Chapter 236 To Take Revenge

Chapter 236 To Take Revenge
>>Riona
The wolf didn’t answer me.
He just smiled—if wolves could do such a thing—and then hopped off the chair without a sound. His black tail swayed behind him as he trotted toward the hallway, vanishing as effortlessly as he’d appeared.
I stared at the empty spot he left behind, confused and a little dazed. Why leave now?
But my gaze returned to the plate of spaghetti in front of me. The aroma curled up in comforting waves—rich meaty tomatoes, roasted garlic meat, something savory that warmed my chest with just the scent. I blinked once, then slowly picked up the fork again.
One bite turned into another, then another, and before I realized it, I was devouring the food like I hadn’t eaten in days. Maybe I hadn’t. I barely tasted things lately, but this… this was different. Warm, delicious, almost soothing. Each bite made me feel just a little more alive.
I was nearly done when I heard footsteps approach.
The kitchen door creaked faintly, and I turned, cheeks puffed out, lips stained with sauce, only to find—
Demos.
He leaned in the doorway casually, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, dark eyes landing on me. For a beat, he just stood there. Then, his mouth curved into a chuckle. It wasn’t mocking—no, it was far too amused and soft for that.
My eyes went wide. I froze mid-chew.
Oh no.
I realized immediately how I must look. Mouth full. Red sauce smeared at the corner of my lips. Like some overgrown child.
He laughed again, deeper this time.
!!!
I flushed crimson.
Panicking, I dropped the fork with a clatter and scrambled for the napkin beside me, frantically dabbing at my mouth as if I could erase the humiliation before it was set in stone. I avoided looking at him, heart pounding in my ears.
But I heard him move.
Footsteps. Getting closer.
Then I felt him.
Demos stepped right up to me.
???
Close. Too close. I froze again, holding the napkin like a shield. But he didn’t say anything—just reached for another one from the counter, folded it neatly between his fingers.
“I got it,” he said quietly, and before I could react, he leaned down.
I tensed, my whole body stiffening as his hand came under my chin and gently lifted it. The touch was featherlight, but it might as well have set my skin on fire. I couldn’t look up. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move.
He was so close, I didn’t know where to look.
I could smell him—something smoky and dark and clean. His hand moved with quiet confidence as he dabbed the corner of my mouth, slow and deliberate, and I swore the world had stopped moving.
“There,” he murmured, his voice deeper than before. “Much better.”
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
My skin felt like it was glowing from the inside out. My heart thudded so hard in my chest I was sure he could hear it. And I still hadn’t looked him in the eye.
He lingered for a second longer—just long enough for the air between us to grow heavy—then stepped back and turned away, as if he hadn’t just completely disarmed me.
I stared down at my plate, trying to recover.
What the hell was that?
Why did my stomach flip just from him being near me?
Demos returned quietly, like a shadow slipping into place. But I felt him the moment he stepped into the room. My body stiffened without thinking, every nerve standing alert—not in fear, but something else entirely. Something I didn’t want to admit just yet.
He pulled the chair back—the same one the wolf had been sitting in—and sat down, not a word spoken. My heart fluttered, erratic, like it wasn’t sure whether it wanted to jump out of my chest or hide deeper inside it.
He didn’t say anything. Just sat there, looking at me.
His eyes held me in place like an invisible tether. It wasn’t invasive, but… it was hard to breathe. I straightened my back instinctively, shifting my posture to something more composed, more proper, but it didn’t make the pressure go away. In fact, it only made it worse. The silence wrapped around us like silk—soft but stifling.
I was all too aware of how close he was now. The same man who made my skin warm just by standing near. The same man I had clung to only hours ago when I couldn’t breathe, when all I wanted was to find the wolf… and instead found something else in his arms.
“...What?” I asked, my voice too small, too uncertain.
He leaned forward slightly, forearms resting on the table, eyes still pinned to mine. “You were hyperventilating.”
My stomach dropped. My breath hitched.
So he had seen me!
That moment—me running through the house like something was chasing me, panic crawling beneath my skin, the way my chest had refused to open up for air—I’d thought I was alone then. I wanted to believe I’d held it together better than that.
But apparently, I hadn’t.
“I wasn’t,” I said quickly, too quickly. My voice wasn’t convincing, and I knew it. I looked away, unable to meet his eyes.
Demos didn’t argue. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t even sigh.
“I told you not to lie to me,” he said calmly, simply.
The words struck a chord somewhere deep in my chest. I remembered him saying that before.
I swallowed, still not able to speak, twisting the edge of the napkin between my fingers.
“Can you at least tell me why?” he asked, his voice lower now. Gentle. Careful, like he didn’t want to push, but he wasn’t letting me shut the door either.
My throat felt tight. The words swirled in my mouth but didn’t come out.
I kept quiet.
Demos didn’t push. Instead, he offered a truth that disarmed me more than any confrontation could have.
“I want to help, Riona.”
Something broke at that.
I turned to him again, slowly, as if those words had reached into a place I’d sealed off long ago. My heart thudded unevenly in my chest.
“I’m… worried about Niall,” I said, and the weight of saying his name out loud made it more real.
Demos said nothing, letting me keep going.
“He’s a detective. He found me. If he goes to the police—” I inhaled, a shaky breath. “I could go to prison. For the rest of my life.”
The words hung there, thick and heavy.
And still, Demos didn’t flinch.
“There is no one,” he said finally, his voice like steel wrapped in velvet, as his hand found its way to mine, “no one who can harm you. Not while I’m here.” I felt the warmth of his palm over my hand that rested on the table.
My heart squeezed painfully at that. Not because I didn’t believe him—but because I did.
His eyes didn’t waver, his voice didn’t crack, and something about the quiet way he said it felt more protective than a locked vault.
“I’ll prove it to you,” he added, softer, “however many times I have to.”
I stared at him, lips parted, breath caught in my throat.
Why… why did my chest feel like this?
!?!?
I found myself in a dilemma again
Why was it so hard to look away from him? Why did something inside me ache and flutter all at once when he said things like that? Was this what it meant to feel safe? Or was it something else entirely?
I didn’t answer.
Just when the silence between us started to settle, Demos leaned back slightly, one arm draped over the back of the chair.
“Have you thought about how you want to take your revenge?” he asked, voice even.
The question hit me like a splash of cold water. I blinked at him, surprised—startled even—by the sudden shift in topic.
Revenge.
The word echoed in my mind.
I remembered clearly, painfully, the night he first offered it to me. I had been broken then—shattered in a thousand directions, like a mirror too far gone to fix.
But that wasn’t what had shocked me most.
No—it was what he said next. That the only reason he was doing it, offering it so freely, was because he was in love with me.
I stared at him now, unsure what to say. My heart picked up speed in my chest, unsure whether to run or to fall. That word still sat in my head like a landmine—love.
He didn’t say it again, but the memory of it was loud enough.
“I…” I started, but then I hesitated. My thoughts had spun off somewhere else entirely.
His eyes didn’t press, but they didn’t stray either. He was giving me time, waiting.
And just when I thought I had an answer, it shifted into something new. Something more urgent.
“Before that,” I said, barely above a whisper, “I want to do something else.”


>>A Man Standing In The Dark Room

I let out a sigh, staring at the pictures of Riona I had taken over the years. I pursed my lips as my breathing got a little heavy

Damnit

To think that bastard Demos would buy her.

After all it took to get her away from everyone else.

“Tch” I clicked my tongue,

Another distraction to kill