by Fawn Bailey
She was my girl. My woman. My betrothed. And I was going to make damn sure she knew it, too.
"Welcome to my humble abode," I said in a slightly joking tone, showing her around the place.
I knew Thorn was well-off, but he sure as fuck wasn't as rich as the Marinos.
My father ran this damn city, and since we'd lost Ryker, he'd been focusing all his attention on me. No more divided gifts, no more being the lesser brother. I was someone now, and I had a bright future ahead of me. My father was going to make damn sure of it.
"I hope you like it," I said to Ophelia, realizing in that moment just how nervous she made me. "Since you'll be living here with me."
She walked up to me, her glorious naked body illuminated by the sunlight spilling through the windows. She took my palm and started to draw in it, symbols, over and over again until I realized she was trying to spell a word.
And it took me several moments to realize what the word was.
Ryker.
She wanted to know about my brother.
Fuck. No.
Chapter 9
Ophelia
Being reunited with Max felt strange. All those things I'd come to know and love over the years we'd spent together as children, as teenagers, were gone. He was replaced with a more masculine, more suave version of the boy I used to know and I barely recognized him. Gone was the awkwardness, the gangliness, gone was the boy who used to stutter when he was nervous. I wondered what had happened to him after I'd been taken away, how he'd escaped. I could see the scars decorating his skin like horrible little slivers of a nightmare, peeking out from under his sleeves and under the collar of his shirt.
But the scars weren't the only thing that had changed about Max. He was as tall as he used to be, but his body was ripped with muscle. His legs were strong and his chest was enormously broad, thick with muscles and promising a world of pain to the person who pissed him off. I hoped to God it wouldn't be me. Ryker was the one I used to be scared of, but Max, with his new appearance, now put real fear in my bones.
Still, there was only one question on my mind, only one person I wanted to find out about.
Max's twin brother, Ryker.
I spelled the name in his palm patiently, waiting for him to understand what I wanted. When he did, a shadow fell over his handsome face, and he averted his gaze, not willing to look at me anymore.
I tapped his shoulder, trying to bring his attention back to the situation at hand. I was terrified of what he was about to tell me. Judging by his expression, it couldn't have been anything good.
"You're asking about Ryker," Max finally said, and I could hear the slightest hint of annoyance in his voice, realizing he was gritting his teeth. "Ryker isn't a part of this family anymore."
I stared at him, demanding an answer, but he ignored me completely, turning his attention away and refusing to acknowledge me. Sometimes, this selectively mute thing really did get on my nerves.
"You will find out more soon enough," he finally said cryptically, leaving me with even more questions than we'd started with.
Instead of acknowledging my rising panic, Max took my hand and led me into the house. It was a beautiful building, newly built but decorated in a traditional style. Everything about it was opulent - the decorations were gold, and I didn't need to ask whether it was real - and rich in vivid colors and textures. The house belonged in a magazine, and perhaps that was what bothered me most about it. It looked completely unlivable, and as if not a single living creature called it their home. It looked more like a hotel than anything else.
I kept shooting sideways glances at Max as we progressed into the belly of the beast, discovering more and more flourishes, expensive decorations and art worth millions on the walls. Perhaps in another life, I would have been jealous of Max and everything he had. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. For the past five years, I'd been trained to live with the bare minimum. Long gone was princess Ophelia, replaced by the little orphan, the girl who knew pain first-hand and wasn't afraid of it anymore. A girl who knew real darkness was in the mind, not in the hand that delivered the slap, the punch, or the hit. Real darkness was inside the brain, and when it came out, that's when I felt true fear in my bones.
As Max showed me around proudly, I realized I didn't know the man he had become. I used to know everything about him, his quirks, his silly habits, the things that made him so unique I chose him to be my best friend. But now, the ripped, scarred and broken man in front of me was nothing but a shadow of the boy he used to be. He was a stranger.
We finished the tour in a bedroom, a beautiful room that was so obviously meant for an innocent young woman it made me want to sob in a corner. The bed that I would never use was laden with pink and cream pillows, the walls a light dove grey. There were products displayed on the vanity, bottle after bottle of perfume, tubes of lipstick I wouldn't want on my mouth. It was all something I didn't want to be, a life I wanted no part in, a future I had said goodbye to a long time ago.
He watched me sitting on that plush bed, my naked body an insult to the feminine room.
For the first time in years, I felt the urge to speak. To tell him I wanted no part of this. To admit the ugly fucking truth - that I wanted to go back to Kain, back to my captor. I wanted to be with my prisoner because he was the only one who made me feel free.
I kept my mouth shut and bit my tongue. I watched Max pacing the room, waiting for him to say something, but my childhood friend - my fiancé - seemed to be at a loss for words as well.
"What happened to us?" I whispered, the sound of my voice barely audible and strange in the room that didn't suit me. "What happened to us, Max?"
He didn't make a fuss about me speaking and I was grateful for it. I was nervous enough as it was, my heart pounding so loudly I thought it would break through my chest any second.
