Page 38 of Vow to Corrupt You (Gods of Corruption #1)

Serena

“Did you really think you could escape me, wicked one ?” Nikos’s dark gaze flickers between mine with equal parts wrath, but also some disappointment.

I open my mouth to speak, but my words falter. I don’t even know what to say.

Did I really believe I could escape him? The infamous Nikolaos Romano. The most ruthless and dangerous Mafia boss Sicily has ever known. Leader of an international secret society. The God of the Dead.

How foolish of me to think I could run away from his empire that’s so far reaching, he owns everyone and everything, where his word is law, where even the trees seem to be his spies.

My heart plummets as I see Salvatore step forward, drawing his gun and aiming it squarely at Nikos. Chills. Chills run down my spine at the sight.

Aiming a gun at my husband is a death sentence.

A death sentence my brother has just brought upon himself.

“Let her go, Nikos!” Salvatore shrieks, risking his life for me.

Nikos’s gaze shifts and his jaw tightens as he slowly pulls out his gun, aiming it at my brother. “Stay out of this,” he growls, lethal rage fills his dark gaze. “She belongs to me, and I won’t negotiate for your life this time.”

“She doesn’t belong to anyone but herself. She’s not your fucking toy.”

Nikos scoffs, which makes my body quiver. “She agreed to spend her life with me in exchange for your life, Salvatore. Don’t forget that.”

“Then kill me,” Salvatore states without hesitation. “End her imprisonment here. Let her be free.”

“No, Salvatore, you can’t!” I cry, trembling uncontrollably, as I look at my brother. I can’t let him risk his life for me. I can’t lose him, the only person who’s always been there for me. “Let me handle this!”

Salvatore’s forehead narrows as he glances at me, still aiming his gun at my husband. “I trapped you in this marriage, sister. It’s time I end it.”

“No.” My lip trembles as tears stream down my face, wild like a waterfall.

He’s pushing this too far, bringing his own destruction upon himself.

All because of me. Because I couldn’t keep the promise I made.

Because I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life with this beast. Because I was scared…

Not anymore. I’m not afraid of Nikos anymore, of the life I might have as his wife or even death at his hand.

The only thing I’m scared of is letting my brother die now, die because of me.

“Traitors don’t deserve mercy, and you’ve proven why,” Nikos growls, looking at my brother. “I spared your life once, but you keep coming back for revenge.”

This is it. My downfall. I can’t let Salvatore die. I step between them, covering my younger brother with my body.

“I’m begging you, let Salvatore go.” I raise my tear-streaked face, looking death itself in its eyes. “This is between you and me. I decided to leave.”

Nikos’s grip on his gun tightens just like his jaw does. “Step aside,” he commands.

“If you want to kill him,” my heart feels like it might burst, but I stand firm, “you’ll have to kill me first.”

“Serena, what are you doing?” Salvatore’s voice is filled with as much anger as anguish. He wants to step before me, but I don’t let him. I know it would be a suicide mission to try.

Nikos’s eyes darken with a deadly fury. “You’re pushing me to my limits, wicked one .” His voice rings in my ears like thunder.

“If you have even a shred of feeling for me, Nikos, you’ll let my brother free.”

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Serena,” he warns.

“I’m playing a dangerous game from the day our gazes met. Our whole marriage has been like a dance with the Devil.”

I see how every muscle in his body tenses.

I know he’s battling a war with his own demons right now.

With the man he is supposed to be, the ruthless mafia leader with no heart who knows no mercy, and the man I am hoping he could be.

The man who buried the remnants of humanity deep in the depths of his dark, fractured soul, but they’re still there.

“I won’t kill him,” he states with such darkness in his voice that it could shroud the whole of Sicily. “But he’ll face the consequences.”

I feel a heavy weight taken off my shoulders, but at the same time, another sinks heavily into my heart.

My brother will leave, only to become Nikos’s captive once more.

“Take him back to the city and make sure he understands the consequences of crossing me again.” Nikos signals to his men, his tone icy.

Two of his soldiers seize Salvatore. I watch helplessly as they lead him back toward the car, knowing I can’t do more than I already have.

“I spared him for you,” Nikos’s gaze smolders with a dangerous kind of intensity as he steps toward me. “I’m bending my own rules because of you, wicked one .”

I swallow hard as his hand cups my face with a force that feels both possessive and desperate. His eyes are dark, dangerous, and deadly, yet filled with a twisted affection only he understands.

“You can try to run, but you will never escape. You’re mine.

” His fingers brush my lower lip, sending chills down my back.

“There’s no place in this world where I won’t find you.

There is no sanctuary you can hide in. It would always be a game of cat and mouse, and believe me, I always catch my prey. ”

Dread crawls under my skin as his words sink in. His obsession, his control, and dominion… it’s like a cage without bars, inescapable.