The Marriage Debt: Chapter 15

I’ve been locked in this room for days on end. I don’t know how long because there is no clock anywhere, and my phone was taken from me the second I ended up in Luca’s clutches.

There’s nothing but a small television to keep me company. Looking out the window is equally dreadful. All the people down there on the streets are blissfully going about their lives while I’m stuck up here in this ivory tower, hoping I’ll someday get the chance to escape … and to tear this goddamn collar off my neck.

But then there’s that voice in my head whispering to me again.

You chose this.

If only I hadn’t done what I did three years ago.

I never should’ve dragged Liam away from Luca and into my car.

If I hadn’t, he would have won the fight and would still be alive.

Things would’ve been much different now.

I could’ve married him.

I sigh to myself and shove the curtain aside to look outside at the bustling streets below. Even if this is the backside of the building, it still has that kind of view you can only buy with a ton of cash.

Tap, tap!

Two knocks on the door make me flick my head sideways. The only visitor I’ve had since Luca last came in was Lita with her delicious food, and it always brings a smile to my face when she comes. But she never knocks.

“Who is it?”

“Me.”

My skin prickles at the sound of his voice.

Luca.

Of course it’s him.

I don’t respond, but he comes in anyway, and the moment our eyes lock, that same smirk forms on his lips again. “How are you feeling?”

I frown. “Since when do you care?”

He closes the door and leans against it, running his fingers through his black hair. “I never stopped caring.”

I snort. “Yeah, right, says the dude keeping me locked up in here.”

He pushes himself off the door and steps closer. “You know you give me no choice.”

I cringe. “Wow, so now you try to pin your guilt on me? No thanks, I’m not here to be your scapegoat.”

He stops halfway through the room and narrows his eyes at me, fists clenched. “Don’t ever forget you were the one who killed my brother. You deserve every bit of punishment.”

Our eyes connect, and a fire almost combusts between us. “He would’ve lived if you hadn’t started that fight with him.”

Luca marches toward me and grabs me by my collar. “That fight wouldn’t have started if you hadn’t kissed him.”

Oh, please. “You’re using me as an excuse. You already hated his guts because your parents chose him to be the successor instead of you.”

His nostrils flare as he’s so close I can almost feel his breath on my skin. “I saw the face you made after you kissed him. What was it again—oh, right—disgust.” He grabs a strand of my hair and tucks it behind my ear, the soft touch making me shiver. “Something you never felt when I touched you …” He leans in farther until he’s right below my chin, and when I suck in a breath, he plants a kiss on my neck right above the collar. “When I kissed you like this.”

“Keep going, and I’ll fucking look at you like that,” I hiss.

He slowly pulls away and gazes at me from underneath his eyelashes with contempt. The air is thick with tension as we stare each other down from mere inches away.

“You lied. You always lie. Why?” he asks, but it sounds more like a growl. “What are you trying to protect? Your heart?” He plants a hand on the window beside my head. “Because, make no mistake, I will make it mine, and I don’t care how long it fucking takes.”

I swallow down the lump in my throat. “Over my dead body.”

“Is that how far you’re willing to take this?”

“I only said I’d be your wife. I didn’t say I’d love you,” I reply.

“What use is a loveless marriage?” he quips.

“That’s your problem, not mine,” I say. “You wanted to see me punished for your brother’s death? This is it.”

Guess he didn’t expect it to be his punishment, too.

His eyes twitch, and he grabs my arm and shoves me against the window so hard I’m afraid it might crack. “You chose to marry me.”

“Did I? You could’ve married my sister, the easy-going girl who was happy to fulfill her family obligations. Yet you decided to go against your father’s wishes to kill me when I crashed the wedding … and then picked me instead.” I fold my arms. “Sounds like you were the one who desperately wanted me.”

His eyes are almost ablaze, and it makes me feel so victorious that I could scream.

He grunts with disdain and turns, marching to the door again. But then he spins on his heels, pointing at me with rage in his eyes. “I will keep you locked up in here forever if I have to.”

The smile vanishes from my face. “You wouldn’t.”

Pride settles on his face. “That’s the price you pay.”

“For not loving you?” Tears well up in my eyes.

“For killing my brother.”

I swallow the tears away. Of course he’d say that. “That’s low, even for you.”

“Fucking try me,” he growls. “You’re messing with the wrong brother, Jill.”

He attempts to leave, but I can’t let him do this to me. I can’t stay here.

“Please!” I grab his arm and make him stop as he opens the door. “Don’t lock me up. Please. Just let me out.”

He pulls away and turns to face me right as he’s about to exit, staring me down without saying a word.

“Please … don’t do this to me,” I add. “If you once felt anything for me, please.”

I don’t know what else to say. I know I deserve his anger, but I don’t deserve to spend the rest of my life in this golden cage. “I can’t spend another minute locked up in this room.”

He still looks at me with those dark eyes until even I feel the weight of his power and lower my eyes in defeat. “I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?”

When I nod, he tips up my chin to make me look at him. “You will do whatever I tell you to do.”

I have to force my inner voice to shut up and not take control, but when I look at him, it’s hard because all I want to do is defy him. Push him. Make him regret he ever wanted me.

Instead, I nod.

“Good.” The smile that appears on his face looks exactly like the one he gave me years ago, back when he knew he’d stolen my first orgasm. My first kiss. My first everything. He’ll never settle for anything less.

“We’re going out Saturday.”

Out? As in, outside the penthouse, together?

My heart starts to palpitate.

Out together in public … with him.

Luca De Vos.

My husband.

The one guy who wants nothing more than for the world to know I belong to him.

Oh, God.

His fingers clench around my chin, and he pulls me in to plant a kiss on my cheek, his lips slowly sliding sideways as he turns my head to whisper, “And if you behave … I might give you what you want.”

“Freedom?” I mutter.

“A chance to see Jasmine.”

My eyes widen as my heart almost comes to a stop.

Then he pulls away and winks. “I’ll have Lita bring you what you need to prepare.”

What I need to prepare?

Before I can ask what he means, he walks out and closes the door behind him, locking it away just like I’ve done to my heart. But I’ll stay low, keep my head down, make him think I’ve become easy just for the sake of more freedom.

And then … when he least expects it, I’ll run.