Blood Ties (Dinero de Sangre #2) - Lana Sky Page 0,13

am your hero who rescued you from a living nightmare after you watched your boyfriend be murdered right in front of you. Understand?”

I don’t. My head is spinning, trying to juggle it all, and now I know why he locked me in here—to protect his lie.

And yet, it betrays a rare hint of vulnerability on his part that he’s even revealed as much to me.

“I guess this means that you have no need to lock your naïve, captive bunny rabbit in a bedroom without her consent, then,” I croak. His nostrils flare, his grip on my arm tightening—but the display alone reveals that I’m right. Therefore, I don’t mind twisting the knife just a little more. “I guess that means no more collar, either.”

“Don’t forget that Jaguar knows I injured you badly enough to require an extra week for you to heal, Ada-Maria. This isn’t some fairy tale fucking romance—”

“How did you explain it?” I ask, jutting my chin as I parse through what few possible explanations I can come up with. None make sense. “Why would any woman stay with you willingly after what you’ve done? Why would my ‘hero’ collar me and have me whipped?”

“Do you really want to know?” He smiles, but it’s a grotesque distortion of his mouth, nothing more. “I told him you like it rough—” He releases me, retreating toward another corner of the room. A second later, a wad of fabric lands against my chest, thrown by him. “Get dressed. And if you want to extend your life beyond Tuesday, you’ll do what I say—which is keep your mouth shut.”

The clothing he gave me is his, I realize. His shirt, which I pull on without complaint, too distracted by his revelation to care that, in this context, my little stunt has lost all its meaning.

No longer am I toying with his boundaries, but playing right into his sick narrative. His loyal, love-struck captive would, of course, choose to wear an item of his.

Did Alexi?

Her presence here irritates me more the longer I ponder Domino’s reaction to her. He kept pictures of him fondling her naked body in his closet. And yet, how did he refer to her?

Jaguar’s spy…

“Ines will bring you your lunch here,” Domino says.

I look over my shoulder to find him entering the hall. From the way he reaches for the doorknob, I can tell what he intends to do.

Lock me in.

“I thought you said I could leave?”

He scoffs. “I am not as dumb as I look, Ada-Maria, and you are not as convincing as you think you are. I’ve humored you this once, but if you want my trust, batting your eyelashes and showing off your tits isn’t how you get it. You earn it. Or so help me God, I will get that collar you like so much, wrap it around your throat and tie you in the closet like an animal for the week. Jaguar be damned. Do you understand that?”

He doesn’t give me the chance to answer.

He slams the door, and a definitive click that sounds after reveals that he wasn’t bluffing.

I’m locked in.

Quickly, though, I realize that I’m not completely without a weapon of my own.

I almost miss it as I pace, tearing my fingers through my hair as I consider going back onto that balcony and screaming bloody murder for anyone to hear.

He left it on the glass case of watches in the middle of the closet, perhaps as his own twisted attempt at a peace offering.

Or a taunt.

The pink surface mocks me as I approach it and warily run my fingers across the cover. Apart from last night, I haven’t touched this object in ten years. A decade.

Plenty of time for Pia’s lies and schemes to come back to bite me.

You think you’re so different from me? she screamed at me during one of the last times I ever saw her. You’re just a selfish, spoiled little bitch who can’t see beyond her stupid life. The rest of us? We’re not so lucky, Ada. I don’t have a papa to snap his fingers and fix my problems!

I’d been so angry; I could have exploded. Never, had I felt that kind of rage before, or since. So that’s why you had to fuck him, then? I’d thrown back at her. Who’s the bitch now?

She blinked, her green eyes blazing, glistening with unshed tears. I’ll never forget the look she gave me. Almost one of pity. You have no idea what the hell is going on,