My Rival, My Temptation - Chapter 12: Chapter 12
You are reading My Rival, My Temptation, Chapter 12: Chapter 12. Read more chapters of My Rival, My Temptation.
Katherine’s POV
The silence between us despite the blasting music was deafening.
Mateo’s hand was still outstretched, waiting for Nikolai to hand me over to him like I was some lost puppy.
I watched, stunned, as Nikolai spared me a glance before dragging his gaze from head to toe, assessing Mateo with the detached disinterest of someone looking at a particularly unimpressive speck of dust.
Then, in a voice as smooth as it was lethal, he said, “This is my wife.”
Mateo’s face paled faster than milk hitting hot coffee. His hand wavered in the air before he snatched it back, swallowing hard. “Oh,oh, shit. I…I didn’t know, man.”
I could practically hear the gears in his head grinding as he processed the information.
It would have been funny, if I wasn’t so fucking livid.
I shoved against Nikolai’s chest, breaking out of his grip as Mateo scurried away. “Why the hell would you say that?” I hissed.
He cocked his head, unfazed. “Because it’s true.”
“That’s not the point! You haven’t been in the house for days, Nikolai. We don’t exactly have the kind of marriage where we need to be possessive of each other, so I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but…”
“You want to know what I’m doing?” he cut in, his voice deceptively calm.
I faltered, suddenly feeling like I’d walked into a trap. “…Yes?”
“I’m taking you out of this place.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Back to the villa.”
I crossed my arms. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
Nikolai watched me. And that was my first mistake; thinking that this argument was going to even be a back and forth between us.
Because, instead of responding, he moved.
Fast.
One second, I was standing my ground, ready to fight him every step of the way.
The next, I was upside down.
“What the, NIKOLAI!” I shrieked as he tossed me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.
I kicked. I thrashed. I pounded my fists against his back. But the bastard barely reacted. He just walked, steady and unfazed, while the entire party watched in shock.
Somewhere behind us, Bianca’s gasp was audible. “Cara mia, I think you’re screwed.”
“Let me go, you oversized caveman!” I yelled, trying to twist out of his grip.
Nikolai ignored me, stepping out of the party like he was doing nothing more than taking out the trash.
Oh, I was going to kill him.
⸻
The car ride back to the villa was suffocating.
Viktor was driving. Leonid was driving ahead of us in the car Nikolai had apparently driven in to come and find me.
And in the back?
Me. Nikolai.
Not speaking.
The car was too quiet, the air too tense, and all I could think about was how humiliating that was. How he had just picked me up like I was a child throwing a tantrum and carried me out in front of everyone.
My fists clenched.
I was furious.
But, worse? I was frustrated.
Not just the normal kind.
The kind that made my skin feel too hot, my breath feel too short, my entire body pulse with something I did not want to name.
Because for all my anger, my rage, my humiliation…
I couldn’t forget how easily he’d handled me. How effortlessly he’d picked me up, all hard muscles and steady steps, like I weighed nothing.
I wanted to punch him.
I also wanted something else, and that was unacceptable.
So I stewed in silence, arms crossed, glaring out the window and trying to pretend as much as I could that he was not beside me.
When the car finally rolled to a stop in the driveway, Viktor and Leonor got out of the car, but not before the former shot me an apologetic smile.
Well, I wasn’t accepting his apology. So much for sending him my address to ensure him of my whereabouts.
“Get out of the car,” Nikolai ordered, his voice low.
I stared straight ahead. “No.”
A beat of silence.
Then…“Do you want a repeat of what happened at your little party?”
My blood ran hot.
I turned to him, seething, but his brow was raised in challenge.
He would do it.
He absolutely would do it.
I huffed and threw the door open, stomping out.
Behind me, I heard Nikolai’s footsteps as he followed.
I resisted the urge to turn around and ask ‘what the hell do you want now’?
Instead, I kept walking, my heels clicking against the marble floors as I made my way to my bedroom.
My pulse was still erratic. My skin still burned.
I needed space.
I reached my door, grabbed the handle, and shoved it open.
I was about to slam it shut when…
A boot slid inside, blocking it.
