Escaping The Mafia King

Chapter 38: 38- Punishment

They got back to the mansion and Varys was true to his word. He marched Hope into her room and using a pair of shackles, cuffed her to the bed. "I don't know why you keep pushing me. I hope it was worth it, that call you made."

"For what it's worth, I wasn't calling to reach him. I just wanted my uncle to know I was safe," Hope replied. She hadn't objected to his treatment of her at all, she'd accepted all of it.

Could she be telling the truth? The hope of her not trying to run from him flared to life inside of him. He wanted to believe her. All he wanted to do was find solace in her arms and ignore the rest of the world even existed, if only for a while. He could recall how fast her heart had beat when he'd kissed her.

But she'd lied to him already before. What if this was just another of those? What if his Hope was truly lost and gone? "As soon as you got me to leave you used my phone. If you truly were worried about that, you'd have asked me."

Hope sat on the bed hugging her knees as she watched his every move. "Varys, be honest, would you have allowed that?"

He stared down into her challenging gaze. If a man had looked at him like that, he'd have had him beat. But he couldn't imagine treating her like that. Still, her words had merit but the answer was obvious. "No."

"And why wouldn't you?" she asked. "Answer that and you'll understand why I had to do what I did. Besides, I don't want them searching for me anymore."

Everything inside of him froze in place as if time itself had frozen. Was he jumping to conclusions? No, he couldn't be. But her last words had him stuck. If she didn't want them searching for her, didn't that mean she was agreeing to be his? Or was there another layer that he wasn't getting?

"Why wouldn't you?" Hope demanded again.

Varys shook himself out of it by force as he focused on her soft voice. His fragile little Hope. "I wouldn't trust you to be honest with me," he replied. "That you're trying to get hold of that husband of yours, to go back to him." Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Hope's eyes narrowed. "I left him, I'm never going back."

He wanted to believe that. But belief was too hard for him. "You're going to have to prove that to me. All I can see is that as soon as I gave you one chance to breathe without me, you betrayed my trust."

"I didn't know you were going to give me your phone, I was too tired to walk all the way over there. If anything, you're the one that should be blamed. All I wanted was to let the one family member I have left know I was alive and okay."

"Me?" Rage bubbled to the surface. "Are you seriously telling me that I should be blamed for giving you a phone to make sure you're okay while I left your side?" He shook his head so hard his hair flopped into his eyes. "Hope, you have to listen to yourself. Listen to the sentence you just said. How does any of that make sense?"

"About as much sense as you constantly blaming me, Varys," she replied as she turned her back on him.

His fist clenched at his side. Why did she push him like this? No one else ever dared, and yet here was his Hope, constantly picking a fight with him. He wanted the calmness back, the quiet admission that she would stay with him. "I can't trust you for a long time because of this, Hope. You brought this on yourself."

He stood up as she continued to stare away from him. Why was she being so childish about this? When all he wanted was to wrap his arms around her and never let her go. Was this going to be their

routine? Those flashes of what could be happiness and then back to this prisoner and master routine?

"Varys?"

There, at least she wasn't willing to go through with this and finally act with some sense. "What is it?" he grunted. The stubborn mule still hadn't turned around.

"Thank you for taking me out, but I need some time to be alone. Please, just go away for awhile."

His eye twitched. He jerked the door open and slammed it shut behind him. His guard was sitting on the other side of it, not the least bit disturbed. "Lock it," he sneered at him.

"Right away, Sir," the guard slid his key into the room and the lock clicked in place.

Fucking Hope.

Varys strode away from the room and down the halls. Despite the fire inside, he didn't let any of it show on his face. Instead, he kept his fist inside his pocket and continued to tighten it until his nails dug into his skin, and still he didn't care.

His men had a sense for his moods and they scattered like ants before him.

Pathetic.

He needed to let out steam. Needed to release that perfect moment when she'd submitted to him before rising up again. If she didn't give in, he'd have to force her. And forcing her could mean breaking her. Varys grunted as he entered his exercise room and locked the door behind him. A fresh new punching bag stood at the ready, and he didn't waste any time as he plowed his fist into it over and over.

He didn't imagine hitting her, just every man she'd been in contact with since him. Ethan's face, that fucking detective's face, and his man that had harmed her. Every blow to the bag was another breath of air into his lungs.

If Hope wouldn't agree to be his, if she continued to try to run away to those other men, he'd end up having to kill her. Varys stopped at the thought and his stomach curdled. And if his Hope died, especially by his hands, he'd have to follow her.

But maybe, maybe she was telling the truth. Maybe she wasn't just lying to him now to make him drop his guard. Varys drove his fist into the punching bag again. He'd give her the opportunity. He'd put his men on the case and he'd know once and for all if she'd been the cause of his family's death.

And if so?

They'd all burn in hell together because even in death, he wasn't willing to let her go.