Deadly Nightshade by Sem Thornwood
Chapter 19
Isabella
After my dance with Alessio, I managed to retire to the table. There were many men who wanted to dance with me, but they were not going to force it since now I was a married woman. That was the only good side of my marriage.
Lucky for me, Brando didn’t follow me. He danced one more dance and then got into a talk with my father. I didn’t know if they were talking about me or not, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. I just wanted to talk to Mia, but she didn’t come to the table even though I kept a deadly gaze on her.
Before my husband even returned to the table, my biggest nightmare happened. Those words that I was too afraid to hear all night came. “Bed her.”
It was a tradition that guests would start calling that so that the married couple will go to their room to consummate their marriage.
I always thought those words were going to bring pure fear, but even though the fear was there, I was also shocked. Of course, someone has to start all the chanting, but I was not expecting that person to be Antonio. He really gave a start to the tradition, which was going to end up with me alone in a room with Brando Panaro.
There was something sketchy was going on. I didn’t have time to figure it out, but I only hoped that it was not something that was going to get Alessio or Antonio killed.
When almost every man in the ballroom started calling “Bed her, bed her,” Brando made his way to our table with a huge grin on his face. He looked happy, but the hunger in his eyes made my fear so much stronger. Now even my shock couldn’t suppress the horrible feelings down.
He held out his hand like a true gentleman like he was not the man who threatened to hurt me at every chance he got. “Come on, dear wife.”
Wife. Oh, that word sent a chill down my spine. The worst kind of chill.
In the presence of all these people, there was no way I could deny him. Especially when all of them kept shouting for him to bed me. And even if I did, there was no one that could save me. That’s why I put my hand in his obediently and let him lead me into the elevator through the excited crowd.
“Don’t break her, Panaro.”
“Get your heir.”
“We will be expecting sheets in the morning.”
Could they just shut up? The situation was already horrible on its own.
Just before the elevator doors closed, he answered all of them at once. “I intend to enjoy my young bride very much, thank you all.” And then the doors closed, leaving all the laughter outside. I didn’t even have time to look for Alessio or Salvatore. They must have felt shitty hearing those things too.
I wished they could have stopped it. Yet, I knew they couldn’t. It was tradition, just like the bloody sheets they were expecting in the morning. Like we were living in the dark ages.
When the number on the elevator started going up, I started to shiver with fear. Brando didn’t say anything, but his hungry gaze was on me. He was undressing me with his eyes which were very uncomfortable, but considering he was about to undress me for real, I didn’t mind it too much. What was coming was way worse than everything he has done so far.
As the elevator reached the top floor, doors opened. There were two royal suites, so the elevator didn’t directly open into one of them. I knew the right door was ours since there was a man in a suit waiting at the door. I couldn’t remember his name, but I knew he was one of the Outfit soldiers.
Brando didn’t even acknowledge the presence of the soldier and gestured with his arm for me to enter first. I did get into the suite and then the bedroom. He followed very close by. I didn’t want to show fear, but I was terrified. Most women in the Outfit were terrified of their first time, but with me, it was even worse. Brando Panaro seriously wanted to hurt me.
“We are finally alone,” he said from behind me. I tried to stay strong, but then he got closer. I could feel his breath on my exposed neck. “You have nowhere to run. Now you have to pay for your sins.”
My sins? Between the two of us, I was sure he was the sinner. However, I was the one that was going to be punished.
His huge hands came to my waist and turned me. Now his face was so close, and my brain was on high alert. I wasn’t supposed to let him kiss me. “Can I freshen up first?”
He smiled wickedly and shook his head. “Oh no, Isabella. I will rip this thing off you and then take you until you learn to be a good girl. You don’t get to prep yourself for that treatment.”
And then his head dipped slowly. Was he really going to kiss me? His words were poisonous. How could he even want to kiss me?
With my survival instinct taking Alessio’s words too seriously, I turned in his hold but didn’t run far away. “I cannot take this dress off myself.”
