𝕁𝔼𝕎𝔼𝕃𝕊

𝟚𝟚

- Valentin's POV -

The days that followed Juliette's discovery were an agonizing blur for me. I was able to get one anxiety removed from my lengthy list of things I should be worried about. It was almost dark-humored that each of these things were caused by some of my own impulsive doings. A hazardous warning I received from members close to me before I brought Juliette into my life.
The balance of our fragile, dare I say forced, connection teetering on the precipice of uncertainty. The revelation had left my dear Juliette with a bitter taste in her mouth when she looked at me, with a flinch in her demeanor when I reached out to touch her, and hesitation enveloping her voice when she spoke to me. Juliette was questioning everything and the connection we shared, once on the brink of something deeper, now faced the ominous shadows cast by the truth of who I truly was.

As the threat of Nicolai's gang intensified, I heightened her protection, I attempted to keep Juliette out of the loop as much as possible not feeding her much information to keep her fears low, but I still needed her to understand the threat was high and lurking. I was determined to prove to her that I could protect her, I didn't just destroy. I could build something for both of us.
But each layer of security only seemed to widen the emotional chasm between us.

Today was important, I would call a meeting in the most private room on the estate grounds and we would plan our next move. I unfortunately couldn't risk having Juliette run away again so I informed her that she would be coming with me. I knew this would inciting an argument.
"I don't want to go with you," Juliette took a sip of water finishing her breakfast.
"Thank you," She kindly smiled at my waitstaff who cleared her place for her and did not interject into our bickering as they knew better.
"You can't be trusted to be alone after that charade you pulled a few days ago! You're coming with me so help me God, Juliette, I'll-" I began before stopping myself, the weight on my shoulders had worn my patience down to nothing, a thinly veiled sheet of ice that simply cracked under the pressure.
"You'll what? You'll kill me, too?" A phrase she once laughed in confidence, now riddled with fear in her voice.
"I don't want to kill you," I hissed out.

A dark silence consumed the room.

"But sometimes, I want to hurt you so bad you wouldn't dare think a thought that goes against me," I didn't mean to say it, but it was how I felt at times in the deepest darkest parts of my mind that desired to see her at my mercy. It slipped out.

The look on her face said it all, she had made her silent decision about me in her mind, I was evil. She was not wrong in her assessment.

"I'll go get dressed," Her voice was but a meager whimper, her bewitching eyes that once held glimmers of sparks of curiosity within them now hazy and dull. She floated like a ghost to the room that belonged to her to get dressed.

I had laid out a dress for her, baby blue in color to compliment her eyes, a mesmerizing shade of blue, reminiscent of a tranquil sea reflecting the open sky. I watched her from the crack in the door as she admired herself in the dress, she seemed displeased with her appearance. I entered the room, clearing my throat to make my presence known. She looked at me with the same look of displeasure as she did her own reflection and I could only know that I had been at fault here.

"What's the matter? You don't like the dress, there are others," I attempted to quickly remedy the situation as the tension between us was beginning to take a toll on me and I couldn't risk adding more friction.

"The dress is...stunning, but it's everything I would expect from you," Juliette toyed with her hair adding the last touches of makeup to the highlighted points of her face.
"Just like when you first lured me into your grasp, you dangled luxurious things in my face, as if the glitz and glam would cover the blood on your hands," Juliette's words dug into my back, I wasn't aware my attempts at wooing her were so aloof. I hadn't had an issue in the past in the category of seduction but she wanted more than something so surface level and shallow. I underestimated her maturity and her desire for the unconditional love she had lacked for a large portion of her life.
"Maybe that's all some people hang around you for, Valentin, the lifestyle or maybe it's the fear you instill inside every man and every woman, but I used to think there was more to you," Juliette added, her comment lingering in my mind as she walked past me heels clicking against the floor.