Deadly Vows - Chapter 5 (Patreon)

I sit in the mirror, brushing my hair out, like I do every morning. It is a routine I put in place for myself to keep some form of normalcy in my life. Twenty-three strokes on each side. I look at my left cheek and see a bruise forming from Luca’s attack the previous day. I touch it lightly and cringe from the pain. Luca didn’t disturb me when he came to bed last night, and he hasn’t said anything to me yet in the morning. I look in the mirror and gasp when I see he is standing right behind me, watching me with an unreadable expression on his face. It scares me. I have no idea what he is thinking or what he has in store for me.

I step out of the room, heading for the kitchen. Somehow, I remember how to get there. I step into the five-star-restaurant-looking kitchen to see a whole slew of people working hard to make some kind of course. Upon my entrance, they all freeze and stare before immediately bowing their heads in respect.

“Oh, please don’t stop on my account,” I say, hoping they’ll go back to their work.

They slowly go back to what they have been doing. I slowly step around them, focusing on what each of them is doing. This is the first time I have seen any people outside of Luca’s men since I’ve been here. They all look at me like they are terrified, trying to avoid all eye contact with me.

A woman that looks a little older than me walks up to me with her head down. “Are you lost, ma’am?” She is still avoiding eye contact with me.

“Uh, no, I was just passing through.”

She still refuses to look at me. “Well, the kitchen is no place for you to be, ma’am,” she says, kind of rudely.

I am a little taken aback.

“And tell me, why is the kitchen no place for her to be?”

I stiffen as I feel Luca’s presence behind me. The whole kitchen falls silent, all eyes on Luca and me. He puts a possessive arm around my waist, staring the woman down.

“I … I … I’m sorry, sir, it was not my place,” she responds. Her skin is burning red, and she looks about ready to pass out.

“You’re right, it’s not your place. This is my home, as it is my wife’s home. She can be anywhere she pleases. And if you have a problem with that …” He laughs a little and walks away, tracing his finger over a knife lying harmlessly on the counter. “Well, I know you better not have a problem with that.” His face is completely serious as he makes eye contact with the girl.

She nods vigorously. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry.”

Luca doesn’t wait for a response; he grabs me by the arm, leading me out of the room. We stop in the entryway, and Luca turns to speak to me.

“The day’s barely even started, and you’re already causing trouble.” There is a light smirk playing on his face. I look away, slightly embarrassed. His mood has improved, making me feel a slight bit lighter.

“Go get your violin and meet me in my office.”

As soon as the words leave his lips, my heart drops in my stomach. I hope he isn’t going to make me play again with some man’s life in my hands.

Luca reaches out and lightly traces my bruising cheek. His gray eyes meet mine head-on, piercing me to the center. “Do as you’re told.”

I can only nod with wide eyes; he has me captivated within his trance.

I hurry to the practice room and grab my instrument out of its case, making my way to Luca’s office immediately after. I push open the heavy door, expecting to see a poor man about to face death, but am shocked to see Luca sitting behind his desk with his head down, his focus on some papers in front of him.

He looks up once I step into the room. He motions for me to sit in the chair in the corner of the room. I make my way slowly to the spot, feeling uncomfortable under Luca’s watchful gaze. Once I am seated, he decides to finally speak.

“Play me a song,” he says simply. I am a little shocked, to say the least. I have not been expecting that.

“Uh … what song?” I ask, a little shaken.

“Any song. Preferably the one I heard when I came to your home.” He puts his head back down and begins to look over the papers that sit at his desk, waiting for a tune.

I close my eyes and let the music pour from my fingers. For how long I sit there, I don’t know. But once the music finally ceases, I look up to see Luca seated back in his chair, watching me with that intense expression.

“You couldn’t play any of those songs the other night when I asked you?” he asks. There isn’t a hint of emotion on his face, so I don’t know if he is still in a good mood or if something bad is about to happen. He gets up from his desk, standing at his full, intimidating height as he walks over to me, leaning in my personal space.

“I asked you a question.” His voice is deadpan, making me fearful. I honestly don’t know how to respond to him.

“I … uh …” I trail off as the door to his office is opened, and my heart drops.

The girl from the engagement party steps in. She looks a hot mess, if I’m being honest. Her hair is kind of tangled, and her eyes look wild. She looks at the spot behind Luca’s desk, and when she sees he is not there, her eyes find him across the room standing by me. Immediately, rage blooms behind her blue irises as she makes her way across the room.

Instead of stopping at Luca like I expect her to do, she lunges straight for me, shoving me out of the chair I am in. Hard. I fall to the ground with a hard thud, crying out from the shock and the pain. I look up to see Luca holding her back from me. What the hell did I do? This insane chick just barges into the room, trying to fight me.

