Chapter 4 The Cost Of Being Chosen

Ava's POV

I blinked my eyes awake, forgetting for a second where I was.. until the pain between my thighs reminded me of what happened last night.

Lucien.

His arms gripped my waist possessively even while he was sleeping. His breath was warm against my neck, peaceful and bothered about what he had done to me.

As though he didn't just destroy everything I thought I knew about myself. I should have felt disgusted.. Ashamed of myself.

But all I felt was stupid.

So damn stupid.

My mission for coming to the Moretti Mansion. My goal. Everything I had risked, was thrown away by one night of weakness. The sound of the bedroom door slamming shut drifted me off my thoughts immediately.

"Lucien!!"

The voice yelled. Full of venom dipped in fury. I froze, still tangled in his sheets as heavy footsteps stormed into his bedroom like thunder.

I turned. Only to see a woman standing in the doorway- elegant, fuming with rage, and holding a gun pointed at my head.

I had heard rumors that Lucien was engaged to some woman from a powerful family. Selena Voss. Maybe this was her?

Lucien's fiancée.

She didn't hesitate for a second. The barrel of the pistol lifted and aimed straight at my skull. Her hands were steady as if my death would give her the ultimate pleasure.

Her eyes alone could have killed me. "You fucking bitch!!" She spat.

"You filthy, low-class whore."

Lucien suddenly stood up beside me, groaning as he sat up, completely unbothered by the gun pointed at the woman he had just slept with.

"Selena. Put the goddamn gun down," he commanded, his voice full of authority. Nothing funny about it. "Move," she snapped. "Or I swear to God, I'll blow your head off together with hers."

Lucien moved.. fast.

Too fast.

One second, he was beside me. The next, he was standing in front of Selena, blocking her from firing the gun like it was nothing.

"She's under my protection," he said coldly.

"Which fuckin protection?" Selena's eyes narrowed.

"You're defending this thing? In our bed?"

"It's my bed," he corrected her, his voice nothing but cold. "And don't give me that face. Don't act surprised like you haven't been neglecting us having sex for months now."

Her lips trembled. She was breaking inside, but she wouldn't let herself fall, especially not in front of me. "Is that what this is all about?" she sneered.

"You crawl between the legs of your slave just to cum?" Lucien didn't even blink, not even an inch of guilt on his face. "I used her to satisfy myself with what you didn't give me."

"That's it. So get used to it god damn it!!"

The words hit me harder than the threat of the gun. "I was horny," he continued. "You left to god-fuckin knows where. Haven't been around to satisfy me. She was convenient."

I felt my breath leave my lungs.

Used.

That's all I was to him. A need. Nothing more.

Selens stepped back slowly, lowering the gun but not the hatred in her eyes. Her pain was sharp, but it didn't compare to the ache in my chest.

I stood, pulling the sheet with me. My clothes were scattered on the floor, like last night. Just another mistake. Neither of them looked at me as I dressed. Not even Lucien himself.

I walked out with my head high, even as my legs were shaking. But I didn't cry. At least not in front of them. I made my way down the hallway. Each step is heavier than the last.

I couldn't afford to break like this.

I had a mission. I came here with only a purpose. One that didn't include falling into bed with a monster. Lucien Moretti was everything I swore to destroy.

A killer. Someone who trafficked women. He was behind all the bloodshed in the city. No matter what my body felt when he touched me, he was still the man behind these deaths.

And I was here to end it.

As if fate couldn't get enough of screwing me over, she appeared in front of me again.

Selena.

Standing at the end of the hallway like a ghost. Her arms crossed. "You think you've won something, don't you?" She asked, blocking my path.

"Sleeping in his bed. His scent is all over you." I stayed silent. But she stepped closer, her heels echoing in the quiet corridor. "You're not the first he's slept with behind my back." She whispered.

"And you won't be the last."

She looked up and down at me like I was a stain. "I can smell the lie on you, Clara," she said, her voice laced with venom.

"That's not your real name, is it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said flatly. A bitter laughter escaped her lips. Cold and cruel. "You're hiding something. And I'll find out. I always do."

Her hand gripped the strap of her purse. The gun isn't gone yet. Just hidden. "I've ruined any woman that dared to sleep on the same bed as Lucien," she whispered.

"Every slut who thought she could touch what's mine ended up broken." I met her eyes, refusing to break. "Threatening me won't make me feel afraid ma'am."

She leaned in, her lips brushing my ear. "No. But I'll make you wish you were afraid." Then as quickly, she pulled away, smiling like a car with blood on its whiskers.

"I'm going to make your life a living hell, Clara," she swore. "Just like I've done with every woman who dared to sleep with Lucien Moretti."

She turned and walked away, leaving me standing alone in the cold hallway, my heart pounding like a drum.

I wasn't scared of Selena Voss.

But I know now... I had to move faster.

Because a grave danger was coming.

And I had to do something if I wanted to walk out of this place alive.