Lahat ng Kabanata ng Submitting To The Devil - The Devil's Snare - Book Two : Kabanata 81 - Kabanata 90

Continued: "No, I'm here. Right where I should be. I'm here for you, Bianca. Only you." "You can't heal these ugly parts of me," she tells me desperately, but I hear more than her telling me something. I listen to her convincing herself she can't be healed. She's so wrong. "I don't care; I accept them. I accept all of you, Bee." "Why?" she asks in a quiet and frightened tone. Her disbelief is flavoursome, and I hate it. I think long and hard about my answer, but it comes down to one thing. "Because I can," I tell her with a look that I hope transpires everything I'm not saying. Because I love you should have been the words that left my mouth, but it's the wrong time to say such things, especially when the feeling is so new and appeared so quickly that even I'm tripping over this emotion I've run from all my life. "I'm ugly, horribly ugly inside, Niko." "And I'll love those ugly parts just the same; now, do you want to talk about it or save that conversation for lat

Continued: "We're going outside," he tells me quietly, almost as if he's speaking numbly. It's as if he knows I'm going to object, yethe's not going tochange his mind. "You won't change your mind, will you?" "We have no choice. I need to make a plan, and I need information before we make any decisions." "Then you should know she was here with Benji. I don't know why, but he was here for her," I reveal, reaching inside my bra to bring the piece of paper out. I slip it into his hand, and he frowns. "You won't be long?" I ask. "I'll be as quick as I can, Bee." With that, he kissed me tenderly before passing me one of his guns, and then he encouraged me back to the sofa, which was the most uncomfortable chair I had ever sat on in my life. And then he and Sven left through the door we entered through. I watched Alexandra with keen interest as she shook herself and the chair she sat on when the door showed her the route to freedom. "Are you in a relationship with him?

Continued: "Majority should rule, no?" I frown. "If only that's how it worked. Elders still have a say, and Dimitri won't go against those he worked alongside. I hate to tell you, but the men he worked closely with hold a place in his heart. Dimitri is nothing if not loyal to those who served him and alongside him." "So where do I fit into this and Bianca?" "Dimitri might seem like a, ah, what do you English call it? A vicious man, but he's honestly just living up to the man his father wished him to be. Like me, you are Dimitri's good deed. A way into the pearly gates if they are indeed real. He's kept you close because he feels the need to protect you. Same for the girl, Dimitri takes the blame for her father's death, and now he has given her to you and you to her as a way to make amends." "It's a forced marriage," I spit in disbelief. "A convenient forced marriage that has brought you happiness you would never have allowed yourself, you mean? I'm sure the girl was the sa

Continued: She shakes back and forth again, her frustration palpable as she convulses in her own whirlwind of anger. Just then, three sharp knocks reverberate through the space around us, stirring a wave of dread within me. I remain frozen behind the door, fear lancing at the thought that her father might be here for me. The sheer anxiety of that possibility grips me, rendering me motionless, and I can't help but think that this stillness might very well be my undoing. I tremble as the door swings open with that familiar whoosh, the accompanying sound of the metal scraping. This time, it's Sven who steps inside, his presence imposing as it always is, and right behind him is a dishevelled-looking Lucia, her hair tousled and windswept and a look of distress etched across her face. Sven's eyes dart to mine, wide with alarm, and I feel a matching surge of concern as he instinctively positions himself protectively in front of Lucia as if I were the danger he was paid to shield her fro

Niko Lucia holds Bianca close; her evident need to protect Bianca radiates from her every gesture. I can see the depth of her concern that she holds, and it tugs at my heart to know Bianca has someone who cares beyond me. It's comforting, in a way, for if anything happens to me, at least I know there's someone else to be Bianca's pillar. Still, I can't shake the longing to rudely intervene and take Bianca aside, not to diminish Lucia's care but to provide her with a different comfort in a more private manner, where she might feel free to express herself without restraint just as she has done in the days before this evening. Most importantly, I need to assess her emotional turmoil. Instead, I refrain from intervening. I watch silently as Lucia gently guides Bianca toward the sofa. They settle down together, the cushions moulding around them, creating a cosy nook where their conversation can unfold. "And at last, she shatters," Alexandra cackles, her voice slicing through the air