raped. At least momentarily. I’m not fool enough to push it aside completely. That desire I’m seeing though confuses the hell out of me.
I’ve been raised to watch. To observe. It’s what you do when you’re the daughter of a notorious criminal who treats you like property. You don’t have time for shit because one minute to the next could be the end for you. So, when I see, I see all, and as this man who’s kidnapped me looks at me, what I see is raw desire. Wanting, longing, and I know the same attraction that assails me has him too.
A moment passes when all we do is look at each other. A moment of light and understanding where the chemical bonds that draw us together start to spark.
Then he blinks, and just like that it’s gone.
Gone and replaced by something else inside him I fully recognize. I see that unhinged look in my own eyes every time I look in the mirror.
Now that he’s not smiling, I can see quite clearly what that thing is. Pain.
Pain from being broken deep inside. The type of broken that can only come from loss. Grief. Grief from the loss of someone he loved.
The second I think it he moves away from me, and I wonder who my father killed for him.
Who did Dad kill?
Someone died and it’s exactly like he said. Death is the end. Nothing is worse than that. That’s what this is about. Tristan wants to know where my father is because he wants to kill him.
My awareness returns to me and with it the gravity of the situation. He used me and made a complete fool out of me. I actually liked him. That’s the only reason why my body is still reacting to him.
I will not feel sorry for him. He’s kidnapped me and brought me to this place. The thought makes me sit up and pull down the gown to cover myself up.
“I’m going to give you some time to think,” he says cutting into the thick silence. “It seems like you might need it. If I were you, I would think long and hard about that answer of yours.”
I don’t bother to tell him my answer will still be the same. I have no idea where my father is. I do want to know one thing though even if it gets me in more trouble.
“Why did you bother to wear that mask?” I ask as he takes a step to leave. He stops and looks at me.
“What are you talking about?” he snaps, glaring at me.
“The mask of a man who seems to care. That’s what you looked like in the park the other day. Why did you even bother to talk to me? You didn’t need to. I get why you couldn’t take me in the park though. Too risky. Especially with my guard at the door. My father would have had men on you in seconds. You wouldn’t have had a chance. But there was the club. You could have just led me away when I came up to find you. The whole night was so easy.” My cheeks burn with embarrassment when I think back to how I behaved with him. “I acted enough like a slut to make it simple for you. You didn’t have to kiss me or make me feel for you. I hate you for that.”
The corners of his mouth lift into a dark smile. “You’re supposed to, Bellezza,” he seethes and then he just gazes down at me.
“Monster. Beast. That’s what you are.”
Something shifts in his eyes again and I can tell I struck a nerve.
What I see too is my destruction. It doesn’t matter what attraction and chemistry there is between us. This man hates me because I am my father’s daughter. He’ll use me as a scape goat. Collateral damage.
He hates my father, what he doesn’t know is that I hate my father more than he does.
I’m as good as dead here.
I accept that truth as I watch him walk through the door and it clicks shut.
When a key rattles on the outside I know I’m locked in.
Trapped.
Chapter Eleven
Tristan
Damn it to fuck.
What the fuck am I going to do now?
What am I going to do and what the hell is with me?
I walk down the corridor consumed by lust and rage. A deadly combo. Something that could make a man like me go ape shit and on a rampage to destroy everything in his path.