I stiffened.
“I don’t want to see you,” I snapped. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
Nikolai didn’t move.
“I, however, want to have a word with you.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I don’t care what you want, Nikolai. I’m tired, I’m pissed off, and I don’t feel like being manhandled twice in one night.”
Nikolai didn’t move his foot.
I tried to push the door closed again, but it didn’t budge. His boot might as well have been a steel barricade.
I looked up at him, and I hated the way he looked right back; calm, collected, completely unaffected while I was still burning from the humiliation of earlier.
“What do you want?” I snapped.
He took a step forward, forcing me back into the room. “For you to understand something.”
“Oh, this should be good,” I muttered, crossing my arms. “What is it? That you’re in charge? That I have to do what you say?”
His lips twitched; barely, but it was there.
Like I amused him.
Like my resistance was something he expected.
I wanted to wipe that look off his face.
His voice was even. “You are my wife.”
I scoffed. “Oh, now you want to act like an actual husband?”
His jaw flexed slightly, but he ignored my jab. “That means when you go out, my men will accompany you. When you decide to sneak away to some back-alley party, I will find you. And when some little ragazzo thinks he can put his hands on you, I will remind him exactly who you belong to.”
Something in his voice sent a sharp shiver through me.
Not because it was loud.
But because it wasn’t.
Nikolai didn’t need to raise his voice to make a point.
It was all in the way he spoke; measured, deliberate, edged with something dark and dangerous that sent an unwanted thrill down my spine.
Still, I scoffed. “You’re ridiculous.”
He stepped closer. “Am I?”
I hated that my breath caught.
Hated that I felt trapped.
I swallowed, tilting my chin up. “You don’t get to act possessive when you haven’t even been around. This isn’t a real marriage, and we both know it. You don’t actually care what I do, so don’t pretend otherwise.”
Silence.
Thick. Heavy. A clear answer that whatever I’d just said was for myself only and that he didn’t care.
I exhaled, shaking my head. “You’re impossible.”
I turned to leave, but before I could take a step…
A hand closed around my wrist.
The silence between us despite the blasting music was deafening.
Mateo’s hand was still outstretched, waiting for Nikolai to hand me over to him like I was some lost puppy.
I watched, stunned, as Nikolai spared me a glance before dragging his gaze from head to toe, assessing Mateo with the detached disinterest of someone looking at a particularly unimpressive speck of dust.
Then, in a voice as smooth as it was lethal, he said, “This is my wife.”
Mateo’s face paled faster than milk hitting hot coffee. His hand wavered in the air before he snatched it back, swallowing hard. “Oh,oh, shit. I…I didn’t know, man.”
I could practically hear the gears in his head grinding as he processed the information.
It would have been funny, if I wasn’t so fucking livid.
I shoved against Nikolai’s chest, breaking out of his grip as Mateo scurried away. “Why the hell would you say that?” I hissed.
He cocked his head, unfazed. “Because it’s true.”
“That’s not the point! You haven’t been in the house for days, Nikolai. We don’t exactly have the kind of marriage where we need to be possessive of each other, so I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but…”
“You want to know what I’m doing?” he cut in, his voice deceptively calm.
I faltered, suddenly feeling like I’d walked into a trap. “…Yes?”
“I’m taking you out of this place.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Back to the villa.”
I crossed my arms. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
Nikolai watched me. And that was my first mistake; thinking that this argument was going to even be a back and forth between us.
Because, instead of responding, he moved.
Fast.
One second, I was standing my ground, ready to fight him every step of the way.
The next, I was upside down.
“What the, NIKOLAI!” I shrieked as he tossed me over his shoulder like I weighed nothing.
I kicked. I thrashed. I pounded my fists against his back. But the bastard barely reacted. He just walked, steady and unfazed, while the entire party watched in shock.
Somewhere behind us, Bianca’s gasp was audible. “Cara mia, I think you’re screwed.”
“Let me go, you oversized caveman!” I yelled, trying to twist out of his grip.
Nikolai ignored me, stepping out of the party like he was doing nothing more than taking out the trash.
