C6 Chapter Six

Once again, I close my eyes and just listen. I stay that way for a few more minutes until my muscles begin to twitch, the adrenaline demanding I do something.I reach for my dress to push it out of the cubby when I hear the bedroom door open.

My breath stops, my body going rigid.

“I know you’re in here, princess.”

My fingers curl into the fabric, making tight fists of tulle and lace. He’s bluffing, trying to draw me out. He doesn’t know I’m here.

Those footsteps, the ones I know will haunt my nightmares, come closer. So close that I know he’s standing outside the closet door.

“If you come out, maybe I’ll go easy on you.” His voice drips with amusement. “Treat you like a princess. How’s that sound?”

Shit. He’s not bluffing. He knows.

My battered heart sinks through the floor, and I want to scream or cry or do anything but stay trapped in this house with this horrible man. But I don’t. I stay silent, hoping something or someone can save me from Massimo Milani.

When I hear the door handle begin to turn, I go cold. My fingers lose feeling, my knees threatening to buckle.

The door swings open, faint light painting the closet as Massimo’s shadow is writ large on the wall beside me.

“Hmm.” He sighs. “Fuck.”

Then he closes the door.

I blink, disbelief filtering through me. It’s a trick. Has to be.

Then I hear his footsteps retreating.

His voice comes through. “She’s not up here. Have the men search the grounds. I’ll check the first floor.” He slams the bedroom door, and his quick footfalls disappear in a matter of moments.

This is it. My chance.

I shove my dress out from my hiding place, then work myself free. I swing open the closet door, not wasting a moment, then hurry to the door to the hallway.

Standing there for a few moments, I press my ear to the door and listen.Nothing. It’s silent again.

I wait a little while longer to be sure and think about how to get out. There has to be more than one staircase leading up here. I just have to find one, get down to the first floor, and either find the kitchen and the knives, or better yet-find a way out. I can do this.

Steeling my nerves, I grip the door handle and turn it slowly so as not to make a sound. Once the latch is free, I take a breath and send a prayer to heaven that I can get out of this alive.

Then I pull the door open and come face to face with the devil.

MASSIMO

I take her throat in my palm and walk her backwards into the bedroom. “Did you truly think you could hide from me, princess? Under my own roof?”She sputters, her hands going to my wrist, but she doesn’t scratch. No. She knows better.

With a hard kick behind me, I slam the door shut. She jolts in my grip. Fear flashes through her eyes. The pure, unadulterated terror I’ve brought out in quite a few people over the years. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it in someone so beautiful, which makes it all the rarer. I want to bathe in her horror, drown myself in her dread. When she whimpers, I get painfully hard.

“Please don’t hurt me.” She pleaded

“Hurt you?” I stop when she bumps against the bed. “Oh,Nina , I’m going to do much more than just hurt you.”

“Please,” she whispers.

I lean closer to her, our breaths mingling as I stare into her hazel eyes. “I like it when you beg.”

She shudders, and I let her go, then reach for the bodice of her dress.

With a hard yank, I rip it in half. She gasps and screams as I keep yanking until the entire ridiculous mess of fabric is lying at her feet. She brings up an arm to cover her breasts and presses her thighs together. But it’s too late. I’ve already seen the white panties , the way she trembles under my violence. It’s intoxicating.

“Take the panties off.” I force myself to step back from her.

Her eyes widen even more, and she shakes her head. “No!”

I reach for my belt and unbuckle it, then draw the leather free and run it through my palm. It will be my pleasure to redden her round ass and show her I’m not the sort of man she should mess with.

Tears well in her eyes as she reaches down, lifting her hands off her breasts leaving open to my view. Shit, she had an amazing body which could control minds . I run the belt through my hand as she did as I have commanded her to do.She stands completely bare before me, tears streaking her cheeks as she shivers.

I stare, taking in every inch of her skin, the way her breathing is ragged, the way she looks at me with open horror. Good. I want her to remember that I’m her nightmare. I’m the creature borne from her family’s violence, and I intend to repay it in kind.

“Get on the bed.” I wrap the belt around my fist.

Her chin begins to tremble, and she shakes her head.

“No?” I step to her, forcing her to crane her neck to look up at me. “You can either do what I tell you, or I will tie you to this bedpost and belt your ass as you scream. Is that what you want?”

With a trembling breath, she shakes her head, more tears escaping.

“Then get on the bed, princess.”

Slowly, agonizingly, she lowers herself to the mattress then scoots back. Her gaze catches on to my pants, on the throbbing traitor that’s begging to come out and play with his new toy.

When she yanks her gaze away and meets my eyes, I smirk. “You’ll get that when you earn it, not before.”

Her dark brows draw together for a split-second, as if she wants to give a retort, but then the fear returns, swamping whatever thoughts might have been swirling in her head.

“Lie back.”

She takes a deep breath, goosebumps rising along her olive skin.