Indebted - Piper Stone Page 0,49

with you.”

The slight snap in my mind was actually audible, the range of emotions and dazzling sensations I’d felt shut down in an instant. I took two giant strides in her direction, wrapping my hand around her wrist. “You want to know what the rest of your limited world is going to be like for the next few weeks? Do you long to know how a monster lives? Is that what you want?”

“Yes!”

I laughed bitterly, nodding once. “Fine. Then so be it.” As I dragged her out of the room, her single moan was my reward. I was blinded by my fury and by the damning hunger that remained lurking in the shadows. I yanked her down the hallway, her long legs finding it difficult to keep up with me.

We both flew down the massive set of stairs and I jerked her into one of the rooms. “This is the game room, a place I’d hoped I could share with members of my family, employees from my corporation during times of celebration.”

She took several deep breaths but said nothing, although her eyes were wild as she glanced at the space that I’d never spent more than ten minutes in.

I took her next to the wine tasting room, the very location I’d designed myself, my taste in merlot and cabernet driving me. “And this is one place I hoped would be filled with laughter and joy as well as bottles of the most expensive wines from exotic locations. The wine is here. The laughter has never been and never will be.”

I shot her a look, waiting for her rebuttal. There was nothing but a glazed look on her face. Inhaling, I slammed the door before guiding her to the executive dining room, throwing open the door. “And can you just imagine the festive dinners, the holidays spent with family and friends, even your American holidays. Ham and turkey, filet and smoked salmon. All served on expensive china. Not once has anyone eaten at this table.”

She finally uttered a single whimper, the sound more haunted than I could tolerate. I continued my path, showing her the library full of rare books, the fireplace that was as pure as the day the house had been finished.

Then I dragged her into my office, the same one I’d spanked her in the day before. “My office is my respite, one of the few places I’m comfortable in this massive house where I chose to live alone.” I let her go, moving to my chair and easing down. At times like these, I wished I smoked cigars, although the stench alone made me sick.

I swept my arm across the top, giving her a wide grin. “Maybe this will be enough for you to understand that you need to follow the rules. Or maybe, you’ll continue to believe that I am nothing but a monster. That is your choice and yours alone. I honestly don’t give a shit.”

The silence was deafening, although the rapid beating of my heart echoed.

She tilted her head, taking careful steps onto the rug that had defined her strength. Her fear of snakes was something I could understand, had even planned on using if necessary. The thought alone made me sick inside. Those were the tactics my father would have used. Was I nothing but a carbon copy of the bastard who’d tossed his son away like trash?

“Living can be wonderful, Gabriel. There is joy in simple pleasures, but you have to allow yourself to savor the moment.” Alessandra took rebellious steps into the center of the rug, closing her eyes. “Or do I always need to call you sir?”

She was chiding me, pushing every button. I continued to have difficulty breathing as I longed for her, every muscle tense.

“I see a field of green with wildflowers and butterflies, a beautiful rainbow in the sky. I can smell sweet jasmine and freshly cut grass as the sun is just beginning to peek out from the clouds,” she whispered, her voice even more lilting than before.

The simple words were almost too much to hear, the quiet way in which she spoke them unlike anything I’d said to her. I wanted to live, sharing moments of laughter and joy. She had no idea how I’d craved those things, the house once meant to be a respite, a place of true tranquility. Now it only represented all the things I couldn’t have.

Including her.

She was right. I could compel her obedience, but I’d never receive her love.

“I