Chapter 53

VEDA

Later that night as I headed back to my room, unescorted for once, I watched him as I climbed the stairs to the second floor.

He stood in the main room, talking to the other guy, the one who wore sunglasses all the time. As if he felt my attention on him, Luca suddenly stopped speaking, his head snapping up and his eyes locking on mine. His head tilted slightly to the side, and he slid his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. The other guy took up the conversation, but he may as well have been talking to the wall.

I found myself a prisoner of that intense stare. My breath caught in my chest, and I stumbled, catching myself just in time with a hand on the railing. Heat crept up my neck and into my face, and I shot him a dirty look. I caught a smile teasing the corners of his mouth before I looked away.

"Veda."

I stopped where I was at the sound of my name, one hand hanging onto the railing and my eyes on the step in front of me.

"Tomorrow, I'll take you shopping to get you a few things until we can bring in a personal shopper."

Taken by surprise, I looked down at him, feeling small despite my greater height. "Why can't Lisa take me?"

"Lisa has other things to do."

I waited for him to say more, but he didn't. Just pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms over his chest as he went back to his discussion with Sunglasses.

Dismissed, I tried not to stare at the way his arms bulged with muscle beneath the short sleeves of his T-shirt. Or the way my body reacted to the sight of him, all mature confidence with a healthy serving of pure arrogance.

I made it to my room without any further mishaps, locking the door behind me. But once inside, I took one look at the grimy bed I'd been living in for the past two weeks and marched into the bathroom to get my toothbrush.

He'd said he had, like, five spare rooms or something ridiculous, right? Surely, there was another one available for me to use.

On the other side of the second floor, I found two more rooms, one with a balcony and one without. I chose the balcony room, even though the decor wasn't as girly, mostly blues and browns. Brushing my teeth, I crawled into the clean bed, feeling only the slightest bit of guilt at leaving the other room so disgusting. I didn't think I'd be able to sleep, but to my surprise, I soon felt myself drifting off, my belly comfortably full for the first time in weeks.

I don't know what time it was when I was jolted from a dream. No, not a dream, a nightmare. My sister, her legs broken at strange angles and her jaw hanging crooked, chased me down a rural road. She was calling my name. Begging me to help her. But I was too scared. That thing…it wasn’t my sister. And no matter how fast I ran, she was always there, right behind me. Sucking in a breath, I prepared to scream as I felt arms slide around me.

"Shhhh...it's just me."

I was lifted from the bed and cradled against a hard chest. In my semiconscious state, I smelled laundry soap and dark spice. I immediately stopped struggling, my eyes flying to his face as I struggled to slow my breathing, barely lit by the soft light coming in through the open door. He didn't look happy he'd found me.

"Jesus fucking Christ, Veda. I thought you were gone."

Where the hell would I go? According to him, I'd get shot, or worse—bitten by a snake, the moment I stepped foot outside the door. "Put me down."

He wouldn't look at me, but I could tell he was pissed from the way his jaw was clenched so hard the muscles jumped in his cheeks as he took me from the room.

"Where are you taking me?" No response. "Dammit, Luca. Put me down!" Tired of his manhandling me, I started to struggle again, landing a good backfist to his mouth before he tossed me up in his arms and threw me over his shoulder, holding down my legs so I couldn't kick him.

My hands, however, were free.

Balling them up into fists, I let loose on him, landing punches everywhere I could. "Put. Me. DOWN!" Why the hell didn't I lock my bedroom door?

He didn't so much as flinch as he strode down the hall with me pounding on his back. Less than a minute later, he threw me onto his bed. I landed on my back, bouncing once, and I was back on my feet. But I didn't make it two feet before he stopped me with a hand gripping my jaw, forcing me to look at him.

"I thought you were gone," he repeated through his clenched teeth.

I stared up at him, mutinous, my hands around his wrist as I tried, and failed, to pull his hand from my face.

"I thought someone found out about you. I thought they came in here and fucking took you, Veda." Anger darkened his blue eyes to a stormy gray.