Oh, I was going to kill him.
⸻
The car ride back to the villa was suffocating.
Viktor was driving. Leonid was driving ahead of us in the car Nikolai had apparently driven in to come and find me.
And in the back?
Me. Nikolai.
Not speaking.
The car was too quiet, the air too tense, and all I could think about was how humiliating that was. How he had just picked me up like I was a child throwing a tantrum and carried me out in front of everyone.
My fists clenched.
I was furious.
But, worse? I was frustrated.
Not just the normal kind.
The kind that made my skin feel too hot, my breath feel too short, my entire body pulse with something I did not want to name.
Because for all my anger, my rage, my humiliation…
I couldn’t forget how easily he’d handled me. How effortlessly he’d picked me up, all hard muscles and steady steps, like I weighed nothing.
I wanted to punch him.
I also wanted something else, and that was unacceptable.
So I stewed in silence, arms crossed, glaring out the window and trying to pretend as much as I could that he was not beside me.
When the car finally rolled to a stop in the driveway, Viktor and Leonor got out of the car, but not before the former shot me an apologetic smile.
Well, I wasn’t accepting his apology. So much for sending him my address to ensure him of my whereabouts.
“Get out of the car,” Nikolai ordered, his voice low.
I stared straight ahead. “No.”
A beat of silence.
Then…“Do you want a repeat of what happened at your little party?”
My blood ran hot.
I turned to him, seething, but his brow was raised in challenge.
He would do it.
He absolutely would do it.
I huffed and threw the door open, stomping out.
Behind me, I heard Nikolai’s footsteps as he followed.
I resisted the urge to turn around and ask ‘what the hell do you want now’?
Instead, I kept walking, my heels clicking against the marble floors as I made my way to my bedroom.
My pulse was still erratic. My skin still burned.
I needed space.
I reached my door, grabbed the handle, and shoved it open.
I was about to slam it shut when…
A boot slid inside, blocking it.
I stiffened.
“I don’t want to see you,” I snapped. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
Nikolai didn’t move.
“I, however, want to have a word with you.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I don’t care what you want, Nikolai. I’m tired, I’m pissed off, and I don’t feel like being manhandled twice in one night.”
Nikolai didn’t move his foot.
I tried to push the door closed again, but it didn’t budge. His boot might as well have been a steel barricade.
I looked up at him, and I hated the way he looked right back; calm, collected, completely unaffected while I was still burning from the humiliation of earlier.
“What do you want?” I snapped.
He took a step forward, forcing me back into the room. “For you to understand something.”
“Oh, this should be good,” I muttered, crossing my arms. “What is it? That you’re in charge? That I have to do what you say?”
His lips twitched; barely, but it was there.
Like I amused him.
Like my resistance was something he expected.
I wanted to wipe that look off his face.
His voice was even. “You are my wife.”
I scoffed. “Oh, now you want to act like an actual husband?”
His jaw flexed slightly, but he ignored my jab. “That means when you go out, my men will accompany you. When you decide to sneak away to some back-alley party, I will find you. And when some little ragazzo thinks he can put his hands on you, I will remind him exactly who you belong to.”
Something in his voice sent a sharp shiver through me.
Not because it was loud.
But because it wasn’t.
Nikolai didn’t need to raise his voice to make a point.
It was all in the way he spoke; measured, deliberate, edged with something dark and dangerous that sent an unwanted thrill down my spine.
Still, I scoffed. “You’re ridiculous.”
He stepped closer. “Am I?”
I hated that my breath caught.
Hated that I felt trapped.
I swallowed, tilting my chin up. “You don’t get to act possessive when you haven’t even been around. This isn’t a real marriage, and we both know it. You don’t actually care what I do, so don’t pretend otherwise.”
Silence.
Thick. Heavy. A clear answer that whatever I’d just said was for myself only and that he didn’t care.
I exhaled, shaking my head. “You’re impossible.”
I turned to leave, but before I could take a step…
A hand closed around my wrist.
End of My Rival, My Temptation Chapter 12. Continue reading Chapter 13 or return to My Rival, My Temptation book page.