Page 48 of Stolen Seconds

“I never predicted you as a liar.” He strode toward me and before I could step back, he pulled me to him by the collar. “Not only is this disgusting jacket too big on you, but I recall these same initials when I’d met him.”

A heavy weight settled over me and I breathed through my nose to calm myself down. I hadn’t been thinking when I’d grabbed it this morning.

“Are you screwing him?”

“No!”

“Isn’t that all you're good for, anyway? Spreading yourself like a whore to serve the Bratva.”

My fist slammed against his face, a sharp pain shooting from my knuckles and up my arm from the force of it.

“If I whored myself out, so did you,” I seethed, bubbling rage burning inside me. “Yet, you’re still at the fucking bottom like you’ve always been.”

Viktor would never retaliate and hit me. He knew if my father found out, his death would be on display for the others to see—to understand the consequences of disrespecting his daughter.

He sneered, wiping the blood from his nose. “By all means, princess, do what you have to do in order to complete your mission.” Then he laughed sardonically. “We all know how you use that pretty face of yours to your advantage, anyway.”

His words sliced through me, coiling deep in my stomach, and it couldn’t have hurt worse than if he’d actually hit me.

He was wrong.

I glared at him, my jaw aching from clenching my teeth. It was useless arguing with him because at the end of the day, we both knew he was right, and I hated it.I hated myself.

As I walked away from him, I let that hollowness inside my chest cave, allowing my emotions to be swallowed by the putrid hole there.

Nightfall had come, and I had been walking the streets of Italy aimlessly, pondering over every single nuisance in my life.

Viktor’s visit had been my breaking point, and my mind wouldn’t shut down.

I needed to breathe, the noose around my neck becoming tighter with every passing minute.

I needed a high to ease the discomfort of being in my own skin.

A nearby pub came into view and I didn’t hesitate as I walked inside the small tavern. This was going to end badly, but I needed a release in the only way I knew how.

Taking a seat on a stool, I signaled to the bartender.

I didn’t count how many shots I let burn down my throat, but I drank until my thoughts were a jumbled mess, worse than they were before, but at least a simmering numbness coated me thoroughly.

A pretty face. A pretty body. All you’re good for.

I shook my head, my vision blurring and mind hazy.

Nicolai will never accept you.

You’re a liar.

Aurora will hate you.

Roman will hate you.

Luca is playing with you.

Luca.

My heart squeezed from the onslaught of agonizing thoughts, and I gasped from the pain.

I’d been feeding into Luca’s delusions. He only wanted me because he couldn’t have me. I was a game to him, the first woman who hadn’t fallen for his charms.And he knew which pieces to move until I was right where he wanted me.

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