22
Evelyn
“Tell me, Evi,” Valentine says, pouring himself another glass of the dark liquid and swirling it around in his glass a few times before turning to look at me. “What were you doing running away from my son?”
“I was escaping.”
“Escaping,” he snorts softly, raising his eyebrows as he takes a sip of the thick-looking drink. “Why? Has he not struck a deal with you?”
My mind spins as I realize I need to choose my next words carefully. He can’t know what my new deal with Dante is, nor can he know that I think I may have killed him.
“Yes, he has,” I say, deciding to stick with the basics.
“And running away wasn’t included in his rules?”
“It was.”
His eyelids drop slightly as the corner of his mouth pulls up at this.
“So, you chose to run away regardless of the consequences?”
I don’t know what to say to this. He’s not technically wrong … and the more that I think about it, the more I wonder how badly I’ve screwed everything up.
How stupid have I been?
I shut the escape door on Seven and Dante and then stole Luci’s car after I found it still running. It’s no wonder he realized I’d escaped and he’d followed me.
I’ve broken all their rules, even if one of them somehow survived … what reason would they have to come for me? What reason do they have not to kill my parents?
“I … I …”
Valentine shakes his head as though realizing what an idiot I am.
“No matter,” he says, stepping closer, “you’ve only made yourself that much more desirable in doing so.”
I blink at him in confusion.
“How?”
“The apple never falls far from the tree,” Valentine says, cocking his head to the side as he looks down his nose at me. “A broken deal only means he’ll come for you, and when he does … I’ll be sure he knows you’re mine now.”
A shiver runs down my spine and through every inch of my body. He reaches out to stroke my cheek with the back of a finger, and I want nothing more than to pull away, but I can’t.
“What are you going to do to me?” I ask, against my better judgement.
He takes a sip of the liquid in his glass, the liquid momentarily staining his lips a deep crimson before he licks it off.
“Why spoil the fun by telling when I can show you?” he says, catching my chin between his finger and thumb. “Has my son kissed you?”
“Yes.”
This apparently pleases him, although it has my own stomach twisting in disgust as he leans closer.
“Good, then you will be able to tell him how much better true pleasure is.” Valentine dips his head, his mouth parting slightly as his piercing eyes drop to my own lips. I squeeze my eyes shut just, but nothing happens. Slowly opening my eyes, I find Valentine’s grin has only grown wider. “Keep your eyes open, girl. I want you to be able to describe every detail to my son when he inevitably comes for you.”
His eyes drop to my lips once again, and I force myself to watch as he brushes his own across mine. His lips hovering just over mine, he lightly traces the inner rim of my parted mouth with the tip of his tongue before pushing it further into my mouth. I grimace at the sudden taste of iron as he searches me for a few seconds before pulling away.
He looks more than a little displeased.