Chapter 65 - SIXTY FIVE

Chapter 65: Chapter SIXTY FIVE

ANGEL

The knife came down. But Vincenzo’s hand shot up and caught my wrist mid-strike, stopping the blade inches from his throat.

For one suspended breath, I could see my reflection warped in the metal.

Neither of us moved. His eyes gleamed with surprise, and then hurt. Almost like he didn’t believe I would actually hurt him.

I took the chance, using his immobility to my advantage, attempting to shove the knife again.

He caught my wrist. And twisted.

His movements weren’t violent. Just enough pressure that forced my fingers to spring open against my will.

The knife clattered to the floor, my only weapon.

"No!" I lunged for it but Vincenzo was already moving. He kicked the knife to a spot in the room where my eyes couldn’t reach.

"Angel, stop it!" He pulled me against him, his muscular arms wrapping around my body and squeezed me tight.

My chest flattened against his, my arms pinned between us as I thrashed and fought.

"Let me GO!" The scream tore from my throat, raw and animal. "Let me go let me go LET ME—"

"No. Not until you calm down," His voice was calm. Patient. Infuriatingly gentle in a way that made me angrier.

I fought harder, but it was like fighting a body carved from stone.

Vincenzo held me, absorbing every desperate attempt to break free.

His arms never loosened. It didn’t hurt either; he simply held me.

Minutes passed with tears streaking down my face, my muscles were starting to burn and my lungs were craving for air.

The adrenaline that had been fueling me started to drain away, leaving only exhaustion in its wake.

I collapsed against him, my legs giving out. Sobs replaced my struggles, tearing from my chest in broken, gasping sounds.

"You sent me to him," I choked out a ragged whisper. "You sent me to that island. And then—then things got better. I was happy. I was his. And you—Why did you come back? Why did you have to come back to ruin everything again? I don’t want to be here!"

Vincenzo didn’t answer my questions, he just held me while I fell apart against his chest.

"I came too late. I’m sorry." He said quietly.

"You shouldn’t have come at all." I snarled hatefully. "I didn’t want you. I only wanted Daddy. Only him—"

The words barely came out of my venomous lips when Vincenzo’s eyes flashed with something dark and furious. It lasted for a few seconds before he buried it again beneath that calm exterior.

"Damien’s not coming back, Angel." His voice remained gentle despite whatever raged beneath his darkened eyes. "He’s gone. For good." He said.

"No, he won’t die that easily, he’s going to come back for me." I shook my head violently.

"Angel—"

"He’s COMING!" I screamed it into Vincenzo’s face. A harsh bitter laughter erupted from my throat. "He can’t be dead, he promised to take me back, just the both of us..."

"The building collapsed." Vincenzo’s voice cut through my hysteria. His eyes were gentle despite the violent words he spoke next.

"The temperature inside reached over two thousand degrees Fahrenheit. That’s hot enough to melt steel. Hot enough to turn bone to ash."

"Stop," I said, but he kept talking, each word a nail in a coffin I didn’t want to accept.

His hand came up to cup my face, his thumb tracing my jaw as he forced me to look at him. "Even if he survived the initial collapse, and somehow made it through the fire, the building came down on top of him. Tons of rubble. There’s nothing left, Angel. Not even bones. Not even his ghost—"

"STOP TALKING!" I was screaming again, hitting him, trying to make him stop talking. "Stop stop stop—"

"He deserved worse than burning for what he did to you. But he’s gone now. He can’t hurt you anymore." He cradled the back of my head, his fingers buried into my hair, holding me against his chest as I sobbed.

"He loved me and you killed him," My cries were muffled against his chest, I had no strength to channel my next words, but I meant it with every fibre of my being.

"I hate you. I hate you so much. You’re a monster. You killed him and I’ll never forgive you. Never. I’ll hate you until I die—"

"I know, baby." Vincenzo pulled tighter against him, letting me pound my fists against his chest. "I know."

"I hate you—"

"I know."

"He was coming for me—"

"I know." His hand stroked my hair like I was a child waking from a nightmare. "But you’re safe now. You’re home."

But this wasn’t home. Home was Damien’s bed. Damien’s arms. Damien’s voice telling me I was his good girl.

This was a prison painted pink.

*

*

The next few days were a blur.

The sun rose and set outside my window but I barely noticed. Time became meaningless, marked only by Vincenzo’s attempts to make me eat and carry out my basic care routine.

"Just a few bites, Angel." He held a spoon to my lips, something that smelled like soup. "Please." He added.

I turned my head away, my stomach roiling. I didn’t want it, food wouldn’t make my chest stop hurting.

"You need to eat. You’re getting weak." His lips compressed into a line.

I said nothing. I haven’t heard my own voice in days now, what was the point?

Daddy was dead.

No, he wasn’t. A hopeful voice in my head whispered. He was coming. Any minute now he’d burst through that door and... the thought died like ash from an incense as soon as it formed.

My door stayed closed. And Damien never came.

"Angel, please." Vincenzo’s voice held an edge now that sounded like desperation. "Just try. For me."

For him? I’d rather starve.

***

More days passed. Or maybe just hours. I couldn’t tell anymore.

My body felt lighter. Weaker. My head floated when I tried to sit up. The room spun in lazy circles all the time. Above all, my tears had completely dried up, maybe it was dehydration, my body couldn’t produce waste if it had no more.

Vincenzo’s face appeared above me, again. He looked different. His expression was hard was the first thing I noticed.

His eyes were different today, the gentle coaxing in them was gone.

"I didn’t want to do this," he said, his eyes possessing a faint hint of regret before they hardened into something determined. Cruel.

That was when I noticed them, two women in white lab coats appeared, I could see their medical equipment and an IV stand.

No. I shook my head when Vincenzo gestured to them and they began to approach.

"Don’t touch me!" I tried to fight but my body wouldn’t cooperate. My limbs were made of lead. I was too weak to even move but I couldn’t let them do this to me.

Using every last bit of my strength, I flailed at them violently. "Get away from me!" I snarled.

"Should we hold her down?" One of the women suggested, already reaching for my arm.