Chapter 27
NIKOLAI’S POV
Sitting at the dining
- in. The tension, the able with Alessandro’s family felt like being trapped in a room where the walls were slowly closing
- in. The tension, the expectations, the veiled insults–it was suffocating.
I kept my head down for most of the meal, pushing food around my plate, pretending I wasn’t listening. But I heard every word. Every sharp comment his father threw at him, every passive–aggressive concern from his mother.
“A husband is not a wife. He will not bear you an heir. He will not secure our lineage.”
“People are talking. They’re questioning your… choices.”
“And concerning the third point you stated; we already found you a woman you’ll marry again.”
That was when everything shifted.
I looked up just in time to see Alessandro’s face twist with rage. His hands clenched into fists on the table, his entire body going rigid.
“What?!” he barked.
I barely had time to process what was happening before his father said her name.
Leah.
The second he did, Alessandro exploded.
“I’m not gonna marry that bitch!”
The tension in the room snapped like a wire stretched too tight. His mother gasped at his language, his father’s expression hardened, and Alessandro shot up from his seat, practically vibrating with fury.
I watched silently, knowing there was nothing I could say to calm him down–not that I would even try. This wasn’t my battle. It never had been.
“Nikolai, let’s get out of here,” he commanded, his voice cold and final.
I didn’t hesitate. I placed my napkin down, stood up, and followed him out of that suffocating h
without looking back.
The car ride was silent at first. Alessandro slammed the door shut the second he got in, gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. His jaw was clenched, his breathing heavy.
I didn’t say anything. What could I say? That I was sorry his parents saw me as an obstacle? That I was used to being unwanted?
Instead, I leaned back in my seat and exhaled quietly, staring out the window.
Then, without warning, his voice cut through the silence like a blade.
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Chapter 27
“Where the hell is your ring?”
I blinked, looking down at my left hand. My fingers curled slightly as I realized what he meant. The ring–the one that symbolized our contract, our forced marriage–was missing.
I hadn’t even noticed. But I had refused to put it on intentionally.
“I didn’t put it on,” I admitted, my voice even.
That only seemed to piss him off more. “You didn’t put it on?” he repeated, his voice sharp with frustration. “Is that supposed to mean something?”
I hesitated, then met his gaze.
“Alessandro, after everything your father said tonight, do you really think wearing the ring would change anything?”
His jaw ticked. “That’s not the point.”
“Then what is?” I asked, keeping my voice calm, controlled.
He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he just stared at me, frustration burning in his dark eyes. I knew that look. It wasn’t just about the ring–it was about everything.
I was surely dead tonight.
The rest of the drive was steeped in silence, thick and suffocating, pressing against my chest like an unbearable weight. Alessandro’s grip on the steering wheel never loosened, his jaw never unclenched.
I didn’t look at him. I knew better.
I stared out the window, watching the blurred city lights pass by, my own reflection flickering against the glass. My fingers curled in my lap, brushing against my bare ring finger.
He was angry, more than angry.
But it wasn’t just about the ring.
Alessandro was furious at his father, at his mother, at the impossible expectations that came with his name. And somehow, someway, that anger had bled into me.
I hadn’t done anything wrong. But in his eyes, my refusal to wear the ring had been a choice. A statement. A reminder that I wasn’t bound to him the way his father wanted me to be.
By the time we pulled into the driveway of the house, the tension in the car was unbearable. Alessandro killed the engine but didn’t move. His knuckles were still pale, his breathing measured, controlled.
I reached for the door handle and quickly ran out of the car. I barely made it a few steps before I heard the sharp slam of Alessandro’s door. His footsteps were/heavy, deliberate, and I knew without looking that he was following me.
“Nikolai,” he called.
I didn’t stop.
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Chapter 27
I didn’t want to hear whatever cutting remark was about to leave his mouth. I didn’t want to argue about a stupid ring, about a marriage that wasn’t real, about a life that was never mine to choose.
But Alessandro wasn’t the type to be ignored.
Before I could reach the front door, his hand closed around my wrist, yanking me back with enough force that I nearly
stumbled.
“Your behavior has become a problem.” He finally spoke.
My behavior?
A problem? Oh please.
“You know you have to be punished for your misbehavior?”
“What? Why?”
Within no time. By my arm, he pulled, dragging me across the room before he pinned me against the wall.
My eyes grew wide and my jaw had dropped. Was he going to…beat me up? His extended arms entrapped me between the cool wall and his teasing body.
He grabbed my hand and placed it roughly against his pants. I gasped when I felt the growing bulge that pressed against his pants, awaiting its release.
My stomach tightened and my breath shortened before he moved in closer over me.
This is not happening!
Alessandro’s breath was hot against my ear, his grip firm, unyielding. My heart pounded in my chest, a mixture of confusion, frustration, and something I didn’t want to name curling through me like wildfire.
“Is this what you wanted?” he murmured, his voice low, dangerous. “To push me until I snapped?”
I swallowed hard, trying to regain some sense of control. “Let go of me,” I said, my voice steadier than I felt.
He didn’t.
Instead, his grip on my wrist tightened, keeping my palm pressed against the hard evidence of his arousal. “You came in my room, looking for this. Now get down on your knees“,
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