Chapter 20 THE BAD SIDE OF LOVE
Ginnie
“Varkos?” Kenna’s voice cut through the door, edged with suspicion. “Open the door.”
Every instinct in me screamed to run—but Varkos’s body towering over mine wouldn’t let me, there was nowhere to go. Not while I was still naked under him.
Varkos straightened slowly, rolling his shoulders as if he wasn’t bothered about any of this. Before I could part my lips to speak, his hand covered my mouth.
“Don’t,” he murmured, “not a sound from you unless you want her to know exactly where you are.”
Then he stood up, turning towards the door with an expression that was more of irritation rather than fear.
“I said open the door,” Kenna’s voice thundered across the door, louder this time.
“No,” Varkos replied calmly.
There was a bit of silence on the other side of the door. “…No?” Kenna repeated, annoyance dripping from her tone, “What do you mean no?”
“I’m busy right now,” Varkos replied coldly. “Give me some time and I’ll be with you shortly.”
“Busy?” Kenna scoffed. “With what, exactly? How the hell can you be too busy to see your future Luna?” I could hear her sharp inhale through the door as she spoke, “I am your fiancée for heaven’s sake. You don’t get to treat me whatever way you damn fit.”
“If you don’t open this door right now—”
“I said I’m busy!” Varkos’s voice echoed across the room, authority rolling off him in heavy waves. “Leave. I will be with you shortly.”
The silence that followed was heavy, then footsteps as Kenna began to retreat down the corridor, each step screaming her rage.
I moved fast, my hands shaking as I began to pull my dress back on. What the hell were you thinking, Ginnie! This had been a massive mistake.
Shit!
I finished dressing, my heart still pounding loudly in my ears as I turned towards the door, every nerve screaming to leave—to get away, to put as much distance between Varkos and me as possible.
Before my hand could grip the door knob, his hand shot out. Fingers locked around my arm, iron-tight, stopping me mid-step. “We’re not done,” Varkos said quietly.
I struggled against his grip, panic clawing its way all the way to my throat, “Let go of me!”
“And what if I don’t?” He stepped closer, his grip tightening just enough to remind me exactly who held the power here. “You should thank your stars,” he whispered close to my ears, his voice low and dangerous, “that Kenna interrupted, because next time…we will finish this.”
“There will never be a next time,” I snapped, yanking my arm free as he finally loosened his grip. For a moment, his gaze lingered on me, then he stepped back.
“Leave,” he said coldly.
I didn’t hesitate and began to walk out of his bedroom, every step feeling heavier than the last. I barely made it halfway down the hall when the thoughts all hit me at once.
Kenna almost caught us.
If she had—
I didn’t even want to think of what would have happened. I was furious with myself, so mad that I had let myself melt into Varkos easily, I should have pushed him away and slapped him.
“How stupid can you be, Ginnie,” I muttered to myself, shame burning hot beneath my skin. I turned a corner leading to the staff quarters, when suddenly—
A hand grabbed me hard and spun me around.
CRACK!
Pain exploded hard across my face before I could part my lips to speak, My head snapped to the side instantly, stars bursting behind my eyes as I staggered back with a sharp gasp.
“What the hell—”
My vision cleared just enough to see her.
Kenna.
“Where were you coming from?” she demanded sharply, her lips curled in disgust. “Hmm?”
I pressed a hand to my face where my cheek burned from the slap, still rattled by the shock of it. “I…I was working,” I said quickly, “I was just—”
“Don’t lie to me,” she hissed, stepping closer until there was no inch of space between us. “You’re just coming from his room, right?”
Fuck!
“I’m not coming from his room,” I forced the words out before they would betray me. “Varkos only decides when I clean his chambers…and he hasn’t called me to do so today.”
A bitter laughter escapes through Kenna. “You little bitch,” she spat, her voice dropping into something vicious, “So you want to seduce him right? Crawl into his bed and steal what’s mine?”
“That’s not what happened,” I said desperately. “I would never—”
“Shut up!” she snapped.
Her hand lifted again, and I closed my eyes, bracing myself for more pain much worse than the other. But it never came because another hand caught hers mid-air.
My heart nearly stopped as I opened my eyes to see a familiar figure standing between us. Varkos. His grip was iron-tight around her wrist as Kenna’s eyes widened slowly as she turned her head.
“How dare you touch her?” He growled, nothing funny about the tone of his voice now.
Kenna stared at him in disbelief. “Varkos—”
“She is my personal slave,” he cut her off before she could finish, “and only I get to decide whatever I want to do with her!” His voice thundered across the hallway.
“She’s a whore,” Kenna spat, her face twisted with fury. “She’s trying to—“
“I don’t care about what you think of her,” Varkos stepped closer. “But you do not lay a hand on what is mine. You do not dare question my authority…neither do you have any right to punish what belongs to me. Only I have that right.”
Silence filled the atmosphere, thick and suffocating, Kenna’s hand trembled in his grip before he finally released her hand, her eyes burning with humiliation and rage as she stared at me.
Without another word, she turned and stormed off down the corridor, her footsteps echoing louder than thunder itself in the hallway.
“Look at what you’ve caused,” I snapped, turning to face Varkos, rage finally bursting free.“Your fiancée just humiliated me over something you clearly did.”
“I wasn’t defending you,” he shot back coldly, “So don’t think that I’ve started to develop any ounce of softness towards you.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“You are mine,” he said flatly. “And no one touches what is mine.”
“I didn’t ever ask to belong to you, Varkos,” I shot back. “I didn’t ask for any of this.” His gaze hardened into something darker as I stepped back, shaking my head. “I hate you,” I whispered, meeting his eyes, “I despise you so much for everything you’ve done to me.”
For a moment, something unreadable flickered in his eyes. Then it vanished quickly.
I turned and began to walk away