Covet - Eve Vaughn Page 0,41
Frankie didn’t deserve another restful moment for the rest of her life.
I was tempted to leave her bound for the rest of the night, and I almost did, but I remembered she needed to get up and make my breakfast. I left her for an hour to make her suffer a little.
Frankie was still wide awake when I entered the room. The only light in the room was the lamp by the nightstand that illuminated her body. My seed had dried up on her body, and her hair was mussed. Dried tear streaks stained her cheeks, and her eyes were puffy. She looked so fucking pathetic, like one of those puppies in the animal rescue commercials with the sad music playing in the background. In normal circumstances I might have actually cared, but again I told myself that every bit of pain she experienced was on her.
I kept my gaze averted as I released her cuffs. Frankie didn’t acknowledge me while I accomplished my task. She simply stared at the ceiling. As soon as she was free, she sat up and massaged her wrists and ankles.
I didn’t want to linger or look at her; for that matter I couldn’t help it. I wanted to join her on the bed, but I grabbed on to the anger and pushed that thought away. “You should probably get some sleep, so you can get up early enough to fix breakfast.”
“What? You want me to cook only for you to already be gone?”
“If I wanted you to cook for a legion of lepers, you’d do what you’re fucking told. And don’t forgot that, Francesca. As it stands, I will be here in the morning because I’ll be working from home for the next few weeks. So get used to seeing me around.
“Will you at least put the door back on the hinges?”
“No…I don’t think I will.”
“Then can I at least switch rooms? I think I should be allowed some privacy.”
“You’re allowed what I say you fucking are. In case you’ve forgotten, you’re not here as my guest but to work off your debt, and I’m going to make you earn ever single penny you’re getting.”
She opened her mouth as if to speak but then closed it. Instead she rolled off her bed, headed for her bathroom and closed the door. It reminded me that I would take that door down as well. Sure, it was a dick move, but I wasn’t particularly disposed to being kind to her.
I headed out of the room just as I heard the shower turn on, and I paused when I thought I heard her sob. Why it caused me to hesitate was something I couldn’t comprehend because I didn’t want to feel anything but disgust for her. Somehow she still found a way to penetrate the walls I’d erected around my heart.
I barely slept a wink that night tossing and turning when I should have been sleeping like a baby. The sound of her cries in the shower was more upsetting. It pissed me off, and by the time the morning rolled around, I was in a lousy mood.
It didn’t help the first sound I heard when I did manage to doze off was my phone going off. I turned around to try to go back to sleep, but it kept ringing. With an angry growl, I grabbed my phone to turn it off then remembered that it could be Chris calling from the office, so I checked the caller ID.
It was my mother. Even worse. I contemplated ignoring her, but knowing her, she would show up on my doorstep if she wasn’t acknowledged immediately. I couldn’t have her finding Frankie here.
“What?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line followed by an exaggerated sigh. “Is that how you greet people on the phone? I’m quite sure I raised you better than that.”
“If I recall clearly, you left me to my own devices quite a bit.”
Her reply was another pregnant pause, and honestly I wasn’t in the mood to placate her.
“Mother, I’m sure you had a reason for calling me, so would you mind telling me what it is?”
“I don’t know what I did to deserve such an ungrateful son. After everything I’ve done for my children, you all treated me like I’m nothing. First you decided to take off to live your life miles away from home even though I needed you. I haven’t heard from your sister in years, and Kenny took off with