Page 42 of The Casella King

What are you going to do, Aries?

I think hard about what my next move is going to be, knowing well that I cannot possibly take on the Mafia King.Tears of terror threaten to surge through as realisation sets in that there is no out.

There is no returning to who I was before I fucked him covered in blood, before the thrill and rush of taking the King’s power.

What was an innocent marriage of convenience has turned into something I could never have imagined, and the most fucked up part is a part of me didn’t want to leave.

Not for the loss of the lifestyle, or the power, or everything else that comes with being the queen, but the distance I have created between us.

I feel exposed.

Unprotected.

Naked, without him.

I push the feelings down deep into my chest as I watch the cab roll up. I slide into the back. “Drive to the next motel, please,” I say and sink deeper into the seat and let a tear slip through the cracks. Getting into the motel, I lock the door and place a chair underneath the handle as I rest my back on the wall, and my legs give out, the adrenaline dissipating out of my system as I drop to the floor, sobs racking through my body.

Uncertainty taints my thoughts as I obsess about what is going to happen, and I know for a fact Henry has already let Ezra know, and it’s only a matter of time before he finds me. Sliding my knees up to my chest, I wrap my arms around them, barely holding myself together as I face the feelings I’ve tried to suppress bubbling to the surface and sizzling in my chest.

You can’t.

I tell myself the lie which I don’t believe because I know I do.

I love his power, I love his lust, his greed.

I love everything about his darkness.

I don’t know if I’m running because I’m scared of him or scared ofme.

What if he’s right?

What if there is a certain darkness inside me, just begging to be released?

It wasn’t just fear that I felt when I saw Ray, it was fury, and it was all-consuming.

My blood boils, curdles and sets in stone like lava spilling out of a volcano. I clench my jaw so hard I’m surprised I haven’t cracked my teeth in two.

“Where is she?” I growl at Henry at the sight of our empty bed.

He bows his head. “I tried to stop her, but she was too quick,” he says.

I inhale a long breath, trying to quiet my demons and crack my neck from side to side, closing my eyes, focusing on anything but the red-hot rage filling my vision.

“We found her. She’s at a motel just outside the city, sir.” He flinches as I turn, storming out to my Porsche.

I take the steps of the porch three at a time, watching Nico lean against my car, with a cigarette between his lips. His face drops as he takes one look at me. “Whoa, brother.” He raises his hands in front of me. “Just remember, she’s not from our world.” He tries to stop me, and I pull away from his hold. “She’s probably overwhelmed or scared.”

I knew the moment I met her, there was a different side to her, a fiery side, which she conceals, in fear of it overcoming her. She’s more like me than she knows, and I’d be fucking damned if I wasn’t going to show her. Even if she never acknowledges her darkness, I will swallow her up in mine because she is the only one who can make me feel something other than emptiness.

“I’m bringing my wife home, Nico,” I breathe, feeling my breath burn my lungs. “Get the fuck out of my way.” I slip into the driver’s seat and floor it, the tail of the car swirling as I pull out onto the road, watching Nico get smaller and smaller in my rearview mirror.

I reach the motel and ask the receptionist which room Aries had reserved. It doesn’t take much convincing on my part for the receptionist to comply, telling me her room number.

Reaching her room, I see her curtains are drawn. Placing my hand on the doorknob, I twist.

Locked.

To a regular person, there are two ways this could go.

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