Chapter 22 Chapter 22
Nicolai's perspective
Alessandro had just left, finally. The guy had seriously done it—he fed me like a fucking toddler. I could have knocked the fork out of his hand, but that wouldn't have ended well. It's not like I refused to eat because I wasn't hungry. Well, the first few days after Selene's death, I really wasn't hungry, but slowly my appetite returned. No, I didn't want to die. I'm not crazy. Starving myself to death wouldn't accomplish anything. I wanted to know how far they would go, how far Alessandro would go. I'm now more certain than ever that I can make their lives hell as long as I play my role well. They should think I'm broken, and maybe I am, but when the time comes, they'll see what kind of monster they've awakened. And when I'm done with the De Lucas, I'll find out who those assholes were who shot my sister and me. I'll find them, and they'll wish they'd never been born. I get up, go to the sink in my bathroom, turn on the cold water, and splash some on my face. The taste of potatoes and salt still lingers on my tongue. It disgusts me. Not because of the food, which tasted very good, but because he gave it to me. Because I took it. I stare into the mirror above the sink. I hardly recognize myself. My cheeks are sunken, my eyes seem darker, as if they had sucked the last of the light out of me. But somewhere behind that... there it is again, that old burning sensation I thought was dead, the feeling I only ever had when I didn't restrain the monster inside me but fed it, my will. I'm not here to be good. I'm here to learn, to observe, and to wait. Until my time comes. If Alessandro thinks he's broken me, then he has no idea what a Petrovich is. I go back into the room and, like the days before, grab my gym bag and my cell phone. It always looks like I'm just going to go and train myself to exhaustion, but really I'm just observing and memorizing the habits and schedules of the security guards on the way. I'll need it, especially when it's time to be the person they all want me to be again. When my cell phone vibrates in my hand, I flinch. Since I've been here, no one has contacted me except for a reply when I texted Sebastian. I hated that, and I still do, that he got hurt just because Alessandro was looking for me. I just had to check on him, but as always, Sebastian downplayed it and told me not to worry. That's just how he's always been. Sebastian is one of the few who has never been afraid of me, even though he knows what I'm capable of. A message from Vito flashes on my display, and I look at the device in my hand as if it had just turned into a fish with two heads and dog ears that meows like a Bengal cat. After a few minutes, I open the message and read it. Hey idiot, your mother wants you to come home for dinner this weekend. She says she doesn't want to miss out on Sunday family dinners and that you should bring your husband along. And imagine that, as is so often the case, your mother's wish is law. Your father wanted me to write to you because he thought you might still be angry with him about the forced marriage and that you might delete his message without reading it. I'm sending Sebastian to pick you or both of you up. I read the message a few times in a row and sigh so loudly that one of the maids walking past me looks at me as if I were an alien. Before I even start training, I turn around and go to Alessandro's study. I'm about to knock, but pause in my movement. The noises coming from the room are so damn obvious. Shit, it'll be my pleasure to ruin his fun, I grin to myself. My hand grabs the doorknob firmly and I slam the door open so hard that it almost breaks off its hinges. and damn, I was so right. Before me, I see my dear husband bending one of his maids, of which there are as many as sand on the beach here, over his desk and thrusting his cock hard into her from behind. The girl moans as if she's having the best fuck of her life until she looks into my cold, dark eyes and shock, shame, fear, and much more reflected in her eyes. “You don't seem to take fidelity very seriously!” for a moment, this cold bastard freezes, which makes me feel pretty satisfied. As I walk towards him, he pulls out of her. I can see that I must have really spoiled his fun, because his cock is limp, not just semi-erect like when you're briefly interrupted, no, it's completely limp. I also notice that he was using a condom, which is still attached to him, empty, which only reinforces this feeling of satisfaction. He looks at me openly without answering, just watching as I grab the girl by the arm, drag her to the door, and push her out of the room. She almost trips over her own legs on the way there, and when I push her out, she falls to the floor. “If I see you or any of his other sluts letting my husband fuck you again, I'll beat every ounce of pleasure out of your cheap bodies. Tell the others, because the next one won't get a warning!” I snap at her. How damn much I love playing this role and taking away his little fun. In the next breath, I slam the door without giving her another glance or waiting to see if she wants to say anything. A giggle comes from the other side of the room and I turn around to look Alessandro straight in the eye. “What do you find so funny?”