As the car drove back from the gala, the whole environment was filled
with silence.
I sat in the back seat, my eyes fixed on the stain of Sal Demarco's blood
on my emerald silk.
I know I should have been feeling really sad and maybe crying or trying
to force myself out of the door to get away from a man who had just
swung a life out like it's a chicken.
Instead, I sat there completely cold
"You're too quiet, Bianca," Lucian said, wiping the blood stains off his
hands with a linen handkerchief. "Most women would have been
panicking by now," He said.
"Well, most women weren't sold by their father to a beast," I said, my
voice echoing like it was coming from the bottom of a well.
"And I have also come to realize that in your world, screams are just
background noise, so I would rather save my breath."
He looked at me with a little smirk."Good girl. Breath is a precious commodity. It's no use wasting it on the
dead."
When we got down, we didn't go to the bedroom; instead, Lucian led me
to a private study room at the top of the fortress.
There were lines of ancient leather-bound books and high-tech glass
consoles inside, like the old world and new world were clashing in one
space that smelled of expensive tobacco and ozone.
On the mahogany desk was a single piece of cream-colored parchment
and an ornate silver blade beside it.
"What's this?" I asked, my heart beating. "Is it another debt?"
"No, not at all," Lucian said, coming closer to me.
"This is the truth. The church wedding wasn't real; it was all a
performance for the masses. It's the Vane marriage contract.
And the only law that matters in my world."
I went through the contract slip, which spoke of total submission, and
from the moment the contract got signed, every asset, every breath that Ibreathed, and every sweat that dropped from my skin all belonged to
Vane.
"Sign it," he commanded.
"I don't have a pen," I said in a low voice, even though I knew the
answer.
He gripped my left hand and, using his right hand, picked up the sharp
tip of the blade and pierced it into my ring finger as blood gushed out.
"In my world, ink can be erased, but blood is a permanent record," he
said, his eyes completely locked on mine
He pressed my finger onto the signature line till there was blood on it
He also cut his own finger, and did the same, mixing our blood on the
page together till the names were blurred
"Now, you're truly mine, not because of a priest but because our life is
now bound to the same contract
"But why? Why kill Sal? Why the blood? Why do you still have the
evidence of the hit-and-run? You've already bought me, so why go
through the ritual of a marriage?"Lucian walked towards the large monitor on the wall
"That's because I don't just want a captive Bianca, I want a partner who
hates the right people."
He tapped a button, and a file appeared labeled "PROJECT ORIGIN."
"All your life, you believed your mother died in a car accident and was
hit by a truck driver, while your father mourns her always at home."
"She was," I said. "I attended her funeral and saw her closed casket.
"Open your eyes, Bianca."
The screen showed a video report from ten years ago, not the footage my
dad showed me; there were photos, crime scene shots
My mother was in a Rossi warehouse. She had been beaten. And the
man seen leaving the warehouse with blood on his hands wasn't a
stranger but my father's head of security, acting on orders
"Your mother was about to leave him; she was going to take you along
the Rossi shipping codes, but your dad wasn't willing to let the empire
fall apart
So he handled her the way he had handled the hit-and-run five years ago
He drugged you, framed you up for that, and made sure there was a body
to keep you under his thumb forever
The world blurred in my eyes. Every childhood memory with my dadEvery "I love you" felt like a lie. My entire life has been built on
deception
"And no, I didn't steal you from a good man," Lucian said, looking at me
with burning eyes
"I took you away from a murderer. I waited 10 years for this day, when
the Rossi debt gets high enough for me to strip him of everything he
owes, including you."
I looked at the blood on my finger and looked at the man in my present.
He was a monster, he was a killer, yet the only one who told the truth
"So what do you want from me, Lucian?" I said as a drop of my tears
fell on my cheek
He touched my cheek and caught the tear on his thumb. He didn't wipe it
away; instead, he held it and looked at it like he was holding a diamond.
"I want you to stop playing the victim card and become the Villain. I
was hoping you could take the Rossi empire and burn it to the ground
with me. I want you to be the Queen of the graveyard as I had promised
you."
He picked up my hand and began to walk towards the master suite.
Everywhere was so cool, and for the first time, I felt like I wasn't being
led into danger but led to a throne. On getting inside the room, he lay me
down on the black silk sheets. He stood at the side, unbuttoning his shirt,
eyes staring at mine"
Now that the lies are dead, Bianca," he said, still staring at me
"Let's see if your hate can survive the night or if you've now realized
that the only person you can ever trust in this world ... It's the man who
owns you
He leaned closer, his lips touching mine in a kiss that tasted of blood,
salt, and a terrifying soul-deep surrender