CH.52

Serena left the lounge after managing only a few desultory bites of her dinner. Her mind was still whirling from that intense, unsettling conversation with Knox.

A potent cocktail of jealousy and confusion roiled in her gut as she dwelled on the reality that he was intimately involved with another woman - that she didn't have his fidelity or loyalty despite the marriage binding them together.

She wandered the labyrinthine halls of the huge villa in a daze, trying to get her bearings in this gilded cage that was to be her new home.

Serena stumbled upon an exquisite, open staircase with ornate wrought iron railings and plush marble floor leading down depths below.

She descended the stairs absentmindedly but was jolted from her reverie by a familiar, angry voice that sent a jolt of surprise through her.

"Let me see her, damn it!" Jenkins' raised tone echoed through the cavernous space, berating the stone-faced guards barring his path. "I need to make sure you haven’t done something terrible to her!"

Serena hurried down the remaining steps. "Jenkins! I'm here," she called out once she was in his line of sight.

Jenkins whipped around, his expression etched with anger and frantic concern.

He heaved an audible sigh of relief while raking over her form in a quick onceover to assure himself of her wellbeing, noticing she was dressed in different clothes than before.

Serena forced a smile. “Are you feeling alright? Did they hurt or threaten you?”

Jenkins' eyes darkened with anger when the memory of that needle piercing his neck flooded back. "Do you know what they did to us?" he growled, whirling to face the lounging figure of Killian sprawled indolently on the plush living room sofa, looking entirely too at ease and unbothered for his liking.

Jenkins’ pent-up rage boiled over as he advanced on Killian with clenched fists. "Resorting to drugging innocent people? Have you no honor, no shred of decency?"

Serena watched with an equal simmering anger and wariness as Jenkins continued to unleash his fury on Killian in a blistering torrent of outrage and accusations.

As much as she understood and even felt Jenkins' sense of being violated, and knew the latter was irritated by being handled in this manner given his abrupt outburst, which was a stark contrast to his typically calm demeanor, there was a nagging sense of unease about upsetting these people.

One of the burly guards seemed to have had enough of Jenkins' tirade.

He deftly stepped forward and easily hoisted Jenkins over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

“What the hell are you doing? Put me down, damn it!” Jenkins' struggled and muffled curses.

"Wait!" Serena cried out, hurrying to block the guard's path. "Where are you taking him? Put him down!"

The guard didn't so much as break stride, his expression utterly impassive beneath the dark lenses of his wraparound shades as he brushed past her after offering her a deep bow.

"Don't worry your pretty little head, sister-in-law," Killian's smooth voice rang out from behind them with a look of utter nonchalance. "He's just being escorted to a guest room for the time being. You should be thanking me he is even still alive after throwing such a tantrum. My eardrums hurt from his screams.”

Serena was displeased at the thinly veiled threat in his words. "Was all of this really necessary?" she asked, gesturing vaguely around them, struggling to keep her voice even and steady despite her anger. "The drugs, treating us like a prisoners?"

Killian's smile was all teeth. His eyes glinted with undisguised wickedness as he rose languidly from the sofa and began stalking towards her.

Believe me, sister-in-law - you have no idea just how necessary all of this is. Not yet." His eyes drilled into her with such intensity that anyone else would have shrunk in fear. Not Serena, though. She was hardly controlling her rage as it was.

"But you'll learn soon enough. We have all the time in the world for you to understand why things had to happen this way. Why you had to be brought into the fold, one way or another." he purred.

A tremor of complex emotions went shuddering through Serena at the implied threat in his words. Just who exactly were these people?

Killian seemed to read the questions swirling through her mind and his lips curled into a devious smile that made her stomach churn. "Don't worry, sister-in-law. You're safe here, under our protection. No harm will come to you..." he crooned.

His smile took on a predatory edge, eyes glinting with a dark promise that made her breath catch in her throat. "As long as you behave, that is. Never betray your husband. Otherwise, not even the Gods can save you."

Serena pursed her lips in displeasure. That phrase should be hers to rehearse because the one who was cheating or betraying between her and her alleged husband was the latter.

"I don't know what game you and that disloyal jerk fellow playing. But I want no part of it. I want out of here, and I want Jenkins released unharmed. Do you understand?" she stated, her voice thankfully remaining steady.

Killian simply stared at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then, unexpectedly, he threw back his head and laughed - a deep, mocking sound that seemed to reverberate through the cavernous space around them.

