I stand in their lives.

As of right now, I’m not sure I mean anything to them.Did they invite me to their wedding so they could prove they don’t give a shit about me?That they’ve overcome the shit my father put them through but don’t need or want me back in their lives?

A sob builds in my chest, but I don’t have the energy to expel it.

My thoughts fragment as the bathroom scene replays in my head.

Romeo attacked me.He hurt and humiliated me.My shoulder aches all the way to the bones and pain pulses from the top of my head down to my fingertips from his bites.My arousal cools on my thighs.Grimacing takes too much effort, so I force my attention away from my body’s betrayal.

He stole my first kiss.What should have been a sweet, mutual experience was instead a hot, hard, overwhelming act of violence and control.Even as sadness and disgust worm through my chest, my core throbs and nipples pebble.

Romeo presses a glass against my palms and wraps my fingers around it.Every cell in my body feels brittle.I want to gulp down the crystal-clear liquid as fast as possible, but my stomach tightens.

He engulfs my hands with his and lifts the glass to my lips.My shaking worsens.Dread coils through me.I force my lips to the rim.Romeo tips the glass.My mouth fills.Even though I know it’s most likely just tap water, my body refuses to listen to reason.Panic grips me.

I can’t force myself to swallow.I can’t spit it out.

I choke.

Water spews everywhere.Romeo curses, pulls the glass out of my grip, yanks my head back, and pours the entire glass onto my face.Liquid fills my mouth and stings the inside of my nostrils.

I retch.He snarls more expletives and stomps away.I brace my forearms on my thighs and suffer another round of dry heaving.My head spins and pulse pounds.I wipe my mouth on the fabric of my skirt and flop backward so I don’t fall out of the chair.

Despite his massive frame, Romeo stalks back on nearly silent feet.

Too exhausted to lift my head, I peer up at him through my lashes.

“I’m sorry.I want to drink, but I can’t,” I croak past my sore throat.

“I know,bambolina.Drink this,” he demands.

With impatient hands, he presses a plastic bottle into my hands.I use my sense of touch to check the seal, but I’m too weak to twist it open.

Powerful hands close around mine and apply the power.I wince at the pain but mutter a quiet thanks before pulling off the cap.

After a few messy sips, life flows back into my body, so I regulate my breathing and finish the entire bottle in measured gulps.

The pounding in my head lessens but doesn’t fully go away.

I flinch as Romeo tosses something at me.A granola bar lands in my lap.I tear it open despite my stiff fingers and eat it with methodical bites.My captor replaces the empty juice bottle with a water bottle.I muster the strength to open it without his help.