Max knelt down next to me, taking my hand in his. My fingers felt small in his large, calloused hands. He had the palms of a worker, but I always knew he didn't mind getting his hands dirty. He was a good man, unlike his brother. Ryker... he was still on my mind, but after Max's reaction earlier, I didn't want to push the topic.
"I was taken," Max told me gently.
I remembered it clearly.
I remembered Kain giving me a choice. Which brother did I want to save?
And shamefully, I remembered my choice. Despite being engaged to Max, I chose Ryker. I wanted Ryker to survive. I chose him to make it out alive. And judging by the number of scars on Max, I'd sentenced him to a horrible, painful life.
Max didn't mention it though, and I should have known he wouldn't have. He was always so kind, so sweet. He never called me out for my mistakes, never mentioned all the things I'd managed to do wrong in the short time we'd spent together. I was ashamed of my decisions, but I knew deep down that if I was faced with the same question, I would still pick the other brother.
"They made me fight," he went on. "They threw me in the ring that first fucking night. Didn't give a shit about what happened to me. I barely made it out alive. Barely managed to survive the first night."
I reached for him on an instinct, trying to make him feel better, but he was faster than me, catching my hand in his strong, capable fingers and grabbing ahold of me tightly. It hurt, and I mewled in pain as he let go of my hand. I pulled it into my lap, giving him a wounded look which made him sigh deeply and look away, the guilt in his eyes unmistakable.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered, my voice still raspy.
"No," he said, his voice rough and with an edge to it that I'd never heard before. "I'm sorry, princess. I should never have reacted the way I did."
"Tell me," I went on, slowly getting used to the sound of myself. "What happened after?"
"They threw me in a prison cell," he explained, looking into the distance, his eyes deeply troubled. "The whole fighting ring was underground. No one knew where we were. There were no windows, no nothing. Some of the men spoke Russian, some spoke Italian. I t
ried to talk sense into the Italian ones, tried to tell them who I was. That I was a Marino..."
I nodded - it made sense. His family was influential, his father a mob boss just like my papa. When they arranged our marriage, we were meant to join the two families just like our fathers had joined forces.
I never thought too hard about what my family did for a business. Since an early age, I knew it wasn't legal. I knew my papa could be a bad man. He'd exhibited his wrath in front of me - and even on me - plenty of times. But still, I saw his as the good guy, the man who had been wronged. Even after spending all those years with Kain, I still didn't blame my father for a thing. It was all a misunderstanding. A mess. A lie. My papa didn't do anything wrong. He died for nothing. My family, they all died for nothing.
I felt hot tears springing to my eyes as Max looked back at me. He looked as if he was about to touch me, but changed his mind at the last minute, pulling his hand away.
"It never worked," he went on. "Telling them who my father was... for once in my sorry fucking life, it didn't work. And I was lost. I was made to battle. I was made to fight. They placed bets on us, wagers... No one gave a shit in that hellhole whether you lived or died. All that mattered was whether you were able to fight."
"How long?" I whispered, and he looked into his palms, folded on his lap.
"Four years," he admitted, and my breath hitched. "Four years I spent there."
"How did you get out?" I wanted to know.
"My brother," he managed to get out through gritted teeth. "The last fucking decent thing he managed to do for this family."
"What happened?" I asked.
"He found out the location of one of the fights," I explained. "It was in an underground tunnel under the city, not that I knew of that at the time. He planned an attack. Killed so many men. Killed my best friend in that fucking fighting ring in the goddamn mess, because he was fighting back. I was, too. I didn't recognize my own brother... I thought they were trying to kill us."
I didn't have the words to express how sorry I was, how guilty I felt. I just kept my mouth shut and bit my bottom lip so nervously I drew blood.
"He got me out of there," Max went on. "Me and nobody else. Just us brothers, the way it had been from the start."
"Is he okay?" I asked softly, and he refused to answer, once again looking to the side and refusing to acknowledge my question. "Please, Max..."
"Why do you give a shit?" he finally snapped, and I reeled back, surprised by the intensity of his voice.
"Because I-" I started, but he interrupted me.
"You love him," Max said bitterly. "You want him. Not me. Always Ryker. It's always been that way, hasn't it, princess?"
I couldn't reply. Couldn't find the words to apologize or explain myself.
"You'll find out what your precious Ryker did soon enough," he said. "And then you'll be glad you're stuck with me."
His words inadvertently answered my question.
I'd walked from one prison to another one. From one trap into a new one.
"Are we still..." I whispered, fearfully raising my eyes to his. "Are we still engaged?"
"Of course," Max replied bitterly. "Not for much longer, though. My father wants us married as soon as possible."
My heart sank.
Chapter 10
Ophelia
I followed Max around like a lost puppy. I wasn't sure what my new purpose was. At least at Thorn's place, I knew what my place was. I was waiting for my new owner, but here, with Max, I felt useless. And I couldn't help my mind going to those dark places I had tried to avoid for the past weeks.
Kain was always on my mind.
It was as if all the time I had spent with him had erased memories of what had happened before. Thoughts of Kain, memories of what he'd done to me replaced my family. I could barely remember my life before I became his little orphan, a time when I was my papa's girl and spoiled as hell by everyone around me.
