𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 | +𝟏𝟖

𝟤𝟣

—

My eyes widened. Was this really from Elijah? Only he calls me princess, it had to be.

But how did he get the guard to give me this?

He said to wait, so I waited.

I sat on my bed for what felt like hours, although it's possible to only have been forty-five minutes.

I ripped another page out of the notebook and doodled, drawing stick figures of me, Alessandro, Elijah and Matteo with little hearts around the page.

I began to wonder where the other two were, could they have been hired here, too? How could they have done that without Elliot noticing? I hoped they were here. I needed to see them.

Elliot bringing me here felt like me arriving to his castle all over again. My parents dropping me off, leaving, and then never having contact with me. Elliot was less strict when I first got there, but overtime he began to not like certain things.

Finally, I heard a small knock. "Yes?" I stood up as I answered. The person behind the door waited for me to reply to the sound, something that rarely happens at this castle.

Elijah opened the door, and I practically ran to him. I reached up and just barely wrapped my arms around his neck, he leaned down a bit to help. His height was a little problem for me. His one hand then slithered around my waist as the other shut the door behind him.

I started to feel slightly emotional, it felt like he truly cared for me. I hugged him tighter.

We've never done this before.

His arms wrapped around my waist and I could feel how big they were. Elijah was strong. It made me feel safe, and he was so warm. I loved this feeling.

"Are you alright?" He asked. I nodded into his chest.

I pulled back to look at him, and he was as handsome as always.

His hands reached for my face, his thumbs gently caressing my cheeks, which were probably tinted pink in this moment. He smiled as his head tilted a bit, looking down at me. "Can I kiss you, Marella?"

I smiled back, "Yes."

He leaned forward and pulled me to him, our lips locking flawlessly. This was my first real kiss.

My hands pressed against his chest. The kiss was prominently romantic, it didn't feel sexual at all. It was unlike anything I've ever had before. This moment just felt so perfect.

My heart was racing by the time our lips finally parted. I looked up at him, unable to control my smile. It felt as if the last few days never even happened, he made me forget it all.

"I can't be here for too long, princess," Elijah spoke quietly. "But we're going to get you out of here, okay?"

"We?" I asked, wondering if that meant Alessandro and Matteo made it here, too.

Elijah winked, followed by a small grin, before giving me a kiss on the forehead. The warmth of his hands faded from my cheeks before he left and the door shut.

—

I was in my room alone for a while after that, but I wasn't as sad or bored as before, I was so relieved that he, or they, were here.

I ended up falling asleep until Elliot came into my room. "Marella," he spoke. I peeled my eyes open, I could tell by looking out the small window that it was late. "Wake up, come with me."

I sat up, feeling the silk pyjamas brush against my thighs. I was glad that Elliot had gotten me these, they're my favourite. I was grateful I didn't have to sleep in uncomfortable clothes.

Elliot grabbed ahold of my arm once my feet touched the ground and lead me out of my room.

We headed down the hallway, more portraits of past royals from this kingdom. I began to wonder when Elliot would make me meet his father.

He opened one of the doors and gestured for me to walk before him. As he shut the door behind me I turned to face him, "Is this your room?"

"Yes," he replied. He walked over to the edge of his bed and slipped his blazer off, tossing it onto his bed. He then turned to me and took a few steps forward, I backed up when he got too close.

As I kept taking a step back with each one he took forward, he backed me against the wall. "Marella," he started. I didn't answer. "My father still wants me to marry you."

We're not getting married anymore. I couldn't care less about a contract or how because I was given to him that I needed to marry him, nor did I care about his father. I wasn't going to.

"We're not getting married anymore," I said. Knowing Elijah was somewhere in this building gave me the sense of security and comfort I've been needing. I had nothing to lose with Elliot now, I felt brave.

He chuckled, reaching up to graze his finger along my jawline. I tilted my head away. "We still haven't done anything yet, my love."

My eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "You sent me here because you claimed I had a thing with one of your guards. Now you want to have sex?"

"He can't do it better than I can," his hand reached for the waistband of my shorts.

In quick seconds, Elliot's touch vanished and he was knocked to the ground out cold.

My eyes widened, darting to the cause. Alessandro. He stood there fully suited, a gun in one hand and the other opening the door.

"Come with me, sweetheart."

𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗀𝗎𝗒𝗌 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗌𝗈 𝗆𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗆𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗌 𝗆𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗇𝗇𝖺 𝗎𝗉𝗅𝗈𝖺𝖽 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾. 𝗂 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖺𝗅𝗅 𝗂 𝗅𝗂𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋𝗒 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍

𝗂 𝗁𝗈𝗉𝖾 𝗒𝗈𝗎'𝗋𝖾 𝖾𝗇𝗃𝗈𝗒𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝗈𝗈𝗄!