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  That sick bastard truly had ruined her. He'd made her crave the pain. Luckily for her, I was more than happy to dole it out on her vulnerable little body.

  "The bride and groom have prepared their own vows," the priest said. "Would you like to go first, Maximillian?"

  One last shot. Here we go.

  "Ophelia," I started. "I met you when I was just a young boy, but the moment I saw you, I knew you were a special little girl. A princess. Always have been, always will be."

  She looked away as if she couldn't stand to look at me. I persisted. One last shot.

  "I loved you from afar," I said. "And I will love you from up close... I want to see your soul, Ophelia. I want you to know it's always belonged here, with mine. And I'm ready to spend the rest of my life proving to you that we belong together."

  The guests oooh-ed and aah-ed, but Ophelia still wouldn't look at me.

  "Beautiful," the priest said. "Ophelia, please go next."

  This time she looked straight into my eyes and loudly announced, "No."

  A hush fell upon the church and I grit my teeth together painfully.

  "Stupid little bitch," I hissed at her. "You're going to pay for that."

  I hoped the whole fucking church heard because I wanted every one of them to see what I was going to do to my not-so-innocent little bride.

  "Yes, well," the priest cleared his throat. "Let's continue without, then."

  He launched into some long tirade about love and marriage while Ophelia and I turned to listen to him. My hand was still on hers and I purposefully dug my nails into her skin until I drew blood. I smiled while I watched her bottom lip tremble from trying to hold back the tears.

  The priest went on and on, but it worked fine for me. I used the time to hurt her more and more until I watched the first tear slip down her cheek with satisfaction. I wanted her to scream next.

  "If anyone has a reason why these two shouldn't marry," the priest said. "Speak now or forever hold your peace."

  The crowd went silent and I hurt Ophelia harder. She whimpered. The moment was intense, the tension could've been cut with a knife. I waited for my brother, but he never spoke. I wasn't even sure whether he was there.

  "Anybody?" the priest asked, and I stared him down.

  "Move the fuck on," I growled, and he gave me a fearful look before returning to his old book.

  "Right, well," he said thoughtfully. "Let's-"

  A massive boom ruptured the silence like a bubble popping. Smoke filled the air, and a moment later, the screaming started.

  "No," Ophelia whispered, sagging against my arms. "No. No. No. No."

  "Shut the fuck up," I hissed at her, grabbing her by her legs and putting her on my shoulder.

  I needed to get her the fuck out there. I needed to fucking save her.

  Her screams were ear-piercing as I carried her out. There were so many obstacles I could barely move, and the smoke was so thick I couldn't see five inches in front of me. It was terrifying. My heart pumped with unspeakable fear but there was only one thing on my mind, only one thing that mattered at all.

  Save Ophelia.

  Get Ophelia out of there.

  Save my girl.

  Someone blocked my path and screamed when someone shot at them. The woman collapsed in front of me, smearing my tux with her blood. The gunfire had started.

  "Not again," Ophelia whispered. "Not again. No. Not again. No. No."

  "It's okay," I tried to tell her. "I'll get you out of here."

  I suddenly realized what I had been so desperate to do from the start. I wanted to save her. I wanted to rescue my princess like I hadn't done on her birthday because I was a weak wimp. But that boy was gone forever. Now, I was going to show Ophelia who I truly, what I was made of.

  While I was walking, shots were being fired all over. We were almost by the door when one of them grazed my leg.

  My knees gave out in surprise and I collapsed to the ground but managed to catch Ophelia in my arms.

  "Are you okay?" I asked her worriedly. "Are you okay, princess?"

  "Get off me," she cried out. "Just let me fucking go!"

  She started hitting me, her little fists coming out of nowhere, slamming into any spot of me she could reach.

  I grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her on top of me, my eyes wide with shock.

  "Ophelia," I said. "Please, stop. I'm trying to help you!"

  "Like always, right?" she cried out hysterically. "You're always just trying to help! You couldn't let me be happy, could you?"

