be moving from this spot. Gretchen will have to drag me around by my hair if she wants me to move, but I won’t lift a finger to do as she says. There really is no point for her to come in here, now is there?”
His eyes burned holes into mine. Not a hot temper like the man who dragged me in here. No, Franklin was as cold as ice in that moment.
“Be mindful of what you say around here, Lisbeth. Arrangements can be made. Callan is not used to people telling him no.”
He paused, allowing the idle threat to sink beneath my skin and wrap around my bones.
“Now, tell me what story your mother gave you for why everybody died that night in the ballroom.”
“Why do you want to know?”
He gave me a practiced smile, the bullshit curve of the lip that was a talent of every member of the Rose Family. It was a silent fuck you, a whisper of checkmate. It was a kiss of death that promised we weren’t done playing whatever game was laid out in front of us.
I returned the expression. He only shook his head.
“Callan will want to know. His mother died that night, and he hasn’t forgiven the people responsible.”
Laughter shook my shoulders.
“I take it you didn’t tell him that you and my father were responsible.”
The arch of a brow told me Franklin was amused by the accusation.
“Is that what she told you?”
My lips slapped together in my refusal to say another word about it. I’d told him enough. Had hinted to the truth of my father selling me. Although, I still didn’t know for what purpose.
Pushing to his feet, Franklin knocked the wrinkles from his pants before lifting his eyes back to me.
“Have it your way. I’ve given you supplies to tend your feet, and I’ve warned you about what’s coming if you don’t comply with what’s asked of you. Only you can decide how you’ll act.”
Eyes narrowed to tiny slits, I practically spit my response.
“I won’t be a fucking maid, Franklin. Not for you and not for Callan.”
“So be it.”
Franklin turned to leave, the soles of his leather shoes clicking across the ground with a march of inevitability. This conversation was done. We’d both had our say and had ended at a stalemate.
Reaching for the door, his fingers brushed the lever, resting there for a second without pushing down. Without turning back to me, he spoke with such a hushed tone, it was like the hiss of a snake in warning.
“He’ll be happy for your disobedience.”
Glancing back at me, Franklin met my eyes.
“I hope you know that. Callan has his ways. Are you sure you won’t change your mind?”
The sad truth was that none of them understood one simple fact: you can’t make a person do what they don’t want to do.
Yes, they could beat me. They could lock me in rooms and demand I bend to their will. They could refuse to let me leave the mansion and starve me if that was one of Callan’s ways. But they couldn’t make me scrub and polish. They couldn’t make me play their damn game if I didn’t want to.
Why would I change my mind and obey?
“I’ve said all I’m going to say.”
Franklin nodded his head once before a sigh rolled over his lips and he walked through the door.
The lock clicked in place.
The room was returned to silence.
And I stared at the puddle of blood at my feet.
I couldn’t deny Franklin was right about one thing: I needed to tend to these wounds.
Beyond risking infection, I was sitting here in pain. And my disobedience in that was stupid.
Why punish myself and make their jobs easier?
Slapping a hand over the first aid kit, I dragged it closer and opened the lid. Thankfully, there was a pair of tweezers, the sharp edges, although small, giving me an idea.
Callan
This week couldn’t pass by fast enough. Below me six men sparred in groups of two, their training nowhere near the level of violence they showed in an actual fight. It was enough to keep their reflexes sharp and their bodies honed, but child’s play compared to what occurred in a real fight.
Weapons weren’t allowed in the pit, so all six practiced in whatever style was most comfortable to them, most of the men skilled in several forms that they mixed and combined until lethal.
We hadn’t recruited any new fighters in over a year since we hadn’t lost a match in that time. Each man