Blood Ties (Dinero de Sangre #2) - Lana Sky Page 0,27
would only be giving him an opening to escalate his taunts. My stomach drops as I remember what happened on the balcony. Every time I try to meet him tit for tat, he turns the tables.
Ignoring him now would be a blatant invitation for him to impose yet another change to our dynamic. Perhaps try to do more than shove a feeding tube down my throat, for instance.
I shudder at the prospect and wind up sitting on the edge of the bed before I can rethink my options. I grab a fork, stab at a piece of egg and bite it, chewing mechanically.
The taste barely registers, but the sickening sensation of food filling my stomach is unbearable. I nearly spit it out. The need to purge is so damn overwhelming that it takes effort to swallow. Once I do, I drop the fork, lurching to my feet.
I’ve done enough.
But then I picture his expression as he said, “You’ll need your strength.” In reality, he likes me weak and powerless. He prefers having the utmost control over my body and my life.
He’d love having one more reason to rip away what fragile autonomy I have left.
So I force myself to pick up the fork and take another bite. And another.
The food feels like lead going down my throat, but with every subsequent bite, I can’t ignore the selfish satisfaction I feel at denying him a victory in this arena. He’ll have to look for something else to lord over me, another weakness to exploit. I won’t let him play on my insecurities so recklessly.
Fuck him.
I surprise myself and nearly clear the entire plate. I even manage to consume most of the fruit, and when I finally step back from the tray, I’m grinning. For the first time in years, a full stomach doesn’t make me feel disgusting and stuffed.
I feel ready to face him and whatever he might throw at me next.
But the second I step one foot beyond the doorway, that bravery fades. I’m on his turf again, forced to navigate his twisted, dark world without any sense of direction.
It’s still morning, I think. When I head for the circular foyer that serves as the heart of the house, a rare sound reaches my ears, so disarming that I stop in my tracks and crane my head to listen.
Laughter. Sexy, raucous laughter—a female and a male’s, his deep and melodic and unmistakably genuine.
I’m skeptical as I gather up the nerve to follow it, convinced that a different man must be out on the terrace where the sound resonates the strongest. Perhaps the mysterious Jaguar returned to see our dynamic in action for himself?
But no.
The figure chuckling shamelessly on a white lounger, his head thrown back to expose his throat, is Domino Valenciaga, Alexi seated across from him.
“I told you,” she purrs, leaning toward him so that her ample breasts threaten to spill from her low-cut white tank top. “I am a woman of many talents.”
“I believe you,” Domino replies. “It takes a certain talent for attracting trouble to catch Jagger’s attention.”
“Oh no you don’t,” Alexi teases. “No prying, Dom. It’s rude.”
She doesn’t see me, smirking at him, her blue eyes sparkling.
But he does. He goes silent mid-laugh, and even I can admit that the shift in him is terrifying to witness. His eyes lose what hint of warmth they had and go cold as his shoulders fall into a hard, rigid line. With a stern tilt of his chin, he levels his gaze in my direction.
God, he must truly hate me. It’s the only explanation for why he can react to me so harshly within seconds.
And yet, while alone with Alexi, display a relaxed demeanor I don’t think I’ve ever seen him embody. Not once during my captivity, not even during all the years he worked for my father. In fact…
I don’t think I’ve ever heard him laugh like that.
“I need to speak to Ada-Maria in private,” he says. His chilling tone spurs Alexi to lurch to her feet without argument. Swaying her hips, she heads inside, staring right past me, her nose in the air. I ignore the slight and focus on the man before me.
He’s leaning forward, his hands braced on either knee like a soldier readying for battle. His outfit reinforces that comparison. He’s swapped the dark attire for white today, opting for slacks and a loose shirt—but, for what I think is the first time, he’s left the buttons completely undone.