Corrupt Me

CHAPTER TWO - The Stranger in Black

The mansion was too quiet. Not the quiet of peace—but the kind that follows something violent. The kind that made your skin itch, like the walls were watching. I’d never been in a place so grand, so cold. The floors gleamed like ice. The chandeliers overhead sparkled, but they gave no warmth. Everything screamed power… and silence.

I hadn’t said a word since we left the car. Marco hadn’t looked at me again. He walked ahead, hands in his pockets, every step deliberate. Not rushed. Not hesitant. Just absolute.

He didn’t lead me to a bedroom. He led me to a room with tall double doors and guards outside. One of them—a tall man with tan skin, a buzz cut, and eyes like stone—opened the door without a word. He looked scary

“This is where you’ll stay,” Marco said flatly, stepping aside.

The room was large, but sterile. A king-sized bed. A dresser. A full-length mirror. No windows. One locked door.

I stepped in slowly, hugging myself. The door shut behind me, the click of the lock louder than I expected. I stood there for a moment, afraid to move, afraid to touch anything. I had no idea what they expected from me. No idea why I was really here. And no idea who he really was.

But I could feel it—he wasn’t just powerful. He was dangerous.

That night, sleep never came. I curled up on the edge of the bed, blanket wrapped around me, heart thudding like a warning drum. I didn’t cry. Not because I wasn’t scared—I was terrified. But I had cried for years in the attic. I had nothing left in me but survival.

***

The knock on the door came just after dawn.

It wasn’t loud. Just a soft, confident knock—like whoever was on the other side didn’t need permission to come in.

“Millie,” a woman’s voice called softly, different from the tone I was used to. “I’m Rosa. I’m coming in.”

The door opened, and a middle-aged woman with sharp cheekbones and kind eyes stepped inside, holding a bundle of clothes.

“You’re to be dressed and brought to the boss,” she said simply, setting the clothes on the bed. “Wash first. There’s a bathroom through that door.”

I looked at her, wary. She didn’t look like the others. Her hands weren’t scarred. Her eyes didn’t carry that same weight. But she still belonged to him.

“What does he want?” I asked.

“To see what he paid for,” she said bluntly. “Get ready.”

***

The clothes were simple, but not cheap—a black dress, soft as water, that hugged my figure a little too closely. It made me feel exposed. Bare. The girl in the mirror wasn’t the attic girl anymore. Her hair was brushed. Her face was clean. Her eyes… they looked more alive than they should’ve.

When Rosa led me down the marble halls, I caught glimpses of the others.

Men in suits. Guns holstered. Tattoos. Whispers.

They didn’t look at me like I was someone.

They looked at me like I was his.

A possession.

But that didn’t scare me as much as it should’ve.

Because part of me felt safer being his... than being no one.

We reached a room with double glass doors and guards flanking either side. One of them, tall with a cigarette tucked behind his ear, gave me a half-smile.

“Boss is in the lounge,” he said. “She’s prettier than I thought.”

“She’s off-limits,” Rosa warned sharplty, Cutting him off.

“Everything is off-limits,” he muttered. “’Cept the bodies.”

She pushed the doors open and nodded for me to enter. “Go. Don’t make him wait.”

***

Marco was sitting at the far end of the room, his back to the fireplace, glass in hand. There were other men with him now. Two of them. One was tall and lean with a devilish grin and a mess of dark curls. The other was older, with glasses, slicked-back hair, and the calm presence of a man who’d seen too much.

Marco didn’t look up as I entered. He didn’t need to.

“Come here,” he said simply, his voice was like smoke—calm, low, and commanding.

I walked, slowly. Carefully. Like prey inching closer to the predator who had already decided not to kill it.

Yet.

“This is Millie,” he said, more to his men than to me. “The one they kept in a box.”

The curly-haired one gave a low whistle. “She’s real?,” he said. “Thought you were bluffing.”

Marco finally looked at me. His eyes burned into mine.

“Millie,” he said. “This is Nico.” He gestured to the grinning one. “He talks too much and listens too little.”

“I’m the fun one,” Nico said, flashing me a wink.

Marco ignored him. “And that’s Luca. He doesn’t talk much, but he hears everything.”

Luca gave me a nod. Respectful. Calculating.

Then Marco stood, and the energy in the room shifted.

He didn’t speak for a moment, just walked a slow circle around me like he was studying a painting. Or a weapon. Or both.“You don’t know what this world is, do you?” he asked quietly.

I shook my head.

“Good. That means I get to teach you.”

He stopped behind me. Close enough that I could feel the heat of his breath against my neck.

“You were hidden,” he murmured. “Caged. Starved. Beaten. But you were kept for a reason. And now… you’re mine.”

I turned slowly, heart racing. “What does that mean?”

He didn’t smile. “It means you belong to someone who knows how to use power. Who gives nothing for free. But I’m giving you protection. Safety. Food. Respect. All you have to give in return… is obedience.”

“And if I don’t?” I whispered.

Marco stepped closer until there was nothing between us.

“Then I teach you the hard way.”

His words should’ve frozen me. Should’ve broken me. But they didn’t. Because in that moment, something terrifying stirred inside me.

I wasn’t just afraid of Marco De Luca.

I was curious.

***

Later, when I was back in my room, Nico appeared outside my door without knocking.

He leaned against the frame, grinning as he stared at me with curiosity for some while. “He doesn’t bring girls here. Not ever. You’re special. Or you’re a bomb.” He finally said.

“Which one am I?”

He tilted his head. “That’s what we’re all waiting to find out.”

Then he left.

And I stood there, alone again, heart pounding, realizing the truth.

The attic was hell.

But this?

This was something worse.

Something better.

Something dangerous.

And I had just stepped into the center of it.