Christmas Captive - Isabella Starling Page 0,50

a gorgeous silk red dress I'd picked for her and with two wine glasses in hand. But the moment she saw Kai standing next to me, the smile on her face disappeared. Her hands shook so badly she dropped both glasses. The crash of them on the floor was like a slap to the face.

"Kitty?" I questioned. "Is everything alright?"

"Sir," she spoke up shakily. "Please... Please get me away from him." She pointed to Kai with a shaky finger while he glared at her. "Don't let him come near me."

"What the hell?" I asked, looking between them. "Do you two know each other?"

"Indeed, we do," Kai hissed, pushing up the sleeves of his shirt. "What is this, some kind of con attempt?"

"No," Amicia cried out. "I didn't know... I didn't know Grayson worked for you!"

"He doesn't work for me, stupid girl," Kai interrupted with a threatening laugh. "I work for him."

"W-What?" Amicia's eyes turned to mine. I could tell she felt betrayed. "You're the one I owe money to?"

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"It's her, Sir." Kai motioned to Amicia. "She's the girl who gave us the fake name. She owes you five grand, plus enough interest to make it twenty."

My head was spinning from this information, and I glared at Amicia. "You're the con artist who cost me money?"

"No," she snarled in response. "You're the monster who killed my foster parent."

She took off running, and I turned to face Kai. "I need to deal with this."

"Certainly, Sir." Kai leaned in with a blank look on his face. "But this one is not to be trusted. If you need me to... dispose of her, just give me a sign."

I slammed him against the wall the next second. "You touch her, you die. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir." I let him go, and Kai refused to meet my eyes as he buttoned his suit. "I'll be back tomorrow for the papers."

I didn't reply as he went down in the lift. My priority was Amicia. I had no idea what had just happened, but things were slowly becoming clear—the puzzle pieces coming together in my mind.

There had only ever been one person who'd wronged me, and that had been years ago, when most of my business was still... shady, to say the least.

And it turned out that person was the woman I'd bought.

Amicia ran back into the room, marching toward the lift. She snarled when I tried to grab her.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" I demanded.

"I'm leaving," she hissed. "I can't possibly stay after this. How do you think I feel?"

"How do you think I feel?" I returned the question. "I just found out you're the one who got away with my cash. I killed for you, Amicia."

"No! You killed because you're a monster," she snarled at me, grabbing a steak knife from the dining table with shaky hands and aiming it at me. "Don't touch me, and don't you dare come any closer."

"Amicia," I begged her, trying to stay level-headed.

"No," she cried out. "Don't even speak to me. You had her killed! The wrong woman, Grayson! You killed her!"

"I didn't kill her," I pointed out.

"No," she shook her head. "You had someone else do your dirty work, because you're a fucking coward, Grayson Kline."

"Watch your tongue."

"No. Fuck you!"

"Watch it!" I lunged for her and she shrieked, swinging her knife. She got me in the right forearm, slashing through the fabric of my designer suit and leaving a long, bloody line on my arm. "Look what you did, Kitty. Now I'm going to have to punish you."

"You won't touch me ever again," she snarled.

"Oh, but I will." My cruel side was coming out to play, and I hated myself for it. But I had to discipline her. She knew what kind of man I was now, after all. "If you leave now, you can kiss your money goodbye. You have to stay until Christmas morning. Then, it's up to you what you want to do."

"Fuck you," Amicia said. "I can't believe you'd make me stay here with you, you sick bastard."

"The more names you call me, the harder you'll have to work to apologize," I hissed. "Now drop that knife. Drop. It. Now!"

The knife clattered from her trembling fingers, falling to the floor, and we glared at one another.

"You can force me to fuck you," Amicia said. "But I'll never forgive you for what you did, and I'll never forget who you really are, Grayson."

"I have no plans of forcing you," I clipped back.