Page 25 of Vow of Darkness
“You don’t have to do this,” I say with a blush.
“You’re my wife. You wanted tradition. This is tradition.” He doesn’t stop carrying me until we reach my bedroom. I wobble on my feet. “You’ll remain in here.”
“We’re not going to share a room?” I’m not sure if I’m glad or confused about it.
“You’re not going to get into my bedroom that easily. Now, it’s been a long day. Rest. I have work to do.”
“On your wedding day?”
His face shows no emotion. “Our wedding was planned last minute. I still have things to work on. Be a good girl and don’t run away. I would hate to have to hurt your father.”
“No you wouldn’t,” I hiss.
A scary smirk crosses his lips. “You’re right. I wouldn’t.” He walks away, leaving me alone on our wedding day.
None of this was supposed to go this way. None of it.
I run back into the hallway. “You took away a precious moment for me.”
Gabriel stops walking but doesn’t turn around to face me. “What are you talking about?”
“It’s my wedding day and my dad wasn’t even able to walk me down the aisle. You took that from me. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“Why would I care about how you feel?”
“Because I’m your wife now.” My voice is thin and quiet. I hate it.
I can see Gabriel’s back tense. “I already told you, Aurora. I am not a good man and I have never pretended to be.”
“You can still feel emotion. Feel guilt and shame. I’m sure of it. You took that moment away from me. I want you to know that.”
Gabriel walks away from me without a word. I look into my room – the room that he chose for me – the room that is a prison – and scoff. I am not going to spend my day in this room. Even though I’m stuck inside this mansion, I can still explore.
Without stopping to think of it, I make my way outside to the backyard. The hedge maze is huge and uninviting. A person could get lost in there.
Instead, I go to where a small flower garden is and sit down, soaking in the sun and fresh air. Gabriel will not take away my spirit. I will die fighting to keep my agency.
Gabriel
Aurora refuses to leave my mind. Her pretty face. Her soft scent. Her innocence.
I want to corrupt it. Tear away at it until she becomes fully mine. I want to bring her into darkness with me.
The darkness that has surrounded my entire life since the day my family died.
Since the day I got my scar.
My phone rings with a call from Leo. “What is it?” I snap.
“I’m calling about good news. I have been tracking the whereabouts of that man you kidnapped… what was his name?”
“Andrew?” I ask.
“Not Andrew. The other one.”
The man I had in my basement. The one I was torturing when Aurora found me. “John.” A basic American name for a basic American man. I thought he would give me the info I needed on Giovanni Greco but he died before I could get anything out of him.
“Yes, that one. I’ve had some men keeping an eye on his house and finally, just now, a man showed up. It was Giovanni himself. I know it. He’s back in Florence. This confirms it. We can go after him now.”
