in—I’d been dragged back here. It was like the past two weeks hadn’t happened. Only now my room was filled with luxurious accoutrements, my walk-in closet overflowing with various dresses, shoes, and luxuries all my size.
When I lived with my mother, I used to dream about being Cinderella, being whisked away into a fairy tale.
I suddenly felt very stuck.
Very confined.
I was the one who found my mother when she overdosed. That was the day my life changed, when I went from living in a ramshackle apartment, to a black castle.
I would get a castle—a prison—in Scotland.
I jumped off the bed and threw open both double doors—and was immediately met with a wall of black suits. Two men the size of linebackers glared down at me.
“Going somewhere, Angel?” Just behind them, West got off the couch, standing to his feet.
“What is this?”
“Your guards. You were attacked only a few weeks ago, remember?”
I rolled my lips, studying their callous faces. After what I’d just witnessed with Grayson…I knew they were here to keep me in, not keep me safe.
West reached them, and they parted like water for Moses. I walked backward, trying to keep the space between us. It was useless. He ate the distance until my back was flush against the cold glass window, and there was only a thread of shivering air separating us.
West reached into his pocket and I tensed, expecting the worst. He handed me a black credit card with Du Lac Enterprises written in silver, and my name written above it.
“There is no limit,” he said simply.
I flexed my jaw. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want any of this.
“Your girl will be here every morning.”
“I have servants. Guards. An allowance. This is all very nice.”
“I told you we take care of our mistresses.”
Right. Take care.
His bite mark still throbbed on my neck, painful and humiliating.
“What happened earlier?” I changed the subject.
He forced me flush against the window.
“You spoke out of turn.”
“That wasn’t what I meant. What happened after I left? I agreed to this because Grayson was supposed to be safe—his family safe.”
I couldn’t say the word prisoner. It was too surreal.
“He is. They are. But did you think that the stunt you pulled at the Nutcracker Masquerade would have no consequences? That’s naive, even for you.”
West gripped my chin, and on instinct I shoved him. Mistake.
He gripped my wrists. “You need to learn your place, Angel,” he gritted. “I can’t protect you—”
“If I refuse to understand the rules.” I fought the urge to roll my eyes, but by the way his grip tightened I’m sure he got the gist.
West was a number of things, but he was not my protector.
He thrust me to him by my wrists until we were flush against one another. “Who needs to die for you to realize this isn’t a game? That your kisses have consequences?”
I breathed through my nostrils, refusing to answer him.
I know. He thinks I’m not aware of how precarious my love for Grayson is? I was viscerally aware. I’d barely been back hours and nearly ruined everything.
The ways I was allowed to love Grayson kept dwindling.
“Don’t get any ideas about leaving this wing.” His grip bruised. “Don’t wander the halls without me. Don’t speak unless explicitly addressed.”
My heart raced. “Or what? This has been my home for over a decade.”
A look passed over his eyes, but then he let me go.
“Have you given my proposal some thought?” He dragged a thumb along the edge of his square jaw, watching me. Waiting.
I’ll kill him before I let that happen.
I looked away.
“You loved me once,” he said softly, one knuckle glancing the fresh bite on my neck. “Be my angel, fall for me.”
I jerked my head away. “You are not my god, and I will never bleed for you.”
He clenched his jaw, nostrils flared, and I took a step to him, feeling a little bit more empowered. I raised my chin.
“You want my heart, West? How do you think I or anyone could ever love you if all you do is lie?”
“Grayson Crowne tells you the truth?” He smiled venomously. “Is that why you’re so curious as to what happened while we were gone?”
I know Grayson has another secret.
Something was very wrong.
But I could feel Grayson’s truth bleeding from him in a way that West would never understand. Our connection went beyond simple truth and lies. I just had to wait for him to tell me why his eyes ached.
So I stood taller. “He tells me all his