"Oh sister-in-law, that was so…" he chuckled, shaking his head as if she were an errant child throwing a tantrum. "You don't get to make such demands here. You don't get to decide when you leave or who gets released. Don’t say I didn’t warn you beforehand. You belong to Knox now. Your life, your future, your very existence - it all belongs to him by right."

Serena’s anger skyrocketed. "I don't belong to anyone!" she bit out, struggling to keep her voice from trembling due to fury.

"Is that what you think, sister-in-law?" Killian tsked softly, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "Knox will be quite displeased to hear you've been misbehaving already. Do you know you’ve been bound to him even before your birth? Have you ever wondered why your—" Killian trailed off and mentally smacked himself for talking too much.

“Damn it! My mouth is definitely going to be the death of me not some good cunts,” he murmured.

Killian gave the raging woman before him another pointed look and sighed. "You'd be wise to mind your tongue, sister-in-law, lest you find yourself over Knox's knee receiving the kind of...discipline he’s so very skilled at doling out."

Serena's breath hitched at the blatant threat. Despite her bravado, she couldn't deny the frisson of dread that went through her at the mere thought of incurring Knox's displeasure.

Killian twisted his lips into a twisted smile of satisfaction when he sensed her slight fear. "That's what I thought," he drawled. "You're not as brave as you pretend to be, are you? Not when faced with the reality of what your husband might be capable of."

Renewed anger flared hot and bright in Serena's chest at his condescending words, at the implication that she was weak or cowed.

Serena opened her mouth to protest, to rail against his words, but Killian cut her off. "Get some rest, sister-in-law. You're going to need it for the days ahead." He said, turning on his heels.

Serena was seething in rage. She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails bit crescent moons into the soft flesh of her palms, the sharp sting helping to ground her in the maelstrom of anger and indignation swirling through her mind.

"I need to see him. Right now!" she bit out through gritted teeth, her eyes glinting like shards of emerald ice as she pinned Killian with a look that could freeze hellfire itself.

Killian simply stared at her for a long moment, his expression a maddening mask of nonchalance despite the palpable fury radiating from Serena in waves.

"Shouldn’t you know the answer to that? Can't even keep your husband at your side on your wedding night? How utterly disappointing. I was rooting for you, sister.in-law."

His words struck a nerve, igniting a fresh conflagration of anger in Serena's chest as she was reminded that today was indeed supposed to be her and Knox's wedding night.

Although they were essentially strangers who had gotten bound together in unholy matrimony for reasons she had yet to uncover, she hadn't expected him to simply abandon her so callously. To leave her alone while he went gallivanting off with another woman like some sort of lecherous cad.

What she hated most, what she absolutely would not accept under any circumstances, was a cheating man. She didn’t need another Alex in her life!

“When is he coming back?" she demanded through her teeth.

Killian shrugged. "You'd better hold on tight to your husband, sister-in-law. That white lotus is a sly one." He warned. "The women in our circle are powerful. Wealthy, influential, accustomed to getting exactly what they want through whatever means necessary. And they're desperate to hold the title of Knox's wife - to be the one he comes home to at night, the one he shares his life and his bed with." His smile took on a decidedly sinister edge. "Even being his mistress would do for most of them, in a pinch."

“Why should I care? We aren’t a real couple anyway. I am not some rookie who has not seen the world. I can have any man I want; your brother or whatever he is isn't the only one alive. It is better we divorce and I find another method to repay him for assisting me with the court battle.” She scoffed.

Killian didn’t say anything else. He simply headed for the staircase, leaving Serena to stew in her tumultuous thoughts and the bitter taste of jealousy coating her tongue.

She didn't miss the name he'd used for the other woman – ‘white lotus’.

"Wait! I need my phone." She suddenly called out.

Killian paused on the bottom step, arching an inquisitive brow at her over his shoulder.

"I haven't seen it anywhere since I woke up here," she explained. "I need to find out if arrangements for my father's funeral have been made. It's time I faced my fears and the people who caused me so much pain."

A ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of Killian's mouth, but it held no mirth - only a sort of grim understanding.

"Your phone should be in the nightstand drawer in your bedroom," he stated simply.

With that, he continued his walk up the stairs.

Serena also headed for the staircase, each step fueled by a renewed sense of determination burning bright in her chest.

If Knox wasn't going to give her the answers she so desperately needed about what was happening and why she'd been dragged into this madness, then perhaps it was time she started finding those answers for herself.