"You're hurting me," I gritted out.

He stared at me hard, his chest rising and falling as though he'd just beaten the hell out of that punching bag downstairs. But after a moment, he released me and backed up a step, resting his hands on his narrow hips as he took a deep breath. He didn't offer me an apology for all the manhandling, but I really didn't expect one.

Without a word, I turned and walked away.

"Where the fuck are you going?"

I didn't stop. "Back to my room."

He was in front of me before I could make it to the door he'd kicked closed when he’d brought me in here. "No."

"No?" Was this guy fucking kidding me? "No," I repeated. Then I just shook my head. "Get out of my way, Luca."

"No. You're staying here. With me."

"Why?" You didn't want me. You left me.

He drew back, like that was the last question he'd expected to hear. Then his eyes narrowed on me. "Because I said so."

"Now you sound like my mother. Or my father. Depending on how horrendous my crime was at the time."

"I don't care who I sound like. I’m done letting you mope. You're staying in here from now on."

I crossed my arms over my chest, tilting my head as I studied him, trying to gauge his mood. His eyes dropped to my braless chest, my breasts pushed up from my arms, before rising back to my face. I left them there. Let him fucking look. “Give me a good reason why," I pushed him. "There are plenty of spare rooms in this giant house. And absolutely no reason at all I should stay in this one. With you."

"Other than the fact that I said this is where you'll be sleeping. With me," he emphasized.

Oh, my god. There was no reasoning with this guy. Again, I tried to walk around him. Only this time, when he stuck out an arm to stop me, I batted it away and kept going. My hand was on the door handle when he spun me around and pressed me back against the door, holding me there with his body.

I could feel the hard length of him against my stomach as he gently kissed my face where his hand had gripped me. My pulse picked up as my blood rushed through my veins, the muscles low in my stomach clenching. As though he could sense my reaction to him, he pressed his lips against the artery in my throat. And at that moment, I wouldn't have been surprised in the least if I suddenly felt fangs sink deep into my flesh.

"Stay with me," he commanded.

Chills ran down my spine as his deep voice vibrated against my throat. My legs went weak, and moisture pooled between my thighs. I was weak. God, I was so weak. I couldn't control the way my body reacted to him. But I could control what I did about it. Shaking my head, I said, "No," proud that my voice came out strong and steady.

He stilled, then pulled back until he could look at me. "I'm not asking, Veda."

His big body surrounded me, a hand on either side of my head, caging me in. I felt his heart beat fast and hard beneath my palms where they lay flat against his warm chest. A flair of panic shot through me. "So, it's rape, then? I thought you didn't do that?"

"I wouldn't have to," he told me, and I wanted to slap the cocky smirk from his face, even though he was right. It wouldn't take much to convince me to let him fuck me. However, after what had happened last time…yeah, no. He’d rejected me in more ways than one that night. There was no way in hell I would give him the chance to do it again, no matter how much I wanted it. This was a game I wouldn’t win, and I knew it.

This man had taken my life from me, but I refused to give him my body.

We stayed deadlocked for a long time, or perhaps it just felt like an eternity as my traitorous body warred with my mind. It's nothing but a bad case of Stockholm syndrome, I told myself. I should feel nothing but pure loathing for this man. Yet, here I was, lusting after him like a mare in heat, even though I knew that giving myself to him would break me to a point I wouldn’t be able to put myself back together again.

Finally, he pushed off the door and took a step back, his blue eyes like burning steel as they locked onto my face. Quickly, before he changed his mind, I turned and yanked open the door.

As I hurried down the hall, I heard him on the phone. "Enzo, I need you to stand guard outside of the blue bedroom with the balcony. Veda is sleeping in there." A pause. "No, she can go wherever she wants, just...keep an eye on her. Thank you."

I heard his door shut none too quietly, and then I was around the corner and heading down the opposite hall to my new room. Somehow, I managed to hold in the sobs until I was alone in the big, empty room.