Page 32 of Vicious Games

“You should be scared, Aurora. You. Should. Be. Very. Fucking. Scared.”

She raised her hands up, palms out. “Please, just let me go.”

“Never,” I snarled.

I claimed her mouth. I didn’t want to kiss her. I wanted to punish her. I palmed her breast and squeezed as I tasted her fear. Her whimpers finally stopped me. Breaking free, I swiped at my mouth with the back of my hand. “Get out of my sight.”

“I’ll wait for Eleanor outside.”

“The hell you will. Get your ass upstairs and in our bed.”

“Roman—”

“So help me God, Aurora, if you don’t obey me this instant, I won’t be responsible for what happens.”

In that moment, the hollow sound of the front door brass knocker reverberated throughout the house.

Aurora’s eyes widened.

I stormed across the room and shouted over the study threshold to my butler. “Send her the fuck away.”

“But Roman—”

My glare silenced her.

I slammed the study door shut.

We waited in silence until I heard a car driving away.

I turned my back on Aurora and stared at the fire. “Go to bed.”

After a moment’s hesitation, she obeyed. I didn’t worry that she would try to leave again. Her friend Eleanor was a final detail that I had neglected to take care of but would soon. Other than her, Aurora had nowhere to go and no one to turn to. I had taken everything else from her.

She had nothing.

And yet, despite that, I had offered her the world… and she still rejected me.

I took several deep breaths. This was just a minor, unforeseen setback. My pawn had made an unexpected move in the middle of our game. That was all. I would regroup and come up with a new strategy.

Aurora would be my wife.

Even if I had to burn the entire fucking world down around her to make it so.

CHAPTER 14

AURORA

I stared at my reflection in the hallway mirror. Leaning in, I pinched my cheeks to bring some color to my pale complexion. I sighed. There was no hiding. I hadn’t slept a wink last night.

Roman had never come to bed.

I had spent the entire night crying into my pillow. I hadn’t realized how much comfort I drew from his strong presence next to me in bed. Each time I fell into a troubled sleep, I would find myself reaching for his warmth. The moment his strong arms didn’t encircle me, I would wake up and just start crying all over again as I clutched at his pillow, inhaling the lingering scent of his cologne.

Countless times, I had walked to our bedroom door and stopped, my hand on the doorknob. I wanted to go to him. I wanted to tell him I’d changed my mind. I wanted to beg him to propose again, but each time I pulled back. As much as my heart might break now, it would be nothing compared to the devastation I would feel if I had said yes. I knew deep down that I would trap myself in a loveless marriage. No amount of money or security could compensate for the cold desolation I would feel once Roman’s affections turned elsewhere. And they would.

I wasn’t a fool. I was significantly younger than him. Eventually another woman who was older, more sophisticated and accomplished would catch his eye. I would be left a hollowed-out shell.

No, my first answer had been the correct one. I could never marry Roman.

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