He still didn’t acknowledge me. He turned the page and kept reading.
“So...what am I—”
“You can speak to me when I’m finished reading.” His eyes didn’t break their focus as he read. He took a few bites of his food and a sip of his coffee.
What an asshole.
Thirty minutes later, he finished the paper from front to back. He folded it back to its original condition and set it on the table. “Yes?”
I read my paper in protest, ignoring him just the way he ignored me.
He sipped his coffee and watched me. “Spiteful, aren’t you?”
“I don’t like being treated like a dog. It’s pretty straightforward.”
“Well, I hope you change your preferences soon.” He snatched my paper and set it on top of his.
This man was infuriating. I wanted to stab my fork in his eye, but I knew I would miss.
“You got my note this morning.”
I hated it when he asked a question in the form of a statement. It was arrogant. He acted like he owned everything—including me.
“It would be pointless to run.”
I wanted to know why but refused to ask out of defiance.
“I inserted a tracker in your ankle. I’ll know where you go and when you go. The nearest town isn’t for thirty miles. You wouldn’t make it there in time even if you drove.”
My hand automatically moved to my ankles until I felt the bump in the right one. “You freak.”
“I can remove it if you wish.”
“Then do it now.”
“But you’ll be confined to your bedroom at all times. Bars will be placed over the window and meals will be brought to you. If that’s 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.”
Chapter Seventeen
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.