“So, I guess you pick the pain instead then,” he muses, tucking the gun into his waistband.
“No,” I say, sniffing as I lower my hands.
I want to smack the smirk off his face, if I could only reach him. I hate this damn cage.
“You can’t have it both ways, Princess.”
“As if I would ever want any of them,” I say, sighing.
“You don’t, but what you want doesn’t matter here.” He starts playing with his knife. “You see, this is all for me. I admit it. I’m a selfish bastard. I want to see you hurt so badly …” He pushes the tip of the knife so far into his own thumb that a drop of blood oozes out. “I can’t stop thinking about all the ways I’m going to make you cry.”
“You want my tears?” I ask because I’m not far away from bursting into tears. “Because you can have them.”
He stops playing with the knife. Instead, he inches closer to my cage and waves the blade at me. “Be careful, Princess. Don’t tempt me. You know how much I love to see you water from your eyes.”
“Too late.” I point at my eye. “See that? That’s your doing. Happy now?”
He squints. “Not nearly enough to touch the surface of what I’ll need from you.”
I grind my teeth, getting angrier by the second. “You already have me in a cage. You’ve humiliated me on more than one occasion. I’m a pet stuck in your prison, and I’m already hurt from losing both my guys. Isn’t it enough?”
He frowns, gazing at me for a second before responding. “Never.”
I roll my eyes and blow out a breath, angry with myself for not thinking of better ways to talk my way out of this mess.
“Whatever you’re going to try next won’t work, Vanessa. I’m not going to let you persuade me.” He reaches into the cage with the knife, and I lean back to avoid it, but his arm is longer than the width of the cage. I can’t escape the blade as it touches me. With my eyes closed, I try to calm myself down by breathing through my nose as Phoenix pushes the tip into my cheek.
“Do you fear pain, Princess?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say.
“Is it because of the feeling or because I might scar you?”
“What?” I gasp.
“You heard me.” He caresses my cheek with the edge of the knife. It sinks into my skin like a knife cutting through butter, but not deep enough to do damage. It does hurt a little, though, and I struggle not to react. I can feel the blood roll down my skin, and his eyes zoom in on it like a hawk that’s found its prey.
“Are you afraid you’ll no longer look pretty when I’m done with you? Or do you just not want to feel it while I’m hurting you?”
“Both,” I say, my voice changing in intonation as the blade dances across my skin.
“Thought you’d say that. You wanna know what I think? I don’t think you’re afraid of the pain. I think you’re more afraid of the consequences. The fate you’ll have to endure once you realize you can no longer hide behind a pretty mask.” His eyes suddenly turn serious. “Because that beautiful mask will no longer be there when I’m done with you.”
That comment shakes me to my core. I’ve never been this afraid, but then, I’ve never faced anything like this. Miles or Phoenix, whatever he calls himself nowadays … he’s become so violent over the past few years, like a raging hurricane. There’s a certain gleam in his eyes that I can’t ignore, something diabolical. And yet I can’t help but wonder if he thinks exactly the same of me.
“So …” The knife ends at my chin, and with the tip, he raises my head. “How would you like to suffer?”
Frowning, I laugh. “Are you for real?”
The left side of his lip curls up into a smile. “Don’t take it for granted, Princess. I’m giving you a choice. Where would you like to bleed? How would you like to die? Where do you want to feel the pain first?” He drags the knife down my neck all the way to my chest, circling my breasts with it as if he means to cut them out first. I loathe the despicable look on his face, as if he’s enjoying this.
“So, what will it be?” he whispers, staring at me from under his eyelashes.