Page 119 of My Solemn Vow

I throw her up against the wall alongside the door to my torture chamber.

Antonella keeps fighting, her voice edged to a sharp point. “Valor. I don’t know what is going on. Let me go. Talk to me.”

That sound, that pleading, normally excites me, but this time it leaves my mouth dry and ashy. My stomach turns again. But I have orders. I tried to get her to tell me. So now we’ll see what my uncle brings with him.

I could chain her to the wall, or hang her from the ceiling by her wrists and let her dangle, or strap her to the table. But I can’t make myself leave her in such an exposed position. I force her into the metal chair.

Antonella doesn’t go without a fight. She claws at me when I move around her to put her into the chair. Her long hair makes for an easy handle to maneuver her. Her knees buckle at the edge of the chair as I drag her backward. Her ass hits it hard, and Antonella lets out a gasp trying to reinflate her lungs.

Using her hair, I drag her up to the position I need her in.Her ass comes off the chair, and she’s forced to stand, leaning backward with her shoulders pressing against the spiked back.

The collar on the chair works like handcuffs, opening to wrap around the unlucky person’s neck and then clicking back, tightening and latching into place, then it’s attached to the chair with a chain.

I lock the steel collar around her neck but don’t adjust the chain, keeping her bent uncomfortably.

The last man I had in this chair was a foot taller and had a hundred-plus pounds on Antonella. Maybe if I make her uncomfortable, she’ll realize how serious I am. Maybe she isn’t telling me because she thinks I’m messing around, that I won’t hurt her.

If she does think that, she’s wrong. I’ll do anything to protect Kerrianne, even if it means hurting her. Even if it means hurting myself.

My wolf whines, fighting against me.Our mate wouldn’t betray us. She loves us.

She continues to fight, digging her fingers at the collar’s edge, but it’s far too tight. There isn’t any room to grab hold. The thick metal makes it hard to grasp.

I walk around and stand before her, bracing myself on the arms. I’m well within striking distance, but with wild eyes and a red face, she’s too busy trying to save herself, so she doesn’t take the opportunity to attack me.

“Tell me what you did,” I order her, but my voice decides pleading is better, and it’s soft, vulnerable, and I hate her for making me this way. “I can save you if you tell me.”

“I didn’t do anything, Valor. Why would I lie to you?” She gasps for air, the collar far too tight.

“Self-preservation?” I offer, pulling one of her hands away from where she’s grabbing at her neck.

I extend her arm to lock it into the armrest and do the same with the other. Her gasps for air grow more desperate.

Antonella’s face begins to turn red, her eyes soft and pleading, her lip trembling, and this is all it takes to reduce a strong woman to silent begging. Begging that gets her nowhere.

I wait until her eyelids get droopy before I release the chain holding her at such an abnormal angle.

Her ass finally comes to rest in the chair, and she takes deep breaths. I let her catch her breath before I start again.

“What is it that you did? What is it that you told someone? What could it possibly be?” I don’t recognize my voice anymore.

It’s not me. I wouldn’t talk this way to anyone in my chair like this. I wouldn’t let them see me break.

“Valor. I don’t know what you’re talking about. If I knew I’d tell you, but I haven’t done anything.” Antonella is panting, her breaths fast and heavy through an open mouth. “Talk to me.”

“They’re bringing evidence. I need you to tell me what it is.” I can’t look at her anymore. I can’t see her panicking in my chair. The one I’ve used hundreds of times before.

Busying myself, I go to the cabinet, open it up, and look at the tools available for this job. Everything here is meant to maximize pain. They’re all things that hurt like hell, but none of the pain they can inflict compares to what’s going on in my heart.

“What have you talked about with your uncle?” I growl at her, hoping it jogs her memory.

“I haven’t spoken to Gregorio since the wedding. He told me that he hoped you’d kill me because I was a disgrace.”

Again, sincerity in her voice.

She isn’t lying.My wolf fights me and what I’m doing, but he’s the one who convinced me to love her. It’s clear he’s wrong about many things, including her being our mate. No mate would betray the other. A human can’t be suitable for a wolf.

“You’re a fantastic liar.” I take two implements out of the cupboard. “So, if you want to play that it wasn’t your uncle,what about Leticia? You two text all the time, what is it you’ve been telling her about our life?”