CHAPTER 88: YES, I DO

Her head was ringing. Everything felt too loud.

Evelyn blinked her eyes open, lifting her head to stare at her surroundings.

"Where am I...?"

The last thing she recalled was being dragged to the car. Nothing more after that.

Her gaze glided over to the wooden table in the room. There was no window. Everything was almost dark, and the only source of light was the small bulb above the ceiling.

She’d never felt so exhausted.

"Ugh," she grunted at the splitting headache, shifting her gaze around. "Where am I? Is somebody...is somebody there?"

"Oh, you’re finally awake."

Evelyn tried to force her gaze up. She was on a bed, but her hands were tied to the headboard and she could barely lift herself.

Still, she knew who the voice belonged to.

Valerio.

The man rounded over to the bed where he stood and lowered his gaze to her face. "Did you sleep well?"

Evelyn stared into his eyes. Her chest was pounding. She was afraid.

Where was she? Was anyone coming to find her? Amber. She never got to call her. But she did manage to get to Zayne. Did Zayne even hear her? And if he did, would he be able to find her?

Her throat worked in a thick swallow.

She slowly looked at him. "V-valerio... Where am I?"

"Hmmm..." Valerio grinned. "Where do you think you are?"

Her hands which were tied to the bed were beginning to tremble.

"You’re in my home, Evelyn. Just this time around, it’s a bit too far away."

"What are you talking about?" she asked with a cracked voice, pulling at the robe. "Untie me! G-get this thing off me."

"You know I can’t do that."

He shook his head.

"You’re a very stubborn woman and if I untie you, you’re just going to run off or let the whole world know I’m holding you here."

Evelyn let out a shuddering breath. "Why...?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why...why are you doing this to me? Why?"

Valerio let out a deep sigh. He sat at the edge of the bed and she was quick to shift away from him. It only made him smile.

"Sweetie, you can see I’m not hurting you. How can you ask me a question like that?" He dragged his fingers through her hair. "You’re acting as though I’m a monster or that I’m putting you through hell. But I haven’t even done anything to you."

He shrugged. "I didn’t touch you, and I sure as hell won’t hurt you. What are you so afraid of?"

"Please stop this."

"But I love you, Evelyn. And I would never hurt you. I simply just can’t untie you or let you go. I can’t let another man have you. I mean, this is the only reason why we had to resort to this method. You just wouldn’t listen."

Evelyn gazed at him. He was never going to listen to reason.

"How can you...do this?"

"Do what?" He cocked a brow. "Take you?"

"Valerio—"

"Well, I tried to reason with you, but you wouldn’t listen. What more did you want me to do? Even if I begged, it didn’t look like you would change your mind."

"Are you listening to yourself?!" she snapped at him.

"There we go ahead with that look on your face." Valerio shook his head, clicking his tongue. "You’re staring at me like you can’t stand me. As if you can’t stand the fact that I love you."

"You don’t love me—"

"You can’t say that!" he yelled at her.

Evelyn’s body shook. "If you love me, you wouldn’t do this to me. You wouldn’t have me here against my will, trying to force me to love you."

"That’s the thing, Evelyn!" Valerio snatched her jaw. "You look at me with that disdainful look in your eyes, remind me every second how you don’t love me, then proceed to blame me for how I am acting!"

"Let me go!"

"You love me once, why can’t you love me again, huh?" he asked. "Answer me!"

"Why would I ever love a man like you?"

She gritted out.

"Look at yourself. What makes you think I would ever make the mistake of loving you again?"

"Meaning what?"

"I don’t love you, Valerio and this is not going to change it!" Her tone grew hard. "You have no place in my heart. You haven’t for the past year!"

"You fucking bitch!"

The back of his palm landed against her face and he snatched her by the hair.

"Why? Because of him, huh? Zayne Mancini. Is that why?"

"No." Evelyn glared at him with a bloody split lip. "He’s not the reason why I don’t love you. I just can never love you. But if you need to hear it. Yes, I do love Zayne Mancini. I have for a long while and I’ve only just kept denying it. And I assure you there is no space for you, not while he exists. So what now? What are you going to do? Kill me?"

Valerio was in real time, fuming red from his neck to his forehead. His eyes were twitching, jaw clenching like he would lose it any second now.

But then he smiled.

"You’re just provoking me. You don’t love him."

"Yes, I do," she bit out.

"No, you don’t!"

"Yes, I do."

"Fine." Valerio shrugged. "I’ll keep you here with me until I can change your mind. When you don’t see him for a while, you’ll eventually realize that you don’t love Zayne Mancini. He was just a way for you to cope after I rejected you."

She scoffed, "After you rejected me..."

"Yes. With reason of course." His lips stretched. "But then I went and bettered myself for you. I became a man worthy of you, a man who could truly have you. Just for you to stomp on my hard work, on everything I am like I mean nothing."

She stared at him with disgust.

"Did I ask you to be better for me?"