  "Happy?" I repeated incredulously. "Happy, when were you last happy, Ophelia? Before that son of a bitch killed your parents?"

  "No," she hissed, pushing me away. "With him."

  She ran away from me and because my leg hurt so fucking badly I couldn't move an inch. The smoke started to disperse and they emerged out of it together, holding hands like they were high school fucking sweethearts.

  "Hello," Kain called out cheerfully. "How lovely to see you all!"

  He kicked over a chair and jumped on it to get on top of the church pews.

  "I bet some of you remember me," Kain said with a charming smile. "All of you should have died five years ago. But it's okay!"

  He laughed, reaching out to my girl and helping her get up with him.

  "You get to die now!" he announced, and more gunshots pierced the air.

  We were all screaming. I didn't recognize the sound of my own voice to any of the others. It was complete, utter madness, and it instantly transported me to Ophelia's eighteenth.

  My eyes sought out my mother and father, but I couldn't find them. I tried to find Ryker but failed again.

  "Oh, and in case I haven't mentioned," Kain laughed out loud. "I object!"

  Chapter 23

  Ophelia

  I stared up at Kain with a bright smile on my face.

  He'd saved me. He'd come for me.

  I thought I'd gone from one trap to another, but very soon after arriving at Max's house, I realized I'd traded home for a prison.

  My Kain was heaven and hell, and I needed him more than I'd ever needed anything else. More than my next breath, more than my next orgasm. My body screamed for him and my mind demanded him. He was my perfect match and it took him being ripped away from me to realize I belonged at his side.

  For Kain, I would be a villain. A lover. A slut. A dolly. For him, I would be anything in the world.

  Kain jumped down from the church pew and approached Max who was groaning on the floor. I'd told Kain he wasn't allowed to kill either of the Marinos, and he'd begrudgingly agreed. I knew he would spare Max, but because of the way he'd treated me the past few weeks, I smirked at him, knowing he was hurting all over.

  "I heard you hurt my girl," Kain told him with a frown. "I don't like that very much."

  "Get away from me," Max snarled.

  "No, no, no," Kain laughed. "We need to have a long conversation first, my dear Maximillian. See, I'm not sure you actually remember me, do you?"

  "Remember?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Of course I remember you, you piece of shit... you motherfucking... killer!"

  "Ah, excellent!" Kain clapped his hands. "So you remember anything from before that?"

  "Like what?" Max stared up at him, breathing heavily.

  I noticed his leg was folded awkwardly and wondered whether he'd broken it when he fell earlier. A small twinge of compassion shot through my heart but died a lonely death when I remembered all the times Max had mistreated me.

  "Do you maybe remember..." Kain said thoughtfully, tapping a finger on his chin. "A nanny you had when you were younger?"

  "Miss Moretti?" Max asked in confusion.

  "No, no, before her," Kain grinned at me. "Allegra Bianchi. Remember her?"

  Max gave him a blank stare, shrugging.

  "Ah, you don't," Kain laughed. "See, she was my mother. She was also your father's lover."

  "What?" Max laughed nervously. "My father didn't have love
rs. Never has, never will."

  "See, that's where you're wrong," Kain said thoughtfully. "Because I know for a fact he was having an affair with Allegra."

  "You can't be sure," Max shook his head. "You don't have proof!"

  "But I do," Kain laughed. "Because I'm the baby he sent her away to have."

  "You?" Max asked in shock. "You're trying to say..."

  "Yes, big brother," Kain smiled wide, grinning at me as well. "Isn't that right, Ophelia?"

  "I... Yes," I whispered, recovering from my own shock.

  The puzzle pieces were falling into places, fucking finally.

  "See, Michael didn't want his perfect little family threatened by a poor Sicilian girl," Kain went on. "So he sent her back to his family. He never checked on her again... Until the boy was seven years old. Oh, then he got interested."

  "Wh-what?" Max asked incredulously.

