Page 77 of Cardinal

Sputtering in shock, "What about your brother? You're going to ruin him!" Mr. Chau argued.

Scoffing, she looked at Mr. Chau somewhat disgustingly. "What about him? He's not any better than you two. I mean, maybe if you had bothered to teach him how to be a semi-decent person, and if he was a decent person, then I would have spared him." Pulling out a phone from her pocket, she unlocked and opened up an album before sliding the phone to Mr. Chau.

"That's your 'precious golden boy' son right there, head deep in drugs and booze with girls who want his plastic credit card." With a mocking chuckle, she sighed disappointedly, "If he were a decent person, then he would be helping his poor, broke parents out in their time of need."

Breathing deeply, Juliet took my hand and squeezed it. "I have no more business here. I'm ready to burn my past to ashes."

The two of us didn't spare either of them a last look as we turned around and left through the busted doors. "Are you okay?" I asked in a low voice after I opened the car door for her.

"I don't know… Like, yes, but no…" She was exhausted, her words dragging a bit with her slumping shoulders.

Offering a sympathetic smile, I hugged her and kissed her forehead. "It is a huge step for you to completely erase the life you knew before, no matter how horrible, but you are doing it." Leaning back, I looked down at her with a proud and happy smile as I held her face with one hand. "And I am more than proud of you for becoming so strong."

It was somewhat of a sweet moment until my men interrupted, forcing me to begrudgingly remove myself from Juliet. "Mister Agosti, sir, the gas has been poured." One of them informed me.

Nodding at them, I dismissed them and turned my attention back to Juliet after pulling a lighter from my pocket. "Let's torch it and go home," I told her with an impatient smile.

"What? That eager to have me break up with you already?" Even though she was joking, I couldn't help but feel a little panicked. "Luca, I'm not gonna break up with you, so don't have a heart attack." She assured me with a laugh after she saw my face twist in fear.

A malicious grin played on her face as she took the lighter from me and lit it. Her eyes momentarily became mesmerized by the flame before she threw the lighter onto the gasoline stream, setting a fire trail that ran to the mansion and consumed it with a whoosh of heat.

Neither of us said a word while we stood there and watched for a moment and listened to the frantic screams of her ex-parents. Not a peep came from us either on the drive back, and I didn't dare speak up because I wanted Juliet to have her moment. This was a lot for her.

Whenever the subject would be brought up, she would claim to have no care about her parents. But her eyes could never lie. I always saw it, deep down, she had a small inkling left.

Well, it was gone now.

She really—quite literally—burned the bridges to her past life down.

However, I began to worry a little when we made it home, and she was still silent as she got ready for bed. I know it probably has been a long day for Juliet, from giving me the list of men who wronged her, watching me kill the man with my bare hands so cruelly and gruesomely up close like that, to the last confrontation with her ex-parents. It was more than a loaded day.

Unfortunately, a knock at my door pulled me away from my Juliet before I could bring the issue up. "Luciano, don't be going for a quickie. We leave in an hour." Sebastian's voice teased me with a chuckle from the other side of the door.

"Oh stai zitto. I'll be out there in a bit, just saying good night to Juliet real quick." I half shouted back at Sebastian before turning my complete attention to Juliet, who lingered by the window with a black velvet box in her hands.

"Amorina, I have to go out tonight." I didn't want to rush her, but whatever she wanted to tell me would either have to wait or be quick.

My eyes barely caught her hands clenching the long box tightly with her quickening breath. Standing there for a moment, it seemed as if she was deep in thought. I was about to leave her to get ready, but her sudden movement toward me kept my feet rooted.

Standing before me, she looked up at me as she licked her trembling lips. "I…" She stuttered and shut her mouth, clearing her throat. "This might be a lot to ask of you, and I thought about it for a while and tried to deny it. But… I would always round back to it, and it became clear to me after we tried to have our first night." Her fast words shook with her quickening breaths.

This started sounding a lot like a breakup, which did nothing to calm my racing heart in my tense chest. "Juliet, if you are going to end our relationship, then just save us both the torture and say it," I told her point blank, mentally scolding myself for the anger that slipped through.

Her eyes widened, and her head shook furiously. "No! I'm not breaking up with you." The resolution in her eyes assured me enough for some of my nerves to calm. "But you might break up with me." Her shoulders fell heavily as her hands reached for mine, placing the box in them.

Okay, now I was thoroughly confused. I only grew more perplexed upon opening the box. Wordlessly, I picked up the dainty leather collar with my symbol hanging off the center, and on either side of it were the words 'principessa' and 'amorina' etched in faint gold. "You think I am going to break up with you because of a collar?" Paint me stupid if I missed some huge point because no matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn't think of anything.

Needless to say, the next words out of her mouth made me feel like a deer in headlights, followed by the semi-truck crashing into me.

"I want you to rape me."

Chapter 38

Juliet

The aghast expression on Luciano's face scared me, especially when he didn't respond to me calling out to him.

"Luciano." His body jerked away from my touch to his chest as if my hand was on fire.

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