"Do you want to wait with me while we work in your room?" Max asked me, and I nodded slowly.
He hesitated, eyeing me uncertainly, and it was only then that I realized I was still naked.
"You might want to put something on to cover up," Max said dismissively, and I nodded.
Kain never made me feel guilty about my body. He loved it, loved showing it off.
But I wasn't supposed to think about my captor. I was supposed to be a good girl, just like I used to be. No more dolly. No more.
"I'll pick something out," I muttered, and went to the closet in the girly room.
I opened the door and stared at the rows upon rows of clothing I didn't want to wear. It was all feminine, almost a bit girly as if I was still that eighteen-year-old girl who was so innocent and believed in fairytales. I didn't think Prince Charming existed anymore, but I sure as fuck believed in monsters.
I picked a simple floral dress, pulling it out and slipping it over my body.
I felt Max staring and I turned to face him with a broken little smile on my face and my eyes filled with tears of emotion that shouldn't be there. It was like I was saying goodbye to Kain and our life together.
And it hurt.
"Does this look okay?" I asked softly, and he stared into my eyes, ignoring the dress.
"No underwear?" he asked coldly, and I blushed to the soles of my feet.
I didn't even think about that.
I picked a pair of panties - pink, lacy, like most of the lingerie drawer - and stepped into them while Max watched. It felt strange, almost like I was in a doctor's office being examined. I felt wrong.
"You look pretty," he finally said. "Do you want to put on some makeup?"
I glanced at the vanity table laden with products I didn't want to use. Kain liked my face bare, and I wanted to keep it that way, perhaps hoping that from somewhere far away, he agreed with my decisions.
"No," I whispered, and Max looked displeased by my answer.
"Fine," he said. "Come on, let's go outside."
This new environment made me feel different. Suddenly it wasn't so hard to speak. The words rolled off my tongue just as they had when I was younger. After such a long silence, it felt so strange to speak, but around Max, I was neither Ophelia nor Kain's dolly. I was something unique, something new, a person I would come to know better over the course of the weeks I spent by Max's side.
He led me out onto the terrace. The tile was terracotta and the terrace looked over a beautiful garden with luscious hedges, flowers, and statues decorating the place.
"It's beautiful," I admitted to Max.
He took my hand, his fingers gently wrapping around mine as if it was the most natural thing in the world. I stiffened, not sure whether I wanted him touching me, and hated myself for it. Kain had taught me well... For the past five years, I'd only been used to his touch and no one else's. Now, when another man touched me, I flinched at the feeling.
"This is where I live, by myself," he went on. "My parents live about twenty minutes away. You will see them soon."
There was the ever-present question again, lingering on the tip of my tongue. Where was Ryker? What had happened to Max's twin brother, the one I had spent my childhood being in love with?
But it was too soon to ask, as I'd realized it was obviously a sore subject. So I bit my tongue and complimented our surroundings instead. This seemed to please Max, who kept glancing at me out of the corner of his eye.
"You're going to live here with me," he finally said after a moment's silence. "My father wants us married in the next week or so. There will be a seamstress coming tomorrow to get your measurements."
This made my blood run cold. He couldn't be serious.
I knew I was eventually going to be rescued from Kain's imprisonment, but I never, not for one second, believed I was going to be thrust back into the marriage arrangement I had resisted since the very beginning.
I didn't know what to say, so I just stared at Max waiting for some kind of explanation. But he didn't offer one, a
voiding my gaze and staring out at the sprawling estate. Instead, my eyes followed the line of his muscles, the vein throbbing in his forehead, the tenseness of his shoulders.
"Max," I whispered.
He looked at me, his eyes filled with pain and inexplicable sorrow.
"Why didn't you want me back right away?" I asked, surprising myself with the question that came out of my mouth. "Why did you make me spend that time with Thorn?"
"You weren't ready," he muttered, sounding preoccupied and caught up with his own thoughts. "You weren't ready to be with me yet."
There it was again, that unmistakable understanding that I was to spend the rest of my life by his side.
"Max," I said again. "Why are we still going through with this?"
His shoulders hitched up and I could tell I'd just made things even more uncomfortable, so I tried to backtrack and explain myself.
"You know what I mean," I managed to get out. "It's just... Neither of us really wants this."
"Speak for yourself," he replied coolly, his eyes burning with cold fire as he stared into mine. "I've wanted this since I was [age prequel] years old. You were the one who resisted with all her might."
"But why?" I asked him desperately. "Please, Max. You know there's... not that kind of thing, not that kind of relationship we have. You know we've never been in love!"
He gave me an incredulous look, smirking and shaking his head. When he did that, he looked like a completely different man to the boy I used to know, and I barely recognized him.
"You're blind as ever, princess," he groaned, more to himself than anyone else. "You've always been so fucking blind."
It took all my efforts to bite my tongue yet again and swallow the remark I was going to say. I was quickly turning back into the spoiled little bitch I used to be. Kain's dolly was going to be forgotten in no time.