Chapter 19 BABY GIRL.
\~~~RAINA.
I enter the room, breathing out in relief.
After the statement Luciano made in the car, neither Gabriel nor I said a word again until we arrived home.
Gabriel practically flew out of the car, rushing around to open my door like someone being chased by the judgment day itself.
“Sleep well, Madam,” he said, bowing before sprinting away like his soul was on fire.
Luciano stayed back in the car, and I didn’t need anyone to tell me that Gabriel was going to hear the scolding of his lifetime… or would be receiving punishment later.
Just like I probably will tonight.
I drop my bag and catch my reflection in the mirror.
My makeup hasn’t cracked, not a smudge, and definitely not one tiny crease.
How am I suddenly liking it when I hated it hours ago?
Groaning, I drag my hand to the back of my dress, fingers fumbling to find the cursed rope of this demon corset while I walk into the closet.
“God, what kind of war am I going to encounter tonight just to untie a stupid rope?”
I twist, turn, bend, and struggle, but nothing. The rope doesn’t budge and now my arms ache.
“I swear this thing is bewitched,” I mutter under my breath. “How do people breathe with this nonsense?”
As if summoned by my suffering, I suddenly hear the soft, heavy click of the bedroom door, and my entire body stills.
Oh, great.
The war isn’t the corset, the real war has just arrived.
Luciano steps inside the closet, the sound of his shoes slow and deliberate against the floor. He didn’t speak or rush. He just watches me struggling, twisting, and hissing at the rope like a lunatic while he leans against the doorway with that unreadable expression that could either mean amused or murderous.
Or both.
My heart drops to my stomach.
Oh God.
Here we go again.
I ignored him for as long as I could, trying to untie the rope, before I suddenly felt him covering the space between us.
Maybe this is the night he will beat me, or kill me, in fact.
I have done not just one thing to rile him up right.
“I feel like we can talk this out like two adults,” I say, my voice tight, still refusing to turn around.
There was silence, and no movement or reaction.
Nothing gives me a clue about what mood this man is currently in.
Instead, his hands drop onto my shoulders and I freeze instantly.
Is he going to strangle me to death?
Here, in the closet?
At least let me wash off this makeup first so I don’t die looking like this.
His palms are firm, warm, steady and the weight of his touch sends a shiver straight down my spine.
He isn't squeezing or hurting me.
But the absolute control in the way he holds me still?
God, it is worse.
He leans in, his breath brushing the back of my neck.
“What do you think I am going to do to you tonight?” he asked me, his voice low.
My throat tightened and I shook my head
I swallow hard, holding the edge of the closet shelf like it might protect me from him.
I didn’t answer him and suddenly decided to play deaf and dumb, hoping he would let me be.
But he doesn’t.
Instead, I feel the first gentle tug at the corset rope.
The tension around my ribs releases, slow and deliberate, and a wave of relief breaks over me.
A soft moan slips out before I can stop it.
“What do you think you deserve tonight?” he asks again, his voice low, and soft.
He keeps loosening the corset, each pull slow, and precise.
His fingertip brushes the bare skin of my back, and my breath stutters.
I swallow hard, barely able to push the words out.
“To be punished.”
“Good girl, now we are starting to think alike,” he whispered, his breath brushing the curve of my ear.
My hands curled into fists instantly, my knuckles whitening.
“What had I told you before we entered?”
His voice was quiet and it was the kind that meant trouble.
What did he tell me?
My mind scrambled. Fuck, panic always made me forget the simplest things.
Then it clicked.
“To be on my best behavior,” I breathed out.
“Good.”
His fingers trailed down the loosened laces, grazing my spine in a way that felt intentional.
“And do you think you were in your best behavior right there, Solnishko?”
This should be where I beg, right?
Where I fall apart and promise I’ll never do it again?
But I can’t even turn. I can’t even look at him.
He finishes loosening the last knot, and suddenly the corset is being held up by nothing but my grip. One slip and it will fall, leaving nothing between my bare body and his gaze.
I clutch the rope tightly to my chest, my heart pounding so loudly that I am afraid he can hear it.
“Luciano…” I whisper, not knowing if it is a plea or a warning.
But Luciano is not done.
His fingers brush gently against mine before pushing my hands off the corset entirely. My grip fails, and the rope falls with a soft whoosh, leaving me naked beneath his calculated gaze.
I swallow hard, my chest rising and falling faster than usual, and I feel the heat crawl up my neck.
“Look at me,” he said softly.
“Now, baby girl.”
Closing my eyes for a second, I turned around to look at the man who stood hugely before me, my fist folded into tight balls.
I slowly raised my eyes to look at him, and he was staring at me too.
His eyes held no emotion. There was neither anger, nor pleasure.
His gaze flickers over my face, taking in every twitch, every breath and then it trails downward, slow and deliberate, until it lands on my breasts.
Heat slams through me and my throat closes.
If this night passes…
I swear I am going to commit suicide.