Heartless Prince by Brook Wilder

Chapter 25

Leda

 

I didn’t understand what was going on, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that I liked what had just happened. I liked that he had dominated me, that he had taken me and came inside of me even though I begged him not to.

 

The right person would have fought back. The right person should have fought back. The right person wouldn’t have reached out to cradle his balls right before he emptied himself inside of her—like she wasn’t just as wanton as her kidnapper was.

 

I hadn’t done any of those things. I didn’t even think about fighting back. Instead, I allowed Valentino to order me around like I was some sort of slave craving her master’s touch. I let him inside of me. I held him there while he filled me.

 

Swallowing the harsh truth, I climbed off the bed and walked to the bathroom, wincing as I did so. My ass was sore from his slaps, but I knew that I would be sore for other reasons come the morning. Most of the women I had been around in my adult life had lost their virginity long ago.

 

None of them told me what to expect. They all assumed that I was like them and knew my way around a guy.

 

Judging by how my body instinctively reacted to Valentino, maybe that was the right assumption.

 

A bubble of laughter escaped me before it turned into an all-out sob, and I quickly turned on the shower to drown it out.

 

I wasn’t upset about what I had done. What I was upset about was that I didn’t know what the hell was going on and what would come next.

 

What would Valentino do now? Had he accomplished what he had set out to do, and was he now going to kill me?

 

Or was this part of his plan to take my virginity and now flaunt it in front of my father so that he would know he couldn’t sell me again? I would be tainted goods, though I somehow doubted that would stop Carmine D’Agostino from getting what he wanted in the end. He had been extremely specific in what his plans were for me.

 

The water felt hot on my skin as I stepped inside, sliding down the wall of the shower before drawing my knees to my chest. Whatever Valentino did decide to do with me, it was a far better thought than what my father had in store.

 

I’d rather be Valentino’s slave, to have him fuck me repeatedly night in and night out, than to be married off to some Don that my father had picked out.

 

A laugh escaped me as I thought about how my father was likely spewing venom at this moment, having lost his opportunity to take the reins of his own Mafia once more. It was disbanded, disgraced, and probably never likely to pull back together again, at least not under my father’s thumb.

 

That was enough for me to face whatever was next. Knowing that my father was ruined beyond his comprehension would keep me warm at night.

 

My father had summoned me from my summer vacation in France. It was supposed to be a present that he gave me for my high school graduation.

 

When I walked into my father’s study, I saw him sitting behind his desk like he always did. My stomach twisted. There would only be bad news “Leda,” he stated, not looking up from his papers on the desk. “Did you have fun in France?”

 

I straightened my shoulders. “Why would you care?”

 

He chuckled, but the laughter never reached his eyes. “You have no problems spending my money to do so. Don’t you think that entitles me to know whether or not you enjoyed it?”

 

“What do you want?” I asked instead.

 

He was right. I had spent his money without a care in the world. I was finally free of him, or would be the moment I packed up my things and headed off to college.

 

My father leaned back in the chair, placing his hands behind his head. “I’ve summoned you here to tell you of your future.”

 

“My future?” I asked. “I’ve already gotten into Columbia. That’s where I’ll be heading in a few weeks.”

 

“No, you aren’t,” he replied. “You don’t need college for what I have planned for you.”

 

Sweat broke out over my skin. “I’m eighteen now. You can’t tell me what to do.” More so, I wanted the freedom, the independence of not being under his thumb any longer. I had done everything he had wanted me to for eighteen years.

 

The look he gave me said that I could not have been more wrong.

 

“You will be wed,” he stated after a minute. “To a husband of my choosing when the time is right.”

 

My mouth dropped open. Married? “I—”

 

“This is not a negotiation, Leda,” he continued. “You will not run, or I will hunt you down and deal with you myself. Your brother will also suffer, so keep that in mind if you decide to fuck me over.”

 

My lips parted, and I wanted to tell him how I truly felt about him, that I wasn’t going to go along with his precious plans. But the moment he threw in Nico’s name, I knew I had no choice. My brother had already suffered so much under my father’s watchful eye, hating him just as much as I hated him. I couldn’t let him take any more hurt, any more pain.

 

I couldn’t let Nico take the fall for anything related to me.

 

“So, my dutiful daughter,” he stated, leaning forward. “Do we have an understanding?”

 

I lifted my chin, ignoring the devastation swirling in my gut. “We do, father.”

 

He smirked. “That’s what I like to hear. Go get dressed. We are having a soiree tonight, and I expect you to be all smiles and your usual gracious self.”

 

It took all I had to walk out of the study and not do something stupid like shoot him on the spot. If I did, many would cheer, that was for certain.

 

My legs trembled as I walked up the stairs to my room, waiting until my door was shut before I slid against it, letting myself fall to the floor. My father was still ruling my life, and all hopes of me getting away from him were now a moot point.

 

I was never going to get away from Carmine D’Agostino.

 

Never.

 

Shaking out of the horrible memory that had spawned all this, I rose from the floor and washed Valentino’s scent from my skin.

 

I had learned to be stronger than I ever had been, to not let anyone get their claws into me and await the day that I would be handed over to my husband, a husband that my father had chosen for me. And now those plans went to shit, and it was all because of the man who had just left his seeds inside of me.

 

The thought that he did such a thing sent a tremor through me. I was already craving Valentino’s touch again. I could only hope that it wasn’t the last time he did that to me, or anything else for that matter.

 

I had enjoyed it, and my mind was whirling with possibilities of what he could do next time.

 

Or at how I could push him.

 

A little smile flirted on my lips as I thought about my original plan to get him to lose control so that I could find his weakness. He had certainly broken down my walls.

 

And though I had no idea what to expect next, I knew that I reached something inside of him.

 

That was a start.

 

Snorting, I shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. I pulled the towel down off the rack and covered myself. I was used to covering up my internal pain with a smile, a sneer, a flick of the wrist.

 

I could do the same with him.

 

The wardrobe still had nothing but lingerie hanging there. As much as I wished I had some comfortable pajamas, I slipped on a black floor-length gown with an exposed back, and climbed into bed. Exhaustion washed over me and I was suddenly aware of just how tired I was. The sheets smelled like him, and heaven help me, I might have pressed my face into them.

 

I already wanted him again.

 

That couldn’t be good.

 

It didn’t take me long to fall asleep, however.

 

My body was sated.

 

And my dreams were filled with Valentino.