Page 56 of Vow to Corrupt You
“Then tell me, how is it?”
Salvatore looks at me for a moment, as if searching for words before the mask of lies and denial drops to the ground with a heavy breath.
“You’re right. I’m avoiding you. I can’t stand it. I am the reason behind your situation.”
“But you’re not.” I rush toward my brother, my hands squeezing his arms.
“You can stop pretending now, Serena. It’s just you and me, and I am your twin. I know how you feel like.” Tears well in the eyes of my younger brother, and it’s breaking my heart. “Even if it’s the last thing I do, I will set you free from this monster you were forced to marry, sister.”
I urge him to stop this nonsense. Even if I still wanted to escape Nikos, I wouldn’t let my brother do something reckless. Dangerous. And we both know anything directed against Nikos Romano is a death sentence. He is the law in Sicily. The king. The God.
“Just answer me this.” His cracking voice snaps me out of my thoughts. A tear drips down his cheek, then another one. “If you had a choice, would you have married him?”
“Well,” I contemplate my words. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t have married Nikos. I mean, how could I marry the man who kept my brother captive and hurt him? Who gave me an ultimatum—my life for my brother’s life. Who left me no choice but to marry him? Whom I knew nothing about, except all the nasty things people were whispering. Despite the hatred and fear I harbored toward him, I definitely wouldn’t have married him, but I won’t tell Salvatore that.
“Just don’t lie to me, Serena. Be honest. If you had a choice, would you still have married that monster?”
“I wouldn’t have married that monster...” I say, a bit frustrated, “as you keep calling him. But that was before.”
“What do you mean?” His brows knit together.
Nervously, I drag my teeth over my lower lip, my chest sinking behind my crossed arms. “I’m not saying it’s the marriage of my dreams, but it could’ve been worse,” I say reluctantly, knowing even if I swear on a cross, my brother won’t believe me. “He’s treating me well. With respect. As a man would treat his woman.”
“I don’t believe you,” Salvatore scoffs.
“I knew you would say that,” I tell him, slightly more irritated now, but I know Salvatore just wants the best for me. I know how much he cares for me. “But it’s true. Despite all the things people say about Nikos, despite all the things he put you through, and I am sorry for that, you have no idea how much,” my forehead creases, “I see the good in him.”
“Do you even hear yourself, Serena?” My brother erupts like a volcano after lying dormant. “I don’t know, hell, I’m not even sure if I want to know the things he did to you, but he brainwashed you.” One thing about my brother, despite being the best brother I could ask for, is that he’s incredibly stubborn and never listens. He thinks he knows best.
“Salvatore, stop!”
He looks at me in a way he’s never looked at me before. As if he doesn’t recognize me. As if he’s disgusted by the sight before his eyes.
“You should go, Serena. Go back to your husband.”
My heart lurches. I was pretty sure it would be this way. I had no doubt that if I showed even a trace of sympathy toward Nikos, my family would hate me. That my twin would feel the same.
They would rather have me suffering under his care so that my hatred for him would grow—just to prove themselves right about him. It would also justify their hatred and thirst for vengeance, rather than accept that he can be a good man too. But he is. To me. I see it more clearly now than ever.
“You’re right. I should go back to my home,” I say, disappointment filling me within. “To my husband, where I obviously belong.”
I sip another glass of prosecco, waiting for Nikos in the dining room. I rarely drink. But today, I hoped that it would help me forget my conversation with my brother. To be fair, I was hoping it would help me erase all the moments from my mind that I let my family use me, manipulate me, and walk all over me. But, sadly, it doesn’t do that. It’s all still there, all the images, all the words screaming in my mind.
The main door opens, and I hear steady footsteps. It must be him. Nikos. I wipe my face with my hands to cool down my rosy cheeks that are the aftermath of a flute of wine. Maybe three.
I rush to greet him at the entrance, but before I get there, he’s already gone. Only his bodyguards are left behind, and they assume their positions on both sides of the door to Nikos’s office.
“I want to see my husband,” I speak as they block my path.
“I’m sorry, Mrs. Romano, but the boss gave us an order not to let anyone in,” one of them says dryly. “Including you.”
Automatically, I take a step back. I don’t understand what happened. Is it because I asked him to touch me? Or perhaps it’s because he got what he wanted—he fucked me—so now he doesn’t have to pretend that we have a real relationship anymore.
Suddenly, Gianna’s words keep ringing in my head. All the things she said about Nikos, his obsession with innocence, or breaking it. Well, now I am not innocent anymore, am I?
My hand reaches for my necklace nervously. I feel so stupid, I wish I could vanish into thin air.
“Let her in.” His voice rumbles through the door, and in an instant, the bodyguards clear the way.
