Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38723 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38723 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
How had I never noticed?
“Is it true?” I demanded of her before I could hold the words in. My own face firmed into forbidding lines. “You’ve been—”
“Don’t talk to my wife!” Dante thundered, cutting me off before I could demand answers from her.
She cringed at his outburst, and he stroked her spine again, soothing.
“I’m not angry with you,” he promised her. “Luca needs to learn to mind his tongue, or Gabriele will lose his.”
My fists flexed beneath the table, and I clamped my mouth shut.
Dante cut into his steak and picked up a bite sized piece, lifting it to Nora’s mouth.
“Open up, pet,” he cajoled.
She shot me a shy glance, her cheeks flushing a deeper shade of pink. She was embarrassed for me to watch him feed her like she truly was his pet.
But if she was looking to me to help her avoid eating, she was mistaken. If I’d been free to do as I wished, I would have fed her from my own hand.
I’d been careless with my wife, every bit as self-centered as Dante had said.
But if our positions were reversed, I would’ve done whatever it took to ensure she was safe and healthy. And although I didn’t possess Dante’s sadistic streak, I could be a controlling bastard when I was intent on getting what I wanted. I would’ve bent her too-thin body over the table and spanked her if that was what it took to get her to eat.
“Remember what happened the last time you refused,” he reminded her sternly.
What had he done to her?
Whatever it was, the memory of it made Nora drop her eyes and part her lips, accepting the food from his fingers.
I felt like I was a voyeur watching something perverse. Because if she’d submitted to me like that, I would’ve fucked her hard and given her an orgasm in reward for her good behavior.
Loathing for Dante burned with the molten heat of a small sun in the center of my chest. He’d taken my wife from me. He was holding her and caring for her in the way I should’ve done from the very beginning of our marriage if I hadn’t been so preoccupied with securing my birthright.
Instead, I’d taken what I wanted from her on our wedding night and forced birth control on her to suit my own needs and desires. She’d told me that she hated me for it.
Dante had accused me of raping her. It wasn’t true.
It couldn’t be. I wasn’t that much of a monster.
Not like him.
My stomach twisted, but I would have to eat something. I had to keep my strength up, and already it’d been more than a day since my last meal.
I looked down at my place setting and found that I hadn’t been provided with a knife and fork.
It seemed Dante was sparing me from temptation.
So, I’d have to eat with my hands like some kind of beast, yet another humiliation on top of everything he’d already done to me.
As I watched him feed Nora, regret gnawed at my insides, making me feel sicker than ever. The food I forced down tasted like ashes.
It was too late to go back. I couldn’t undo the unforgivable way I’d treated Nora when I’d forced her to marry me. I couldn’t try to ensure her wellbeing simply because I genuinely cared about her happiness more than my own.
As long as he had my friends as his hostages, there was nothing I could do against him. Nothing I could do to save Nora from him.
We were Dante’s playthings now.
Chapter 7
Nora
Luca spent the night in his cell, and once again, I slept in the monster’s arms. Dante had Luca brought up to the dining room to witness my humiliation as he fed me breakfast and dinner. In the hours between, I’d tried to lose myself in my favorite romance novel. But the fictional world couldn’t hold my attention, and mostly, my mind drifted.
I’d been expressly forbidden to go down and visit Luca again while Dante was away taking care of business. I hadn’t dared defy him. Not so soon after that awful punishment. The belt had left bruises on my bottom, but otherwise, my body was unharmed.
But my soul… I wasn’t sure how much more I could take without shattering again.
I expected Dante to return Luca to his cell after dinner, but my stomach dropped when he led us both into his perverted dungeon instead.
My feet stalled out at the threshold, and Luca bumped into my back. I leaned into his strong body, seeking the comfort of his embrace.
Dante turned to me with a frown and tightened his grip on my hand, tugging me toward him instead.
“Didn’t you hurt me enough yesterday?” I challenged, straightening my spine and allowing my gaze to clash with his.
His frown melted away, and he caressed my cheek. “Nothing I do to you today will cause you pain,” he said with the weight of an oath. “We’re going to test Luca’s obedience.”