Chapter 3

Eliana:

I woke up to freezing cold water being splashed on my face, startling me.

My body was bruised from being beaten, and I wasn’t surprised with the way I was woken up. Lorenzo has been making sure to make me suffer in every possible way, and him waking me with a freezing bucket of water was the last thing I now worried about.

“Drink” he ordered throwing a plate of soup in front of me. I glared at the plate for a second before grabbing it and taking a sip of whatever he had for me. I knew that I needed to survive for Vladimir’s sake. If I was sent here; it was because my beloved trusted my intuition.

I was thankful that the man was decent enough not to sexually abuse me despite my ripped clothes. He believed that I was too ‘tainted’ for his men to touch me, and being thankful for that; I didn’t bother answering him.

“How many times am I to explain to you that I had nothing to do with my mum’s death? Bloody hell, if I married Vladimir, it was to keep her safe!” I said following my and Vladimir’s plan. The man had to believe that I hated living with Vladimir and that our big love story was nothing but an act. However, in order to do that, I needed to convince him.

I was whipped before I could say another word, dropping the bowl to the ground making it splash all over the place. The hot liquid hit my leg, burning it, but I fought to stay in place as not to give Lorenzo the satisfaction of seeing me in pain.

“I am no idiot to fall for whatever tricks you’re trying to pull” Lorenzo said glaring at me. His eyes met mine and I had to fight back tears as he pulled my hair to force me to look at him “choose a different man to play your tricks on”

“I am not pulling any tricks, Lorenzo” I said once he let my hair go “I have no tricks to pull on you, as you can see; you bloody have me captive here. My husband is who sold me to you”

“And yet, you still call him husband”

“He’s legally my husband” I said avoiding his eyes. Remembering Vladimir’s word; I needed to stay calm, controlled, and disciplined. The more he sees that, the easier things would be on me.

He went to hit me with the whip, only this time, I grabbed it, stopping him before it hit my face. Wrapping the rope around my wrist, I pulled him down to me. I had to thank Viktor and Vladimir for teaching me how to do so. The men wouldn’t send me here until they were a hundred percent sure that I could handle what was to come.

I pulled the whip toward me, pulling Lorenzo as I took him by surprise. His eyes met mine, widening in surprise at my sudden movement before I threw the whip to the side “don’t you dare think that me submitting is because I can do nothing about it. If I’m quiet, it’s because I’m trying to get you to listen…”

He slapped me before I could complete my sentence, bruising my cheek. My vision blurred as my head hit the wall beside me. I knew that my temple must have been bleeding. The feeling of it being torn only made the feeling worse.

“Try a stunt like that again, and I’ll be sure to cut your hand off”

***********************

I bit my bottom lip as I fought the scream that threatened to escape my mouth as Lorenzo’s men whipped my back.

He watched in silence as they did. Taking turns one by one. It annoyed him that I was yet to give in to his questioning. Closing my eyes, tears fell from them as I fought to endure the burning pain. I knew that my back was probably ripped as each whip stroke me, cutting my skin. My hands shook as I clenched my fists, pulling on the restrains that now held me.

“Enough” Lorenzo said once he saw that I was about to pass out. The door was slammed shut before the restrains in my hands were loosened. My legs couldn’t hold me up, and I was surprised by Lorenzo wrapping his arm around me, laying me down gently.

“You should thank your mother for my sympathy. You would have been dead a long time ago if it wasn’t for my love and respect for her” Lorenzo said helping me sit up. His eyes met my own, and though it was hard holding them open; I did my best to keep my eyes on his.

“A man that loves and respects his lover would never abuse her daughter” I said laying my head back against the wall. My eyes started rolling to the back of my head, and had it not been for Lorenzo placing a napkin in front of my nose, a scented one, snapping some senses back into my mind; I would have been out of it.

“A woman who has been with the family who killed her mother has never been her daughter to begin with” Lorenzo said placing his finger under my chin “and your lies wouldn’t work, Eliana Romanov, there’s no need to try giving me more of them”

“I never lied. Viktor killed them both even before the two of us officially met” I said closing my eyes as my back burned with each move I made “when he returned to the Estate, they were already dead. I couldn’t go against him unless I wanted to risk getting killed, and me getting killed would have let their bloods go in vain”

Funny part about this story, mum wanted me to dead anyway. She was even willing to help Viktor kill me before we found out that we were on the same side. Having killed her, the man only saved me from dying “anyhow, as you said, my words wouldn’t make a difference to you. Therefore, if you’re done beating me up, I would like to rest”

“The maids will come down in a bit. They will help you get your wounds cleaned then you’d be settled in your new room” Lorenzo said making me frown in confusion “don’t mistake this to me trusting you. However, I can make use of you being here. If anyone knew the Romanov family; it would be you, and I’m guessing that you aren’t as stupid as not to give me what I want when I’ve asked for it”

“And what’s in it for me?” I asked testing my waters “why would I be helping you?”

“You have no other choice” he winked before getting up “try to stay awake. They’ll be coming shortly”