A Ruinous Night novel Chapter 6

Julian's voice was practically vibrating with excitement. He couldn't wait for the night to unfold.

"Do you have any idea about her history with me?" Lucian asked.

The air trapped in my lungs.

Did he hate seeing me happy so much that he had to poison Julian's mind?

"I know Stella was a little naive and crazy back then, but who hasn't had a toxic crush when they were young?" Julian shot back.

Lucian let out a dark, unreadable chuckle.

"You don't know a damn thing."

Julian's temper flared.

"The past is in the past. I don't need to know the details! It's not like she murdered someone. Are you really trying to hold some ancient drama over her head forever? I invited you here to give us your blessing, not to whisper poison in my ear and tear us apart!"

I waited until I heard Julian's heavy footsteps storming away before I stepped out from around the corner.

Lucian was standing right in my path. He stared down at me, his gaze dripping with icy contempt.

He was mocking me.

Mocking the fact that my relationship with Julian was built on a foundation of buried secrets.

"Are you worried I'm just using him?" I asked quietly. "I truly love him. I want to build a life with him, and I promise I'll treat him right. You don't need to worry."

Lucian just stared at me in dead silence.

I tried to step around him to return to the dining room, but as our shoulders brushed, his hand shot out. He gripped my wrist like a vice, forcefully dragging me down the hall and shoving me backward into the restroom. He pinned me hard against the heavy oak door.

He leaned in, his imposing frame trapping me in place.

"Have you slept with him yet? Did he ask you who took your virginity?"

I wrenched my face away, desperate to escape his suffocating proximity.

"Not yet. But when the time comes, I know exactly how to handle it."

The second he realized I had gotten a hymenoplasty, the humiliation would be unbearable.

Lucian crushed his weight against my back, his ragged breathing scorching my ear, yet he didn't push any further.

Someone rattled the doorknob from the outside.

"Who locked the door? Seriously, where are your manners?"

Unable to get in, the stranger quickly walked away.

Lucian bit down hard on the shell of my ear, his voice a low, gritty growl. "Stop ruining the lives of the people around me. You could sell your body on the street, and I wouldn't bat a fucking eye."

I gritted my teeth and fired back. "Julian isn't exactly close to you! You two barely act like family. Besides, we're only staying in Veridia City for six months. We'll be gone before you know it."

His jaw clamped down harder, his teeth sinking mercilessly into my earlobe like he wanted to tear the flesh right off. Searing pain shot through me, and a cold sweat broke out across my back. I kicked and stomped at him, completely frantic, but nothing worked.

It was as if he was channeling every single ounce of his revulsion for me into this one violent act.

"Let go of me," I choked out through the pain. "If the restaurant staff force this door open, how exactly are you going to explain this?"