Page 27 of Stolen Vows
Stupid, Stella! You are so stupid. Why would a man like that want someone like you? Why would you matter to someone who sees you as a piece of property to barter and trade with?
Even his earlier admission that he cares for me feels silly when I think about it now. Completely implausible, given we just met yesterday.
I guess I was just holding out hope that it was more for him too. That things felt…different.
I’m beginning to doubt your intelligence.
Then again, we’re all puppets to men like Leo. And I just played right into his large talented hands.
I need to get out of here. Somehow.
No more mourning the fact I didn’t stay at my sister Elena’s house three summers ago, returning to Boston instead because I wanted to finish my education in one place.
It mattered to the schools I was applying to. They wanted the cohesion, the dedication, and the references from esteemed faculty at the Fontbonne.
It mattered tome—at least back then. Now what’s important is that my hard work doesn’t go to waste. Staying here isn’t an option if I want to make my decisions worthwhile.
My eyes flicker to the orange prescription bottle on the counter. I wonder if he even realizes he left drugs in plain sight or if he thinks he’s big enough to overpower me if I try to use them.
Maybe…
Silently, I retrieve a tall glass from a cabinet and fill it with water and ice from the fridge.
Then I unscrew the bottle cap and drop one tablet in the liquid. Just to see what happens.
It dissolves in thirty seconds. Then, for a full minute after, I just stare at the drink while a plan formulates in my head.
Maybe this is stupid. It’s likely he’ll come after me either way, but perhaps his rejection tonight was only the start of a bigger plot to edge me out of his life. I mean, it’s not like hereallywanted to marry me, right? He wanted my father’s money.
If I found a way to get that to him, maybe this would be over. My parents are no help, so if he kills them anyway, I don’t think I’ll mind.
A part of me considers asking Elena or Ariana for help, especially since he practically threatened them already, but I don’t want to drag them into this. It’s too embarrassing to admit that I’m in it at all. Besides, they can fend for themselves; the main thing here is figuring out how to extractmyself.
At the very least, maybe the fact we haven’t consummated will prompt him to erase me from his memory altogether. If I’m gone, maybe that’s what will matter.
Either way, I have totry.
I dump nine pills into the glass.
Wait for them to dissolve, too. Find a lemon in the fridge, slice it up, and add a few wedges to mask the taste.
And despite his rejection still stinging in the back of my mind, I bring him the glass and my naked form, hoping one distracts from the other.
11
LEO
Iwake with a start, immediately noting the bitter dryness in my mouth.
Not quite the taste I got into bed with. However, as I stare up at the tray ceiling in my room, I realize I don’t remember getting into bed at all.
The last thing I recall is making Stella come on my face and then storming off before I could do something we’d bothreallyregret.
Perhaps it wasn’t my most tactful move, but I wanted the memory regardless.
Rolling over in bed, I reach for my phone on the nightstand and open my unit’s security app, pulling up footage from last night. My dick pulses painfully as the image begins playing out—her standing naked before me, then me dropping to my knees to eat her like my life depended on it.
In the moment, it certainly felt that way.
