what you prefer, then I’ll remove it.” A ghost of a smile was on his lips.
Fucking asshole.
“What say you?”
I looked away, refusing to verbally give my answer.
“That’s what I thought.” He sat perfectly straight in the chair like he was in a business meeting. He made the suit look comfortable rather than constricting. Every time he moved, his actions were graceful. He was a killer when he needed to be—and a diplomat the rest of the time.
“Why am I here?” When I woke up that morning, I didn’t detect any soreness. He seemed to have kept his word and didn’t touch me against my will. And he didn’t let anyone else touch me. I didn’t want to trust him or to feel gratitude for his moment of mercy. He was still evil. He was still my enemy. When I had the chance, I would kill him. And I would enjoy it.
“Because I want you here.”
“Why did you stop those men from having their way with me?”
“It was the only way to get you under control.”
“But you had me. You got me before I could end my miserable existence.”
He sipped his coffee again.
I waited for an answer.
He never gave one.
“Uh, hello?” I snapped. “I just asked you a question.”
“You can ask whatever you want. That doesn’t mean I’m going to answer you.”
I wanted to slap that handsome face. I wanted to make that perfect complexion redden under my touch. “Why did you steal me from Bones?”
“Bones is my enemy.”
“Okay…but what does that have to do with me?”
“He values you. He cares about you. It’s far easier to hurt someone by hurting someone they care about. I could cut off every single one of his limbs, and it still wouldn’t hurt as bad as what I’m about to do to you.”
My blood went ice-cold. I stupidly assumed this man was less dangerous than the others. Maybe I made the wrong decision. This house was beautiful, but that was just a mask for the devil’s playground it truly was. “You’re wrong. He doesn’t care about me. He won’t lose any sleep over my absence.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve seen him with you. He’s never taken a slave to his factory. He’s never taken one to the opera. And he’s never refused to share a slave with his colleagues. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”
How did he know all of that?
Somehow, he could read my thoughts. “I was watching you together at the opera. I told you not to run because you would screw up my plan to extract you. I wasn’t helping you. I was helping myself.”
The great mystery had been solved. “Now what? You hold me for ransom?”
“No. I’m never returning you. There’s not enough money in the world to make me return you.”
My situation was becoming bleaker by the second.
“So…that means I’ll be your slave forever?”
“No.” He set his coffee down and looked me straight in the eye. “Just until I kill you.”
77
Crow
My hatred grew with every passing day.
I hated that woman.
I loathed her.
I wanted to break her open and yank all her insides out. I wanted to cause her as much pain as possible. I wanted to make her life unbearable. She deserved a nightmare. She deserved a terror so absolute she couldn’t stop shaking. She deserved pure and utter hell.
And I would make that happen.
I knew I scared her with the final words I spoke to her. I told her what my plan was. She’d be used over and over again until I snapped her neck. She knew exactly what was coming, and the fact I said it so effortlessly frightened her even more.
Good. That’s what she deserved.
A week went by, and I didn’t see her once. She didn’t join me for meals, and even though she was free to enjoy the different sectors of the house, she never emerged from her hole. She stayed out of sight and out of mind, hoping I would forget about her.
How could I forget such a pain in the ass?
There was nothing but destruction in my heart. I got off by hurting her. I wanted to make her scream, make her cry, and make her bleed. Pure agony was bliss. Pure torture was the type of shit that made me come.
After a week had come and gone, my cock was eager to make my fantasies come true. The wait must have been the most agonizing part of the situation. All she could do was wait for me to come