PAIGE
“You’re an arse you know that right?” I seethed, standing face to face with Damon. The jackass had just put Phee on lockdown and had been going on and on about how much I was a bad influence letting her skip school and hang out at mine.
“And you’re irresponsible Princess,” he retorted, whenever Damon got angry his jaw tensed, the veins in his neck popped out and the muscles in his arms would bulge more. “How is partying and skipping school supposed to help her?”
“It’s called giving her back control Hot stuff,” I said as I made my way back into the living room. The house was empty now, my parents were away on business and the staff had been given some much needed time off. “You and the guys are smothering her, pushing her to do things she just isn’t ready to do, plus what's the big deal it’s not like she’s falling behind or anything.”
“The big deal? The big fucking deal?, Are you serious right now?” Damon’s deep voice sent chills down my spine, the good kind of chills. I enjoyed riling him up. “She needs to be surrounded by people who support her, who have her best interests at heart.”
“Oh and I suppose you think I haven’t been doing that?” I couldn’t stop myself from sounding hurt, they all just assumed I was a party girl out to have fun, even my damn cousin agreed with them. Why couldn’t they just see the facts, when she was with me her guard came down and a little part of who she was before would shine through. It made me angry. “You have no idea what it’s like to her, how detrimental it is to take the few people she is truly comfortable with away. God Damon, the fact that you are all keeping her in the dark and you think that isn’t going to do damage?”
“I’d watch what you say next Paige, you have no idea the shitstorm you’ve created?” Damon’s voice was cold and indifferent, he knew the whole being kept in the dark thing was a sticking point for me and to an extent I believed he had been feeling bad about it as well, he just didn’t like being called out on it.
“What’s the matter Damon? Does the truth hurt?” I taunted him, a saccharine smile started to form knowing full well I had him where I wanted. This guy would be my downfall if I wasn’t careful.
“That mouth of yours is going to get you into trouble one day Princess,” his warning lingered in the air like some forlorn prophecy as he turned and stalked out of my house.
* * *
Every inch of my body ached as I started to come too. My head felt like a herd of elephants had gone marching through it. Slowly I began to push myself up but was met with resistance. “Fuck.” I was still restrained, memories of the beating I’d taken flooded back, only serving to amplify the pain I felt.
As I lifted my head, I could see a figure seated on the far side of the room. Just sitting there, silently watching me. I couldn’t make out who it was as the room was dim. Not sure how long I’d been out for but the memory of one of the first fights I’d had with Damon lingered, he had been right about one thing that day, my mouth indeed was going to get me in trouble, it already had. I’d give anything to be back there right now.
I tried to shift again, but only succeeded in causing the pain to radiate through my body again. An involuntary hiss released as I settled back into the device I’d been strapped to.
“Stop moving you’ll only cause yourself more harm,” Blaze warned gruffly, the figure shifted then slowly moved towards me. Lifting my head slightly, I watched as he walked around me and surveyed my wounds. “It isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but you really need to learn to keep that fucking mouth of yours shut Paige. You were lucky I was here to stop it. Eric, he gets off on this shit and you played into his fucking hands.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I asked, my mouth dry and my throat felt like sandpaper. “Why would you even care what he does to me?”
The sound of liquid sloshing and the smell of antiseptic hit me before something cool was placed on my back making me hiss. “There is more at play here then you know,” he sighed, his voice much lower than it had been previously almost as if he didn’t want to be heard. If I didn’t know any better I could have sworn I had sensed a little bit of feeling in it. “You are just one piece of a much bigger game, but you need to fall in line, play the part otherwise it will start to become worse.”
“Why would you even care?” I groaned, the sting from the antiseptics made my back burn. It was confusing to me, why this guy was so concerned about my wellbeing when he was the one to take me in the first place. The mind games must have started, yet another attempt at breaking me.
“We all have our parts to play here Paige, and you need to trust me when I say to just play along.” He put the cloth down and came to kneel in front of me. His body language, a paradox to the way he spoke and the look in his eyes. “There is a bigger picture you don’t see yet, but it will become clearer soon, I need you to play along otherwise I won’t be able to get you out safely.”
“Oh this is laughable,” I snickered, what the hell had happened while I was passed out. Blondie had started to act as though he had genuine concern for me, it felt like I’d woken up in the Twilight Zone.
“Keep your fucking voice down,” Blaze admonished, peering around the room and then to a camera behind him. “You have no idea what you’ve stepped into Paige, and I do want to help you.”
“You actually want me to blindly trust you when everything you’ve done up til now has screamed the opposite.” Half whispered, half yelled at him, there were only a few men I trusted and he was not one. “You must be smoking some good crack, cause in what universe did you see that happening?”
Blaze just shook his head before standing tall, giving my back one last look pass, he turned and made his way to the door, stopping, he turned round one last time. “Your training starts in a few hours. I suggest you try to get some rest.”
I watched as he exited the room, leaving me strapped down unable to move. He acted like he wanted to save me yet his actions showed the complete opposite. There was definitely something more to this guy and I needed to find out what it was.