He smirks. His black eyes drop to my Nikes and run up my bare legs, over my shorts, and then my chest. The way his smile grows makes goose bumps rise over my skin. Then they meet mine again. “There was a time when I was going to use you to get what I deserved.” My eyes narrow on his. “But a King could never fall for a nobody. No matter how good the pussy is.” When he stands, I take a step back toward the door to put some space between us.
I hate that my stomach sinks at his words. That he could make me second-guess Dillan’s intentions with me. I’ve always been told I’m a nobody, so it’s hard to believe otherwise. Even when a King tries to convince you that you’re someone.
“Did you know Matteo sold me?” I ask and hate that my voice trembles.
He throws his head back, laughing, and I look over at my mother to see her reaction. She’s got her head down, and arms crossed over her chest. I can see by the way her shoulders shake that she’s silently crying.
She knew! I had a feeling she did, but I didn’t want to believe it. “Why?” I scream, and tears sting my eyes. I hate that I care. And I hate it even more that he finds my lack of life entertaining.
“You were always meant to be nothing, Mia.” He takes a step closer to me. “You can spread your legs for a million men.” Another step. “But you’d still just be nothing.”
He reaches me, and I feel the tears running down my face while I glare up at him.
“You should thank me.” He tilts his head to the side.
“For selling me to the highest bidder?” I bark out.
“For making you worth something.” Leaning into my face, he adds, “If not for the Bianchi name, you would have been given away for free.”
I spit in his face, and he places his hand over my mouth, painfully gripping my cheeks and shoving me backward. My head hits the wall so hard that my vision blurs, and I fall to my knees as pain shoots down the back of my neck. In the distance, I hear my mother cry out while my head starts to pound like a drum.
I’m trying to catch my breath and blink away the dots and tears when I hear him laugh. “You should have let me kill her when I wanted to. She served us no purpose.”
Lifting my head, I glare at his back as he starts to walk away from me.
“Thankfully, it’s never too late to fix a problem,” he adds.
I get to my feet, reach into the back pocket of my shorts, and slide my fingers into the metal holes of the bunny ears keychain I found packed in my bag. Thank you, Jasmine. This is my only chance. I knew coming here would end someone’s life, and there was a possibility of it being mine.
Running, I let out a scream as I jump onto his back. He spins around, throwing my back into the wall, and the tight grip my legs have around his waist loosens just a bit at the contact.
“You fucking bitch!” he shouts. His hand reaches over his shoulder and manages to grab hold of my ponytail. He yanks on it, and I cry out.
I reach around and slap my hand over his face to try and obstruct his vision, and he trips into his desk. He tilts his head, and I take the opportunity to shove the metal bunny ears into his neck.
When I yank it out, blood sprays all over me. He falls to his knees, taking me with him. I stab him again. And again. Until my hand loses its grip because the keychain is slippery.
Screams pierce my ears, and I wonder if it’s me. Something hard hits my body, and I’m on my back, looking up into a face that resembles mine. My mother is on top of me, hitting my face and chest.
“You ungrateful little bitch!” she screams, spit flying from her mouth to mix with my father’s blood. “You killed him!” She slaps me. “Do you realized what you’ve done?” Of course, she chooses him. Always has. He was about to kill me, and she was going to stand by and just watch it happen. “You will die for this!” Her fist connects with my cheek, and I twist my body to lie on my side underneath her and see the keychain that had slipped from my grip. I reach out and grab it. Turning onto my back, I raise my hand and shove the ears up her neck into her throat.
Yanking it out, I feel more blood cover me and choke on it. Shoving her dead weight off me, I get to my hands and knees just as the door bangs open. I did it. No matter if I die right here or not, I at least did what I told myself I’d do. I stumble to my feet just as my father’s guards enter.