AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m not a sixteen-year-old girl anymore, Ross,” Lila reminded him. It had been a mistake bringing her here to this place she knew far too well. Fourteen years ago, when she learned that he had left proof of the rape growing inside her, she had been shipped off to his home in Switzerland so no one would learn that he had impregnated her.
For eight months she had basically been left on her own here with just the staff to run the house and the doctor who came weekly to check on her. There wasn’t a single inch of this house and the land it sat on that she didn’t know like the back of her hand. That was her advantage and the way she was going to escape.
All she had to do was be patient.
“No, you’re not.” His eyes roamed her body in a way that made her want to lift her hands and cover herself, curl in so he couldn’t see her, but instead, she stood tall and proud. She had nothing to be ashamed of and would endure whatever he did to her because all she cared about was getting home to Christian. Anything else she could compartmentalize and deal with later.
She hoped.
No. She would.
“You would have made a stunning wife,” Ross said, still leering at her like she was nothing but a piece of meat.
“I never wanted to marry you, Ross. I was a sixteen-year-old girl. My parents arranged the marriage because they wanted you to restart their flagging careers. All I wanted was to be free to make my own choices about what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to go to school, date boys, dream about the future, and be a normal kid. I certainly didn’t want to be betrothed to a man in his mid-fifties.”
“I would have given you everything. Fame, fortune, millions of adoring fans.”
Been there. Done that.
Hated it.
Acting wasn’t who she was. She was introverted, quiet, and contemplative. She liked to problem solve, help people, and keep private things just that, private.
Lila had nothing against acting, it just wasn’t for her.
Her parents were acting royalty. Their families had a long history in the industry. Both sets of grandparents and all four sets of great-grandparents had been actors. From the golden age of cinema onward, her family had been entertaining the world in movies and then later in TV shows.
She was the odd one out.
The only one of all her aunts and uncles and cousins who didn’t want to continue on that tradition.
It had been forced on her as a child. From birth, she had been made to follow in her parents’ footsteps. Ironically, it wasn’t until she was sixteen and the man standing before her had raped her and left her pregnant that she had found freedom and the confidence to use her voice and dictate her own life.
Now she needed to find that same confidence.
“I never wanted fame and fortune. I hated acting, hated having fans. Hated that people thought they knew me, hated that people wanted to be me even though they had no idea what being me was really like. I wanted a quiet, peaceful life where I could help others.”
“You don’t think bringing joy to millions is contributing to society?” Ross asked with a sneer.
“Oh no, I do. I think the arts are a wonderful gift. But it wasn’t for me, it wasn’t what I wanted to do, and wasn’t who I was. I finally found the real me, I found peace and happiness. Then you and your wife came along.”
Zara Duffy—formerly Zara Vasiliev—was another child star. Born to Russian immigrant parents, she was the only member of her family to enter the world of acting, and Lila had filmed a movie with the woman when they were both preteens. She had never liked Zara. There was a cunningness and ruthlessness about her that hadn’t sat well with her.
It shouldn’t surprise her that somewhere along the way, Zara had met up with Kristoff and the two had conspired to devise a plot to rule the world. Zara had always been ambitious, and add that to her ruthless and cunning sides, and she seemed like the perfect candidate to be Kristoff Mikhailov’s Dark Beauty.
“Zara has her own plans, her own reasons for doing this. I simply want what was mine.”
“I won’t ever be yours, Ross,” Lila said softly. Her heart and soul already belonged to someone else. It wasn’t possible for him to take something from her that was no longer hers.
“Sixteen years ago, I was promised a future with you.” Ross took a step toward her and the darkness, the evil that had been in his face that night when he had snuck into her bedroom and held her down while he raped her, was practically bleeding out of his every pore.
“Not by me,” she reminded him.
“I held up my end of the bargain. I produced the show that relaunched your parents’ careers, but I never got my payment. Now I do. That was my deal with Zara. I let her use this place, and I get to keep you for as long as I want. In her mind, you’re nothing but bait to be used for her own purposes. In mine, you belong to me. I will use you however I choose. You will submit because you have no choice. I will touch you whenever I want, kiss you whenever I want, have you whenever I want.”
Ross stalked toward her, backing her up until she was pressed against the wall. Using his knee to nudge her legs apart he ground his erection against her stomach. His large hand grasped her face, his fingers digging into her cheeks, forcing her mouth open so he could crush his against hers, his tongue plunging between her lips.
Be strong.
