REBORN My Second Life I Became The Villianess (Nyxara) novel Chapter 27

"Let's go," he instructed the driver in a low, commanding voice.

The vehicle smoothly slipped out of park, its tires crunching softly against the gravel drive as the convoy began to roll down the driveway toward the main gates.

I pulled my hand back slightly from his grip, turning my head to glare at him with a mix of genuine surprise and calculated annoyance. "Where is my father? He was supposed to be in this vehicle."

He didn't flinch. A slow, knowing smirk touched the corners of his lips as he turned his dark, intense gaze fully toward me, tracking every micro-expression on my face.

"Relax," he murmured, his voice dropping an octave, rich with amusement. "Your father is in the other car. He's fine."

The car’s tires hummed smoothly against the asphalt as we left the gates of the Vexari estate behind, merging onto the coastal highway that wound toward the cliffs of the Valteri property. The spacious leather interior of the back seat suddenly felt cramped as Dario shifted his weight, closing the distance between us with the effortless confidence of a predator claiming territory.

Before I could even lean away or register his intent, his arm banded around my waist, and with a smooth, immovable strength, he hauled me right across the console and pulled me straight down into his lap. My hands instantly pressed hard against his chest, my temper flaring hot and sharp.

"Let me go now," I snapped, my voice dropping into a harsh, warning whisper as I tried to shove myself off him.

He didn't budge an inch. If anything, his grip tightened, molding me firmly against his solid frame as though I weighed nothing at all. He ignored my struggling, tilting his chin down while his free hand came up to cup the side of my face, his thumb lightly brushing the edge of my jawline.

Before I could retaliate, he leaned in and kissed me. It wasn't a soft, hesitant brush of the lips; it was a deliberate, commanding press that demanded surrender, rich with a dark, intoxicating heat that made my breath hitch despite my anger.

When he finally pulled back just a fraction, his dark eyes searched my face with an intense, probing curiosity, lingering over my features as if trying to solve a complex puzzle.

"Why aren't you scared of me?" he asked quietly, his tone laced with genuine intrigue. I stopped struggling. I just stared straight back into his piercing gaze, letting a few long, silent seconds tick away before I let out a sharp, dismissive scoff.

"You're just a man," I replied coolly, my voice steady and devoid of submission. "Why should I be scared?"

A slow, breathtaking smile broke across his face, a smile that was undeniably handsome, yet it carried a razor-sharp, lethal edge that would have sent anyone else running for the hills.

"Good girl," he murmured, his voice was a low, gravelly stroke against my ear.

He didn’t make any move to put me back down. For the rest of the long drive down the winding coastal roads, as the ocean sparkled violently in the distance and the miles ticked away toward the Valteri estate, he kept me firmly on his lap, refusing to let me go.

The city skyscrapers melted away into sprawling industrial outskirts before finally giving way to rugged, winding coastal roads. For over an hour, the town car ate up the miles. Dario didn't loosen his grip, despite my initial protests, he kept me anchored across his lap, eventually letting out a quiet sigh as he rested the side of his head directly against my chest, listening to the steady, unbothered rhythm of my heartbeat while the landscape blurred past outside the tinted windows.

As the car rounded a final sharp cliffside bend, a massive, wrought-iron security gate slid open, and the Valteri estate came into view. It wasn't just a house; it was a sprawling, modern architectural fortress carved directly into the rugged stone of the coastline, with the endless, crashing blue of the ocean stretching out endlessly behind it.

When the car finally glided to a smooth halt in the paved courtyard, Dario lifted his head, looking down at me with a slow, reluctant expression before finally unwinding his arms and letting me go.

I didn't waste a second. I shoved off his lap, pushed the door open, and hopped out onto the gravel, stepping away to wait near the front for my father’s vehicle to pull up.

The third car in the convoy parked right behind us, and my father stepped out, walking over with a calm, composed stride. But out of the second car, the door swung open to reveal Nysa and our mother.

The second Nysa stepped out and saw me standing right beside Dario, realizing that he hadn't shared a car with her, but with me all the remaining color drained completely from her face. Her eyes widened in shock, and she opened her mouth, a shrill, furious accusation ready to fly off her tongue.

Finally, lounging near the floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the ocean, were who i assumed were Dario’s two younger sisters,.

“This Bianca and Ella, my two daughters” Vincenzo said.

Bianca and Ella, exchanged knowing, amused smirks as Nysa continued to chatter breathlessly at Dario, completely oblivious to the fact that the entire Valteri family was already watching her like a specimen under a microscope.

We all headed into the living room, and the servants started passing around drinks. Instantly, the atmosphere in the room split right down the middle.

Dario’s sisters, Bianca and Ella, ignored Nysa and made a beeline straight for me, dropping onto the couch on either side of me with zero pretense.

"Okay, seriously, where did you get that blazer?" Bianca asked, leaning in with a grin. "The cut is insane."

Ella jumped right in. "And what are you studying? We don't really get much people around, you know."

We clicked right away, chatting easily about classes, food, and just trading casual gossip. I kept pace with them effortlessly, there was no awkwardness or trying too hard.

Across the room, though? It was the complete opposite.

In my past life, I was always the weird outcast at things like this, I was always stuck on the sidelines while Nysa soaked up all the spotlight. But now? Nysa was the one left completely out in the cold. She was sitting right next to Dario with that fake, glued-on smile, but I could literally see the steam coming out of her ears.

She had no idea Dario had spent the entire car ride holding me in his lap, if she knew she would definitely skin me alive. she just hated that they weren't paying attention to her. Her knuckles were white on her glass and her jaw was locked.