  "That's when Daddy dearest sent over his team," Kain said, grinning. "He made sure to tell them to kill Allegra's new husband, first. Hanged him in front of the boy. Seven years old. He was seven years old. Then, they smashed everything in their house. And then they killed his mother before his eyes. Shot her in the face."

  "Stop," Max begged him, growing paler and paler.

  "But that's only the beginning of the story," Kain laughed. "See, Michael decided the boy owed him his life. Doesn't matter that he was his son! He had a debt, and he needed to pay it. So he made the boy work odd jobs here and there, getting him in juvi a couple times. When he got out, he had a big task for him. And it involved Ophelia Sokolov."

  "Of course it was useful getting rid of her family," Kain went on. "But what he really wanted to do was to get rid of his son."

  Kain came closer to Max and grinned into his face. "And it wasn't me this time around. Sorry, bud."

  "You can't be serious," Max said brokenly. "My father would never... He couldn't..."

  "Oh, but he did," Kain laughed. "He knew Ophelia would pick Ryker, the stronger son. He condemned you to die. Think about it, Max. Who rescued you from that hell you were in?"

  "I..." Max started, realization dawning on him. "I saved myself. Nobody came for me. They couldn't find me."

  "Or," Kain suggested. "They knew exactly where you were. They just didn't bother getting you back. You were meant to die, Max. Your father wanted you dead."

  "That's not true," Max said weakly. "He would never... ever do that."

  "Oh, he did more than just that," Kain went on. "When your brother found out, he offered him a choice. Take your place, or be the black sheep of the family, never telling anyone what he knew. What do you think he chose?"

  "He... what?" Max whispered. "He told me he loved Ophelia... Before the wedding. He told me he fucking loved her."

  "Looks like he changed his mind," Kain laughed out loud. "Too late, isn't it? She doesn't want either of you."

  He hugged my waist and I kissed his cheek while we stared at Max.

  "So what will it be, Max?" Kain asked. "I'll give you a choice too. Join us... or we'll leave you here to your father's mercy. And remember, he already wanted you dead a long time ago."

  "Don't," he said roughly. "Don't make me choose, please."

  "You have five seconds," Kain announced cheerfully. "Five, four. Three... better hurry... Two... One..."

  A gunshot sounded through the room.

  I screamed when a hole appeared in Max's forehead and blood dripped out of the wound. His eyes remained opened, but any essence of who used to be was dripping out of the hole in his head and all over the church floor. I started screaming as Kain grabbed my waist.

  "Motherfuckers," Michael screamed out loud.

  He was shot, maybe more than once, his shirt soaked with blood. But he was still holding on to the gun that he'd just killed his son with.

  "He was never my real son," Michael said as he regarded us. "And neither were you, Kain. So you better fucking accept that."

  He fired his gun again, and it struck Kain's arm.

  I screamed louder than ever.

  Several men ran into the scene, and suddenly Kain was collapsing on me, breathing roughly as we were pulled away. More screaming, more gunshots. Fucking madness as they dragged us out of the church. I couldn't see Ryker anywhere and my heart was still pounding from what had happened. I realized Max was gone, gone, gone. Dead. His father did it. His father took his life.

  I started to scream again.

  Someone threw us in a van that started moving in seconds. We were driving away from the church at neck-break speed, and the sounds of my terror were masked by the sound of screeching tires. Someone was helping Kain, getting his shirt off and looking at the bullet wound. It was deep, and his eyes found mine as another man poured vodka all over him. He lapped at it.

  "It's going to hurt," the other man said.

  "Do it," Kain roared.

  The man reached into his bullet wound and pulled out the bullet. Kain roared with pain and I cried harder, desperate to cling to him but too afraid to do so just yet.

  "Hold him down," the man instructed me, and I lay on top of my Master as the man cleaned his wound.

  Kain was shaking, and so was I. But he held onto me the whole ride, waiting until I stopped crying and then whispering sweet nothings into my ear to calm me down even though he was probably freaked out as hell himself.

  "You're going to be okay," he told me. "I've got you now, and I'll make sure nothing bad happens again."

  Even with Michael still somewhere out there, I believed him.