Luca shoves her back into the desk, annoyance plastered across his face.

“Jessica! What the fuck are you doing?” he shouts at her, but she is still trying to get to me.

I stand up slowly and try to back out of the office. This is clearly a matter for him and his lady friend, whom he just tried to kill a few weeks ago for showing up to our engagement party.

“Stay right there!” Luca’s voice whips across the room, rooting me to the spot. I am too scared to move, but I don’t want to be in there if he decides to play another game with her life on the line.

“You fucking whore! He doesn’t love you! He loves me! He’s mine! He’ll always be with me! He’ll never love you!” The girl—Luca has said her name is Jessica—is screaming all kinds of obscenities at me. I honestly don’t care what she says to me; I just wish she’ll shut up, because Luca’s face is getting darker by the second. The last time he saw her, he told her if he ever saw her again, he’d kill her. And he is seeing her again. “I will fucking slice your—”

She is cut off in the middle of her shouting as Luca spins her and grabs her by the neck, slamming her face-first into the desk. We both shout unexpectedly. Luca’s face is filled with an emotion I have yet to see.

“What. Did. I. Tell. You.” As he whispers each word, it seems as if his grip on her neck is getting tighter and tighter. And if it were even possible, her face is getting pushed deeper into the desk. I stand helplessly in my spot in the corner, terrified that Luca is about to kill this girl in front of me. I know that if he tries, I will step in, but I also know that I like my jaw attached.

Luca looks at me and turns the girl’s sobbing neck so that she is facing me. Luca has his whole body pressed into her, keeping her immobile on the desk.

“Do you see that stunning creature standing in the corner of this room? She is not a whore. She is my wife. And you threatening to kill her does not sit well with me.” His hand loosens from around her neck, and he threads it through her tangled locks. He grabs ahold tightly, lifting her head and smashing it back into the desk. I scream aloud from the sudden movement.

“I told you that if I ever saw you again, I would kill you. So why is it that you have shown up, uninvited, to my home?” His voice is coming out cold and calculated. Her whimpers echo throughout the room.

“This used to be our home,” she whispers as tears run down her face.

I feel my heart breaking for this girl.

Luca’s grip tightens on her hair, and he lifts her neck at an uncomfortable angle, whispering in her ear, “This was never our home. This has always been my home. You just happened to be a warm body that I liked to use from time to time.” Luca speaks the words with amusement. Like he has never cared for this girl. And I don’t think he ever did. Suddenly, he looks up to where I am standing.

“Elise, do you know who this is?” My stomach drops in dread. He is pulling me into his sick, twisted game, and I want very badly to not be a part of it. “Elise!”

I jump as Luca shouts my name, pulling me from my thoughts and doubts. I shake my head quickly. He laughs to himself, keeping his tight grip on the girl. Her eyes are squeezed shut, and tears are falling heavily down her face.

“This is Jessica. I met her a few years back and kept her around because I wanted to. Of course, she wasn’t the only woman I was with, and by no means was I loyal to her. But along the way, she seemed to think we were more than what we are.”

I nod, as if I were listening. I don’t know why he is telling me these things, but I don’t like it at all.

He pushes her head back down on the desk and lays his head against hers.

“She seems to think I would leave my lovely, pure, innocent wife to be with her. She believes I will go behind your back and fuck her still.” He laughs out loud. A genuine laugh, showing that he is amused by the girl’s thoughts.

In my head, I am screaming. I honestly wish that is what he will do so that he will leave me alone. But now he is laying all my hope down.

That’s when it hits me. That is why he is telling me all this. He is letting me know that he will never turn his attention from me. He must have read the look on my face, because a sadistic smile creeps on his face.

“Oh, baby, don’t you know better than that? Once something is mine, it’s only mine. You are my wife, so no one else matters. I take my vows very seriously.” His smile falls from his face, and he looks at the whimpering blonde. His hand snakes around to the front of her throat, and he begins to squeeze. Her movements become frantic as she tries to fight his steel grip around her throat.

He looks up, making eye contact with me, as if daring me to say anything. I take a step toward her, a hand outstretched. I open my mouth to speak, but I don’t get a word out. Luca moves so quickly I don’t have time to register it. He picks up the blonde and smashes her face into the desk, causing us both to scream in agony. She falls to the floor, clutching her nose. There is a fountain of blood running down her face.

Luca walks over to me and grabs a fistful of my hair, forcing me to my knees. He reaches around him and pulls a gun out. A sound escapes my lips, and he looks at me, quickly silencing anything that may have come from me.

