Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
“Serafina.” Damon’s voice cracked with disbelief as he took in the obscenity in front of his eyes.
I clutched the blanket tighter around my body, my hands trembling uncontrollably. The fabric felt like my only shield against their horrified stares. Tears welled in my eyes, spilling down my cheeks as shame washed over me in waves.
“What have you done?” Enzo’s voice was deadly quiet, the calm before a storm. He wasn’t looking at me though. He stared at his son, his judgmental gaze boring into Adrian.
Matteo lunged forward with a guttural growl, his hands reaching for Adrian’s throat. But Enzo moved with surprising speed for an older man, catching his son’s arm in a vise-like grip.
“Control yourself,” Enzo commanded, though his own face was pale with fury.
My father’s face contorted as he took in the scene—me, naked and disheveled in Adrian’s bed, him standing beside it with that infuriating half-smile. He was bare chested, his sweatpants hanging low around his hips. Just like… last night.
He didn’t even move to make himself more presentable.
He just didn’t… care.
What have I done?
Guilt and regret coated my tongue, tears blurring my vision.
“What happened here?” Enzo asked slowly, cautiously.
Adrian’s lips twitched as he shrugged carelessly. “Isn’t it obvious?”
“Is there proof?”
“Are you asking for bloody sheets, Father?”
Bloody sheets… he couldn’t… he didn’t mean… no, no, no.
Panic and mortification clawed up my throat, sharp and vicious, and I fought the urge to throw up. My stomach twisted with nausea and swallowed down the bitter bile coating my tongue.
“Since you all seem to be so old-fashioned and traditional…” Adrian tsked, bending down to retrieve something from the floor. My white nightgown.
He fisted it in his hand, and I saw it—the tinge of red against the pale fabric.
Oh my God.
Dread flooded my veins, thick and suffocating. Terror coiled inside me and my whole body burned with humiliation.
Was that my blood? It couldn’t be. It couldn’t. No, it couldn’t.
My chest tightened, lungs clenching, when Adrian threw my nightgown at Matteo. My fiancé caught it in the air and I knew they could all see what I saw.
Matteo dropped the nightgown as if it burned him and his fists clenched. “How could you?” he hissed, baring his teeth at his brother.
“You filthy bastard,” Damon snarled, his hand moving to his waistband where I knew he kept his gun.
“Now, now,” Adrian drawled, not a hint of remorse or fear in his voice. “We’re all civilized men here.”
“Civilized?” My father’s voice cut through the chaos, cold and deadly. “You’ve defiled my daughter on her wedding day.”
I couldn’t speak. The words wouldn’t come, trapped behind the lump in my throat as tears streamed down my cheeks. I wanted to disappear, to sink into the mattress and never emerge.
How could I have done such a thing?
“Defiled is such a strong word,” Adrian said, crossing his arms over his chest. “She came to me willingly.”
I did? Panic surged through me and I hiccupped back a wretched sob.
“That’s a lie,” Matteo spat, straining against his father’s grip. “She would never—”
“Wouldn’t she?” Adrian’s gaze flickered to me, and I saw the challenge in his eyes.
The memories surged again… my body arching against his, my desperate pleas, the way I’d clutched at him, pulled him closer. Had I begged? Had I wanted this?
Around us, the others erupted into furious arguments, their voices overlapping in a cacophony of rage and accusation. But in that moment, it felt like Adrian and I existed in our own bubble, separated from the chaos by an invisible barrier.
My face burned with humiliation and my body quivered with agonizing shame.
“This is unacceptable!” Enzo’s voice cut through our exchange. “We have contracts. Arrangements. The wedding is in four hours!”
“Four hours?” My father’s laugh was bitter. “You think this wedding can still happen after this... this abomination?” He pointed at me, hissing his words.
Abomination.
What I had done… what I had become.
I was an abomination.
“There will be a wedding,” Enzo said firmly. “The alliance depends on it.”
“The alliance?” My father’s voice rose. “Your son has dishonored my daughter. He ruined her. Tell me, Matteo. Are you going to marry Serafina knowing what you know now?”
“Then we have a problem, don’t we?” Enzo’s threat was a quiet warning that didn’t escape anyone’s attention.
I saw the fear that slithered through my father. He stepped forward, his face ashen. “Serafina, what have you done? You threw everything away! You have betrayed your family, your duty.”
I opened my mouth, but again, no words came out. What could I say? How could I defend myself when I didn’t even remember what happened?
How could I possibly defend myself when I was caught in such a vulgar position that had decimated my honor, my purity… every part that made me… me.
“Look at her,” Damon said, his voice tight with anger. “She can barely speak. She’s in shock. This man has drugged her or coerced her.”