“Fallon!” I shouted in disbelief. I nearly charged to where she stood to shake some sense into her. “You sound like a goddamn whore right now. I know you don’t mean this.”
“A goddamned whore,” she repeated, pursing her lips and blinking hard before shrugging.
Shit, that came out wrong. But before I could take it back, she was smiling up at me, a bright, brittle smile. “Well, maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do, and you can call me whatever you want. It’s a Trial. Frankly, I’d prefer one of these damn collars over being locked in a room with spiders any day.”
“You don’t need to do this.” I ran my hand through my hair. “Hell, I don’t need to do this.”
“Yes, we do.”
I shook my head. “You want money. Fine. I’ll write you a check. I’ll make sure you never want again. And as for the business… I don’t need to take it over. My dad will allow me to keep working there, and even if he doesn’t… I have skills to get a job anywhere when it comes to oil.”
“Stop,” she snapped.
“I mean it. I don’t know why it took me this long to realize this. But we both don’t have to do this. There are other ways to get what we want. And Sully didn’t pass the Trials, so I wouldn’t be the first. And frankly, I don’t give a shit anymore as to what people think. I’m never going to live up to Timothy’s memory, so I don’t even know why I try.”
I paused and then looked at her. “How much money did you ask for? I might not have as much, but I can keep you comfortable.”
“I don’t want your fucking money!” she yelled. “I refuse to be a charity case any longer! What the fuck is wrong with your family? I’ve been a charity case my entire life, and it doesn’t feel good. It’s time I actually get the life that I should’ve always had. On my terms. I don’t want someone to give it to me. I want to take it. I want to demand it. I want to get it by my terms and my actions.”
“You need to let that shit go,” I yelled back. “So what if you were on scholarship at Darlington Academy. Who fucking cares? You act like that was such a bad thing. You were never seen as a charity case!”
“You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about. I sure as hell was seen as a charity case. And what’s worse is there were strings attached. There always are.”
She was all but shaking in her fury and I had no clue why as she continued ranting, “Your mother and your father saw me as the poor little maid’s daughter. They hated that you were friends with me. They hated that I was around you and the house all the time. And the minute you all could get rid of me, you did! And I wasn’t on a scholarship for your information. Someone paid my way… as a charity case.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. What did my parents have to do with this? We didn’t get rid of you. You left. And what do you mean no scholarship? Who would pay for you to attend? I’m not following you at all. I get that you’re angry. And after what we’ve been through lately…”
She froze, stared into my eyes for several moments. “You know what… it doesn’t matter. What matters is we will pass tonight’s Trial because I’m not giving up. I’m not allowing you to give up. We committed ourselves to this, and there’s no turning back. And we don’t have time to discuss this anymore right now.”
She picked up the white collar—the white fucking collar—and shot daggers my way. “This isn’t just about you, Rafe. Not everything is just about you.”
With that, she stormed out the door with collar in hand. And just to really piss me off… she stopped right outside the hallway and stripped off all her clothes. Tossing them inside the room, she marched toward the ballroom giving me no choice but to follow behind her.
16
Fallon
I stomped down the stairs, finishing clamping the collar around my neck as I reached the bottom step. I heard Rafe’s heavy feet clamoring down the steps behind me, but he was too late. I was striding naked into the ballroom, my white collar displayed for everyone to see.
Like usual, the ballroom was filled with naked bodies, though since we’d arrived right at the start of the party, it was mainly only the women who were naked. All women were wearing white collars.
Including me.
Gulp.
What the hell had I just done?
But I lifted my head higher. I was done playing pretend with Rafe. All it ended up doing was hurting me far deeper than any of the stupid bastards could hurt me tonight.