“Jessica.” He is looking behind me, but I can’t see anything because he is making me face him on my knees. “You are nothing to me. I would never let anyone touch me except for my wife. I will never fuck anyone except for my wife. And I sure as hell will not tolerate you coming into our home disturbing my peace. Me and you? We are finished,” he says as he raises his gun, aiming it at the poor girl. He pulls back the hammer with his thumb, making the sickening click pop into place.

In the next moments, I don’t think. As soon as I hear the noise, I jerk my hand up, reaching for the gun. As Luca pulls the trigger, my hand connects with his, pushing the gun and causing him to fire a shot into the ceiling. Jessica screams, and her eyes are shut. Luca still has the gun aimed toward the ceiling. He looks at me, and I have to swallow the bile threatening to come up.

His eyes are filled with pure rage. I have interfered. I have interfered with what he is doing. I have stopped him from killing her. I have gone against him. I’ve done it without thinking of the consequences, but I know if I have sat here and let her get shot, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself.

Before I can utter an apology, a blinding pain shoots across the side of my face. I fall to the floor with a cry of pain.

Luca steps over my body, walking over to Jessica. I look at him through blurry vision and can see him holding her up by the throat.

“Marco!” Luca shouts, and a man comes in the room, waiting for orders.

“Take this bitch off my property. If she ever shows her face around here again, shoot her on fucking sight.” Marco nods and drags Jessica out of the room.

Luca isn’t done with me, though; he walks over to me and straddles my body on the floor, slapping me across the same cheek. I cry out. I open my mouth.

“Please don’t.” The words come out shaky and desperate, but Luca obviously doesn’t give a damn. He wraps his hands around my throat and squeezes.

“How many motherfucking times must I tell you not to interfere?”

I can’t respond due to his hand around my throat, but he isn’t thinking. He picks me up and slams my head back into the floor. Black dots cross my vision, and my head begins throbbing in pain. But I can only moan. He finally gets up and threads his fingers through my hair, letting go of my throat. I don’t even have the time to breathe in, as he takes me by the hair, dragging me from his office. I scream from the pain of being dragged by my hair, the sounds echoing off the walls of this massive house.

Once we reach the stairs, he picks me up and throws me over his shoulder as if I weigh nothing. I am kicking and screaming and begging because I am terrified he is about to take me and break my jaw.

Once we reach our bedroom, he throws me on the bed. As soon as I get my bearings, I hop out of the bed and make a run for the door but am tackled to the floor as soon as I try. Luca puts his foot on my chest, holding me down.

“Don’t fucking move.” He heads into the bathroom.

I sit up and sit there silently sobbing. I just have to interfere. Why does he have to drag me into this? No, why does that girl have to show up here? If she has just stayed put, I wouldn’t have tried to save her life even after she has tried to fight me.

Luca reemerges from the bathroom with a pair of scissors in his hands, and my eyes go wide. What the fuck is he about to do to me?

“I’m going to give you a choice. You can sit still, or you can try to run. But if you try to run from me again, you will not like what happens.” He yanks me off the ground and sits me on the bed. He threads his fingers through my hair, not saying a word.

“You have a pattern, Elise. Every morning after you shower, you brush your hair. Twenty-three times on the left and twenty-three strokes on the right. Before you go to bed, you brush your hair. Fifteen strokes on the left and fifteen strokes on the right.” He raises the scissors, and my brain finally connects the dots.

I stiffen. “Oh god, no, Luca, please—”

I am cut off as he roughly squeezes my mouth together.

“Don’t you dare beg! It’ll only make things worse.” He goes back to stroking my hair.

“I love your hair. So thick and soft and long. But you know who else loves it? You do.”

He brings the scissors up, and I don’t hesitate. I jump up from the bed and sprint to the door, only to be jerked back by the very thing I am trying to save. Luca throws me down on the ground, and my face collides with the carpet. I can feel as he pulls on my strands, a giant wad, and as the echo of the scissors cutting sounds, the grip he has on my hair loosens. Strands fall on each side of my face. Long strands.

I open my mouth and scream. And scream. And scream. I am cut off as Luca reaches around me and clasps his hand around my mouth. He lifts my dress and yanks my underwear down. I am screaming and mumbling underneath his hand, but he doesn’t listen in the slightest. He enters me roughly, and the tears continue to flow out of my eyes.

As he lies on top of me, fucking me roughly, his hand snakes down around my throat.

“The next time you decide to get into things that aren’t your business, I suggest you think about the consequences,” he groans out roughly into my ears.

I look at the piles of hair that has fallen around me and cry harder.

He continues to violate me, not caring what he has just done is completely awful. Not caring he is punishing me for saving a life. The innocent life of a woman whose heart he has broken.

He is evil. He is sick. And he is heartless. And I belong to him.

Till death do us part.