Page 37 of Vow to Corrupt You
For the next week, I tried to avoid Nikos. It wasn’t hard, considering he’s not around as often. He has to take care of his businesses, both legal and not-so-legal. I was surprised—well, shocked—he actually filled me in on that. He owns several nightclubs, casinos, and an import/export business that apparently serves as fronts for his illegal activities. On top of that, now he has the war with Castros on his mind.
After our last encounter in the shower, I can’t afford to feel like that again. I can’t let him get under my skin, in my mind. So avoiding him, it is.
I spend most of my days wandering around the enormous mansion, admiring its impressive, though dark beauty. It has everything one might possibly need to keep entertained. But I don’t go to the tennis court or the pool or use any of the other amenities. Instead, I situate myself in his library that houses thousands of books. From Greek mythology—the most extensive selection—through art and history to classics like The Great Gatsby or Pride and Prejudice.
Whenever he would finally show up at home, I’d catch him staring at me. Sometimes, he’d watch for hours, making me feel like Beauty being watched by the Beast. He’d watch while I dive into the art books, delving into themes of fallen angels, dark aesthetics, and broken and unsettling statues and forms.
Is this why I am attracted to Nikos on a subconscious level? Because he is broken? Is this darkness and damage in him luring me in like the themes of the fallen?
I’ve always been interested in the broken rather than the perfect. To me, the finest art wasn’t any of the polished and perfected until the last detail, but the unfinished, the damaged.
Perhaps because I am broken inside myself. After my mother abandoned us when I was just a little girl, I was broken into pieces. She took parts of me with her and never returned them. Over the years, the fracture in my soul only grew until it became a void so big I could no longer meld it back together.
The barking of the dogs snaps me out of my reverie. Today I took a break from the library and now find myself in the garden, which must be the only bright place around here. It’s so beautiful, so mythical. Nikos’s love for Greek mythology is seen everywhere, in every detail, even here. In the towering marble columns entwined with ivy, statues of gods and goddesses partially hidden among fragrant olive and laurel trees, or in the shaded stone pathways that lead to a fountain depicting nymphs with vibrant wildflowers, lavender, or myrtle.
I watch the servant with the dogs. It’s that time of day when they let them in the garden to feed and play, and I can’t help but wonder which one of them ate Claudio’s… lost organ. I rid my mind of that thought almost instantly.
I’ve tried to talk to the servants, but they don’t seem too chatty. So instead, I pet the dogs that, at first, I was so afraid of, and now I’m starting to love. They aren’t harmful or dangerous. On the contrary, they love to play or be scratched. It’s hard to imagine they could harm someone, though I know they are killers. I’ve seen how trained they are, and I’ve heard what they’re capable of. But to me, they’re just sweet creatures living by the rules of their dark lord.
Just like me.
Today, finally, marks the first day back at university after the summer break. I couldn’t be happier. Leaving the mansion for several hours a day will be a much-needed respite.
My lectures start late in the afternoon, and Nikos is away overseeing some business transactions, so I have the morning entirely to myself and decide to go see Gianna and Salvatore first.
“Sorella!” Gianna beams at me.
I step inside our—my father’s house—and hug my sister. “It’s so good to be back here. It feels like it’s been several years instead of several days.”
“Serena?” Salvatore’s voice pulls me away from my sister’s embrace. “I didn’t know you were coming.”
After Gianna texted me this morning and mentioned Papà is “at work,” and Caterina and Valeria are at a mall, and I decided it’d be an excellent opportunity to talk to Salvatore. I haven’t had the chance to speak to him since the wedding reception, but even then, it wasn’t the time to have a conversation.
“Are you alone?” He peeks behind me.
“Save for the bodyguards waiting outside and a driver who brought me here, yes.”
I extend my arms toward my brother, and he hesitantly steps closer before we share a hug. “I missed you so much. It’s so good to see you home, safe and sound.”
Salvatore exhales a heavied breath as he moves back a step, his gaze wandering all over the room. “It’s so weird without you here, knowing where you’re at…”
“Hey,” I nudge him, urging him to meet my gaze, but it still resists, focusing on anything but me. “We’re both alive and well, that’s what matters.”
“Are you?” His eyes finally lock with mine, full of resentment, rage, and regret. “You might be alive, but what kind of life is it? And it’s all because of me.”
“I chose to marry him.” I try to wash the guilt off my brother. What’s done is done, and we must learn to live with the new reality. Dwelling on past mistakes will lead us nowhere.
Salvatore scoffs, “You had no choice, Serena. You might keep fooling yourself, but you won’t fool me. I’m your twin brother. I know exactly how you’re feeling.”
He’s right. We do share a special bond. Supposedly, that’s normal for twin siblings. We’ve been together in this life since we were just fetuses in our mother’s womb. He came to this world just eight minutes after me, and we grew up inseparable. We have this unique, strong connection, deep sense of closeness, and mutual understanding where no words are needed. That’s how I knew he was suffering. Blaming himself for my fate. I felt him in my bones.
“You know that day when he came here,” Salvatore continues, “I was here too. In one of the convoy cars.”
“What?”
Both Gianna and I frown at our brother.
“Why would Nikos bring you here without mentioning anything or letting you out?” A hundred possible scenarios run through my head, and yet none seem logical.