  And I stayed by his side until we arrived at our destination.

  Chapter 24

  Kain

  Later that night, I was on a fuckton of meds feeling at least a little bit more normal. My dolly lay by my side and I was toying with her hair. We hadn't spoken about everything just yet. There'd been no time, and it seemed as if there was something else on her mind.

  "You took me back," she whispered, her pretty lips slightly open and making me want to bite them. "You took me back, Kain."

  "Of course," I said through gritted teeth. "How could I not, dolly? We belong together."

  She whimpered as I moved closer to her, my fingers wrapping around her thick mane of hair and my mouth finding hers. I kissed her hard and deep, demanding she gave me everything she'd been hiding from the Marinos. I knew my girl well enough after five years. I knew she'd been waiting for me. I knew I was the one she'd pick in the end. It didn't matter that she'd gotten a little confused first. She was mine since the beginning of time.

  "You taste like grapefruit," I groaned against her lips. "Are you using the products I got you?"

  "Yes," she whispered. "I made him get them for me... Thorn, and then Max."

  "Good girl," I muttered, tugging on her hair roughly so her hair flew back. "Have you been good like I told you to be?"

  "Yes," she promised. "I did everything, just like we talked about."

  I grinned at my dolly and smoothed down her hair.

  "I knew you would be a good little dolly," I told her. "I knew you'd do exactly as I asked. Tell me what you found out."

  She leaned forward and started whispering in my ear as my fingers stroked her hair, her neck. My mouth set in a thin line as she told me everything, and I felt myself getting angrier and angrier as I came to realize what her life had been like for the past few months. It wasn't Thorn - though I was still pissed at that bastard for taking her away from me - that was the problem. It was the Marinos, just like always, stirring up shit and making things difficult for my girl.

  When she told me what that bastard Max did to her, I was fucking happy he was dead. He deserved it for the way he'd treated my dolly. She deserved gentle, sweet touches and rough fucking that made her come like a fountain. She deserved having her hair pulled and being told what a filthy slut she was. She deserved me, and I deserved her. I swore to myself I wouldn't let another man touch her.

  "I'm going to hurt everyone who laid a finger on you," I told her darkly, a
nd she pulled on my shirt when I started to move away.

  "Please," she begged, her voice breaking over the simple word. "Not Thorn."

  "Not Thorn," I agreed after a moment's hesitation. "Not Thorn, dolly. I'll spare him."

  "Thank you," she whispered, and I pulled her into my arms when I sat down on the armchair.

  Her arms wrapped around my neck and we were kissing again, the villains of someone else's story and the heroes of our own. She tasted familiar and good, and it calmed me down. I wanted to bury myself to the hilt inside her sweet little pussy. I wanted to taste every inch of her skin to see if the scent of grapefruit lingered like I'd wanted it to.

  "Spread your legs," I muttered into her ear, and she slipped into a more comfortable position on my lap, straddling me as if that was what she was made to do all along. "Good fucking girl. Come on, panties to the side. Let me see your pretty pink pussy."

  She mewled as she reached for the panties, her ruined dress getting in the way. I growled and grabbed the stained fabric, ripping it off her and glaring into her eyes as I got rid of the last trace of the Marino brothers. While I stripped her, my dolly threw her head back and laughed for me, a sweet and melodic sound that made my dick swell impossibly in my pants.

  I didn't stop until she was naked, ripping even her panties off in one stroke. She was shivering, her skin covered in goosebumps as she awaited my next touch, my next attack. I was painfully hard for her and yet I could do nothing but stare at her fucking gorgeous body. Thank God that bastard hadn't left a mark. If he had, I'd regret not being the one to kill him.

  My fingers brushed her freckle, traveling downwards and toying with her inner thigh until she begged with her eyes for more.

  "Please," she whispered. "I need more, Kain."

  "What do you need?" I asked her sweetly, my mouth leaving soft bites and kisses all the way down her neck.

  "I need you forever," she admitted. "I need you to make sure we stay safe, so we can be with each other."