NALEDI’S POV
I felt like the devil’s incarnate.
As I looked at the mirror in my bathroom, Draken’s words poured into my mind repeatedly. Marcus had been honest with me. They had told me the truth.
I spot the faded mark on my neck. It was almost gone like it was never there to begin with. Just like every hope of having Caellum back was plunged into an abyss. Never to be heard of again.
A wry smile made its way to my face. My life was a lie. A rogue tear dripped down my face, rolling onto my neck. How had I been so blinded? I felt even more trashy when I realised that a sick part of me wanted it to be a lie.
A sick part of me still couldn’t believe that my dad had been that terrible of a person. That my dad had sold me and started this war that ravaged many because of his greediness.
All my life, I hated the Cosa Nostra; lived in hate and did everything evil under the guise of training to eradicate scums like Arturo from the earth, when I was from the loins of a bigger scum.
Truly, life would test you with the things you think you are better than. My entire life was a testament to that. I was a product of the crime I hated the most. For the most of my life, I let the Cosa Nostra bear the consequences for my condition when truly it was a direct result of my father’s wickedness.
Another bitter pill to swallow was the fact that I betrayed Caellum.
One would think that putting it out there would make me feel a bit better but I felt worse. I felt like the scum of the earth. I betrayed my own mate. I was no better than my father who sold his daughter.
I was no better than Arturo who had a hand in the reason his wife was killed by my father. I was in the same category as them, and now Caellum was paying for it. My heart pricked when I thought of the damage I had caused.
I hopped out of the shower and got dressed. It was only a matter of time before Draken showed up. Hopefully, he was in a good mood this time, the last thing I needed was to get my ass beat once again. I was only recovering from the abuse from last time.
On a second thought, I figured maybe I needed to be beaten. Maybe getting beat up was not that bad of an idea. Despite the things I did, Caellum never set his hands on me, he threatened fire and brimstone and every second till the day I rejected him, I felt the pain he did but turned a blind eye to it.
I was so consumed by hate and the past that I forgot every good thing he had done for me and focused on the bad and ugly aspects of things. The worst part of it was that he didn’t even punish me. He rejected me and let me go.
And a side of me knew that it was because he loved me. He loved me so much, he couldn’t do that to me even when I rightly deserved it. He loved me and was true to his love until the very end.
The door broke open and I looked up to see Draken. He walked into the room and shut the door behind him. “Attai,”
I hated that name, I wanted to rid myself of it. Not just because that was a name given to me by his father but because I had assumed that personality was a coping mechanism for the lie I had lived.
I became Attai to pay back the debt I thought the Cosa Nostra owed, but now that reverse was the case, I just felt like the name stood as a representation of the monster I was.
A representation of the evil I had become, the people I had killed and the ones I betrayed. It had become a representation of the many things I hated about myself.
Draken walked towards me, and I bowed my head on instinct. That was the reaction he expected, I didn’t miss the delight in his eyes, seeing me bowed and hiding my eyes from him.
“Good girl.” He cooed, pacing around the room.
I suddenly felt conscious. What the hell did he plan to do this time around?
“Last night got me thinking.” He stared at me with a longing look.
His grey orbs reminded me of his father.
“You were sold to Papa by your father.” I felt like I had been slapped once again by the truth. “You are rightly supposed to be a maid,” He tilted his head and sported an insane smile, “You should be my pet, willing to do anything I want but I have a better idea.”
He grabbed my neck tightly and I looked into his eyes, finding it hard to breathe but refusing to make it obvious. “You helped me take down the Cosa Nostra.”
My resistance perished and I began to cough, struggling against his hold. “You got in there and gave us everything we needed to become the no 1 mafia pack in the underworld.”
I didn’t realise things were that bad. Just how badly was Caellum ruined by the loss of his shipment? The thought of Draken at the helm of affairs was scary. He was too unstable and sick in the head to be without supervision and constraints that being the lower tier of the three mafia families provided.
He let go of me and a painful air filled my lungs once again. I blinked back the water that pooled in my eyes as a result of his assault. “I hate you for leaving me, Attai.” He said in a soft tone, rolling a loc of my hair in his finger.
“I hate that you let yourself be touched by that bastard.” He tightened his hold on my hair and I winced. “I hate that you killed my father and ran away, making me worry about what’s mine.” Tighter. “But you have become too valuable to me.”
“I want you to be my bride, Attai.” He whispered into my ears and my blood turned cold. “You were sold to us and you have proven yourself to be a worthy investment. I just need to smoothen your edges and in no time, you will be ready and good to go.”
“What do you say Attai? Are you ready to be my Donna?”
I didn’t say a word, there was nothing to say. There was no way in hell that I’d become his bride. It had to be over my dead body. Draken must have read the look on my face, because the next minute, he hit me on the face.
“How dare you despise me?!” He looked like a rabid dog.
I didn’t know what came over me, but for some reason, I wanted the pain. I pursed my lip, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing me squirm.
“You will regret crossing me.” He seethed and the next thing I knew, I was reduced to a punching bag by Draken, who hammered his fists on me, leaving me writhing in pain.
That continued until I could hardly see correctly. “You will be my queen, Attai. I promise you that.”