top in it's luxury but full of the men who hate me.
"Anything else you'd like to say, Fallows?"
I blink back the tears. "No. Thank you."
My voice comes out thready, but clear enough. North gets his phone out so I guess that's the conversation over with.
The moment we step out of the car in North’s garage, we’re greeted by three of his house staff. I keep my arms crossed over my chest tightly, as though no one will notice I’m standing around looking homeless if I just keep my chest covered, but none of them look my way anyway.
“Councilman Eversong has arrived, he’s waiting in your office.”
North curses softly under his breath and takes the folder from one of the men, speaking to me in the same cold tone he has all night without so much as a glance in my direction, “Evelyn will show you to your room, Fallows. I’ll collect you from there in the morning to take you down to breakfast, I expect you to stay there until then.”
Perfect.
Great.
Fucking wonderful.
I’ve gone from a limited existence to a freaking cage and there’s nothing I can do about it. This beautiful, obscenely ornate mansion is now more than just a place I come each week to be tortured… now it’s the hell that I’ll be trapped in until I freaking die.
Maybe the Resistance finding me wouldn’t be the worst option.
North and both of the men walk away without noticing the seething rage I’m trapped in, leaving Evelyn and me behind to head off to my new prison cell.
“If you could follow me, Miss Fallows. Your room is on the third floor.”
I want nothing more than to lash out and tell her to fuck off, but then I glance over to find her staring at the ground in submission. I have no freaking clue how North treats his staff, but they all tiptoe around like we’re monsters they’ve been enslaved to and it makes me feel as uncomfortable as hell.
So I keep my mouth shut and spare the poor woman the vitriol that’s running through my head.
I need to start keeping track of directions in this place because after two turns, I’m already completely disoriented and lost. When we make it down one of the long halls to the elevator, I startle at the ding because I honestly thought the elevator was on the other side of the building the last time I was forced into it.
Evelyn doesn’t speak, she doesn’t look around at anything or fuss with her clothing in a nervous tick. She’s the picture of a subservient housemaid in a mansion who sees everything and nothing.
I have exactly none of her composure. I twitch and pick at my skin like I can feel a million crawling insects moving through my veins.
We turn another corner and come face-to-face with the real reason I don’t want to stay in this fucking house because my worst goddamn nightmare is headed right towards us, dressed casually in black slacks and a soft cashmere sweater. Nox’s eyes flick over to Evelyn and he dismisses her with a simple, “Leave us.”
That’s it.
Two words is all it takes for me to be stranded in a hallway with the only one of my Bonds that I’m positive wants me dead. Evelyn just scurries away without a word.
Once we’re alone, he doesn’t waste time going for my throat. “Why are you dressed like a common whore? Did North have to hunt you down at some frat house? You sure know how to piss my brother off, don't you, Poison?"
Poison.
Of course he’d be the person to link my name up with the terrible position that I’ve inadvertently put us all in. I’m the poison that’s been spread into his family.
I will not cry, and I certainly won't let him know how much he's getting under my skin. "A girl has to get her fun where she can, Nox. Why do you care so much? It's not like you want me. You have more than enough on your plate, right?"
He steps forward, crowding me against the wall. "Maybe I should bond with you, Poison. Maybe I should try you out so the next time I fuck my girlfriend, you'll know all about it and you'll feel like your heart is being ripped out of your chest. It might help you to understand what you put the rest of us through when you ran off."
He steps into my body, the size difference between us means he looms over me and