Page 52 of Villainous
“Villainous. What brings you in here?” She set the paintbrush down onto a palette, and she twirls around to face me. I grab a painting of what looks like Devious and me sitting on a throne.
“Your artwork is amazing.”
“Thank you.” She exhales. “Is everything okay?”
I lean against the wall. “I need advice on getting Maya back.”
“Oh,” she says, and then she straightens her spine like a straight needle.
Devious did a lot of ugly things to her. He confided in me that he locked her in the dungeon after she attempted to kill him, and he told me he forced himself on her too.
“How did you forgive Devious for how he treated you?”
She chews on the inside of her cheek and rubs her forehead. So many emotions swim on her face it’s hard for me to keep up.
“I’m still having a problem with it, to be honest. Sometimes, when we’re lying in bed, watching a show, or he’s holding me, I start to think about how he kept me in the dungeon, and I get all angry again. It’s a process, but I’m still working on it. It’s an internal battle with myself. I know Devious is sorry for all the things he did to me. He tells me all the time. We could be in the middle of dinner, and he’ll kiss me and tell me how sorry he is. But sometimes I feel like I can, and other days it’s a struggle. What have you done to her? And be honest.”
I needed to admit what I did to her in order for Roselyn to get the picture. I regret all those things I did to her. “I locked her in the dungeon and starved her when she was my prisoner. I fucked her against her will, and I made her suck my dick in front of a bunch of men. I did knife play on her, and I made her murder someone, and I denied her orgasms.”
She doesn’t make a facial expression, doesn’t respond. She’s not shocked about the things I did to her. “What was your reasoning for doing all those things?”
“She left me without a word. She abandoned me at a time I needed her. We were high school sweethearts, and she took off without a word.”
She tilts her head to the side like the Leaning Tower. “Does she have a legit reason as to why she left?”
“Yes, she was protecting AJ, our son,” I say, feeling like more of a shithead. What the fuck is wrong with me?
Roselyn eyes me curiously. “If you had known the real reason why she left, would you have done those things to her?”
I stroke my beard and shake my head. “I would have forced her to be with me again.”
“Because you love her?”
I nod. “Of course. I’ve always loved Maya. She’s my first love.”
Roselyn doesn’t say anything for a few moments. “Don’t force her. Let her come to you of her own free will.”
“Bu—”
“No buts.” She wrinkles her nose. “You don’t seem like the groveling type. You don’t strike me as the romantic type like Devious. You can start by telling her you’re sorry, and maybe put in an effort or do something you know she will be grateful for. You need to kiss her ass.” She taps her finger against her chin. “Woo her in the way you know how. Get to know her all over again since you were apart. I’m sure you haven’t known Maya for a while. Ask her if you can start over. Let her see the person she fell in love with again.”
Dread washes over me like a tidal wave. “What if she doesn’t ever take me back?”
“Then you will deserve it. Whatever she does, you deserve it. And if she does take you back, you better spend the rest of your life making it up to her. The road won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth it.” She runs her hand through her strawberry blonde hair. “This might be an odd thing for me to say, but I’m glad Devious forced me to marry him.”
“Why?”
“Because despite me struggling to forgive him sometimes, he’s the only person I love, and when I’m with him, he makes me feel alive. He makes me feel like I’m loved unconditionally.”
I feel that when I’m around Maya. She makes me feel wanted and loved, and I’m so in tune with her I don’t know how to handle it. I’m completely obsessed with her, and I need her like the air I breathe and the water I drink. I can’t keep going on another day without her being mine.
Villainous
The last few days have had a lot of tension. Maya won’t even give me the time of day; she avoids me altogether. When I enter a room and try to speak, she ignores me completely. After all the shit I put her through, I’m not sure she’s ever going to forgive me, but I have to keep trying. I’ll prove to her that I’m sorry for what I’ve done to her.
We sit in a small office overlooking the city. We get a lot of rain during the middle of December, and it’s making me depressed as fuck. Maya sits next to me wearing a rain jacket with denim jeans and a pair of rain boots. I have this ache to reach out and wrap my arms around her and pull her in my lap and kiss her, but I don’t.
She bites her nails as the famiglia lawyer goes over the paperwork for the adoption of AJ. My two soldiers lean against the eggshell wall.
