The vows issued by the officiant were nearly identical to the ones I’d made on the day I’d married Luca. Honor and obey, in particular, stuck in my mind. These sick men expected me to be a dutiful wife, an accessory to their lives without a will of my own. Even Luca had demanded my unquestioning obedience, humiliating me with dark pleasure when I didn’t immediately comply.

I swallowed the bile that rose at the back of my throat, shoving the poisonous thoughts about Luca away. He was my only hope of salvation, and guilt nipped at me for even thinking of him in the same way as sadistic Dante.

“It’s your turn, darling,” Dante crooned. “Say I do.”

My lips were numb, but somehow they formed the words: “I do.”

I had to say the lie. I didn’t have a choice. Dante would hurt me if I didn’t comply.

I am a sadist. You’d do well to remember that.

I kept my face serene, not allowing my features to so much as twitch with the disgust and dread that boiled inside me. I stared at a spot directly between Dante’s dark brows, allowing his fierce grin and dancing eyes to blur into the periphery.

When it came time to exchange rings, he grasped my hand tighter and slid Luca’s wedding and engagement rings off. Smirking, he dropped them to the floor like garbage. The soft, musical sound of precious metal pinging on wood lanced my heart like a blade.

I tried to yank my hand away from his rings, but he held me fast. He’d chosen a diamond eternity band and an enormous cushion cut emerald surrounded by diamonds for an engagement ring. The gemstones glittered, so bright that my eyes stung.

I took a deep breath and tore my gaze away from the rings that might as well have been shackles.

It doesn’t mean anything, I told myself. We’re not really married.

Luca was still my husband, not this monster who was looking at me like I was a decadent treat he couldn’t wait to devour.

The officiant declared us married, completing the farce of a ceremony. “You may kiss the bride.”

I tensed, my beatific smile slipping. I tried to pull my composed mask back in place, but fear shuddered through me in a shockwave, cracking it.

Dante cocked his head at me, his gaze bright with amusement as he watched me crumble ever so slightly. He studied me as though I was the most fascinating thing he’d ever seen, his full, intense attention fixed on every nuance of my expression.