Page 43 of Vow to Corrupt You (Gods of Corruption #1)

Nikos

The bullet wound in my shoulder burns like fire, but the pain is nothing compared to the rage coursing through me.

Blood drips down my arm, soaking into my shirt, but I barely notice.

The past few weeks keep flashing in my mind.

The trap at the port. The precise hits against my operations.

Castro knowing moves no one should know. It reeks of betrayal, of a rat.

And tonight? It was a clear setup. Someone’s feeding him intel.

Someone close. My eyes close as I inhale heavily, rubbing my pulsating temple because I know what I have to do.

But for the first time in longer than I can remember, and despite all the shit happening, I’m eager to get home.

To her. To the one thing that grounds me in this chaos.

She’s waiting for me, and the thought is enough to push me through the pain.

I step into the mansion’s foyer, and the warmth I’ve come to associate with her presence is nowhere to be found. Instead, Dimitris is there, waiting for me, his expression grave. He stands by the grand staircase, his hands clasped tightly as though bracing himself for something.

“Nephew,” he says cautiously, his tone too measured.

“What is it?” I shrug off my coat, ignoring the blood dripping onto the wooden floor.

Dimitris hesitates, and his silence is all the warning I need. Something is wrong.

“Your wife left, Nikos.”

At first, the words strike me hard, cutting deeper than any bullet ever could. My jaw tightens, my fists clenching so hard my knuckles turn white. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Dimitris exhales heavily, stepping closer as if to console me, and it only pisses me off more. “Her sister asked to meet, so I drove Serena to her family’s house. I waited outside, but… she refused to come back out. She said she’s leaving.”

“No.” It comes out like a growl, low and dangerous. I refuse to believe it. Not after last night. Not after all the words said.

“I didn’t want to leave her, so I went inside,” Dimitris continues. “Valeria said she’d left through the back entrance. I couldn’t do anything, Nikos. I failed, and I’m sorry. Rest assured, I have my men searching for her already.”

I look closely at my uncle. Something’s wrong. Something about this doesn’t add up. Serena wouldn’t leave me. Not after the confessions, the way we burned for each other like we’d never stop.

I step toward him, and my hand instinctively moves to my shoulder, squeezing the wound. Blood drips between my fingers, but I don’t care. Instead, I pull out my gun and point it at Dimitris. “You’re lying.”

Dimitris’s eyes widen in shock momentarily, but he tries to keep his poker face. Certainly, that’s not what he expected. “What’s the meaning of this?”

“You’ll tell me where my wife is,” I hiss through clenched teeth, “and then I’ll feed you to my dogs.”

“Nephew—” The poker face falls, replaced by pure shock and even fear.

“Don’t fucking call me that,” I snap. The fury and wrath simmer within me, begging to erupt, but I force myself in check.

“Nikos,” Dimitris swallows hard. “What’s going on here?”

“You know exactly what’s going on,” I press the gun muzzle to his forehead. “You think I’m blind? You think I didn’t notice?”

He stares at me, trying to fool me still. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

But I’m done. I’ve got all the confirmation I needed, and I won’t let him fool me again. “It’s you. You’re the mole. You’ve been feeding Castro information.”

His face pales as though every drop of blood has drained away from it, and for the first time, I see the cracks in his carefully composed facade.

“You thought you could outsmart me,” I continue, my tone venomous, just like his lies. “You thought I wouldn’t see it. That I wouldn’t figure it out. You’re a fool if you believed you could deceive someone like me, Dimitris. The God .”

“Nikos—”

“I didn’t show my suspicions before because I needed you close,” I cut through his protests. “I needed you to think I trusted you. But I’ve had my own investigation going. I’ve known for weeks that it was you. You were too fucking reckless to cover your tracks.”

Dimitris swallows hard, but he doesn’t deny it. He knows there’s no point; it would only worsen his hopeless situation.

“You betrayed me.” My voice falls to a whisper, more dangerous and lethal than any shout. “Serena wouldn’t leave me. Not willingly. Not after last night. You did something. You orchestrated this.”

“Nikos, please,” Dimitris says, trying to keep his composure.

“You’re hurt. You’re not thinking clearly.

It’s dangerous, Nikolaos.” My jaw tightens even more.

He never calls me by my full name; he knows it was reserved for my mother, and I know it’s his way of playing on my feelings now.

His way of reminding me of her and that he’s the only living thing connecting me to her, to our bond, which he broke.

But instead of achieving his goal, he’s only digging his grave deeper.

Trying to manipulate me using my mother is like pleading guilty to his schemes and lies.

“Your obsession with her is dangerous, Nikolaos. It has led you to your own destruction,” his voice cracks. “You’re not thinking clearly, son.”

I can’t help but scoff at the nickname. He has no right to call me son.

Lying bastard. “Oh, I’m thinking clearer than I have in years,” I growl, pressing the barrel of the gun with more force against his head so that it tilts back.

“Everything else, everything until now, has led me to destruction. Everything but her. She leads me toward redemption, and that’s what you don’t like.

You don’t want me sane, Dimitris. If I had a heart, it would break for what you’ve done. ”

Dimitris only shakes his head, his eyes closing. “Nikolaos, I’m so sorry.”

“Spare it,” I spit. “Now tell me where my wife is, or I’ll put a bullet in your head and watch as the dogs tear the rest of you apart.”

Dimitris flinches, his breath becoming shallower. But his fear is too little, too late. If I had any remnants of humanity left in me, Dimitris shattered it completely now. I’ll eliminate every threat. Every enemy. I’ll turn the earth into a graveyard to make sure she’s never taken from me again.