For a second, he was silent, and I thought I really messed up. Bu then a satisfied groan left his mouth. It sounded wrong in every way. “Maybe you are not as much of a fighter as I thought you are. Anyway, I will enjoy breaking you very much.” His knuckles trailed down my spine until they reached the beginning of my dress. The corset took really long to put on, and it also took considerable time to take off. I was grateful for that until I heard fabric rustling and then feeling a cold metal pressing to my back. “I don’t have time to take this off of you slowly like a lover.”
With a fast move that made me cry out, he cut out my corset. I felt the fabric loosen, and the only thing that kept my front covered were the straps, but then he cut them too. One by one. It was too fast. Faster than I expected.
Again, he turned me around to face him, but this time he didn’t look like he wanted to kiss me. His eyes trailed on my chest, and my arms still holding the fabric to cover myself. There were already tears in my eyes, and the painful part was not even started.
His eyes were a little lazy, probably because of all the booze he had. Then he reached for the fabric I was holding onto like my salvation, and he pulled it away with a jerky move. I had to let it go, and I moved my eyes to the floor since the look in his eyes made me even more frightened.
“Your body is a masterpiece, and now it’s all mine. I cannot wait to fill it with bruises.” Then I felt the tip of his knife between my breasts. With another fast move, he ripped open my white bra, exposing my nipples. He either didn’t calculate his move right, or he wanted to hurt me because he cut me a little, and a drop of blood slowly made its way to my belly.
I didn’t know if Brando liked the sight of me being hurt because I still didn’t look at him. I didn’t want to accept his presence here. The thought of Alessio not being the only man who saw me like this was hurtful enough. I didn’t want to see more of it. I didn’t want his expression on my consciousness.
“Why don’t you look at me?”
I didn’t answer.
“You don’t want to know who is going to fuck you? Oh, my sweet Isabella, you are going to know. You are going to beg me. I will make sure of it.”
Begging huh. I did beg Alessio for pleasure before, but I knew Brando didn’t want that kind of begging. He wanted to see my agony. Sadly, it was very easy for him to have that.
He tugged my dress from my hips so that I was in front of him with only my white thong. I could see him taking off his jacket and then getting closer to me. I tried to prepare myself for him to rip my panties off too, but he didn’t do that. He let go of his knife and then started pushing me back against the bed.
When I fell down to the bed, it was really hard not to look at him. He was still standing, looking at me with a very drunk expression. There was some unease in his eyes, and he was swaying, but it didn’t stop him from looking at me like I was his prey. I expected him to shove down his pants and get it over with, but he was not ready to start and end my agony rapidly. Instead, he leaned down to the bed, barely supporting his weight. He held onto my thigh, which he gripped earlier. “I didn’t like this color. It needs to be darker.”
Then he squeezed it even more, but his grip was not tight. I didn’t know what to do. It hurt, but with every second, it felt like he was losing his strength.
He got even lower and made us get closer, but there was no more lust in his eyes. He looked like he was in pain. “What did you do to me bitch.”
“What?” I couldn’t form any other words.
His breath quickened, and he fell over me while trying to hold onto his own chest. “What did you…” he couldn’t finish the sentence because his breathing was too fast and shallow now. I, on the other hand, was in complete shock. I didn’t know what was happening, but I didn’t want his sweaty body on me.
I tried to push him off, and after two tries, I actually succeeded.
He was really fighting for his life on the bed. One of his hands was over his heart, and his eyes were filled with something I have never seen from him. There was no anger or arrogance. He was looking at me with desperation. At one point, he murmured, “Get help,” but there was no way I was going to save this man from death.
I just stood there frozen and watched him die. My hunter had become prey, and I was utterly shocked. Still, after he took what I guessed was his last breath, I managed to call Alessio.
He answered after one ring, and I could only form two words in my shocked state. “He’s dead.”
