Of course I fucking do. I have nothing, after all. I’m starting from miles behind. I have to work for every fucking clue, and all I have to offer is my one possession, all the more precious to me because it’s all I have. But my body isn’t precious to him or to any guy who can get laid whenever he wants.
So what is precious to him? What do I have to bargain with?
Nothing. Not now.
He has everything he wants except one thing—information on the Dolce boys. That’s the key. That’s the one thing I can provide that he can’t get for himself. And I’ve already promised it to him for something else.
Okay, then. Moving on. I struck out there, but that doesn’t mean I have to give up. I’m used to fighting my own battles. I can still take down the Dolces myself, all the while getting Mr. D his information as I go and keeping my scholarship. He can do whatever the fuck he wants with the useless tidbits I give him. If that keeps him happy for now, I’ll keep providing. Meanwhile, I’ll find the key myself.
I can’t afford to enlist friends in anything dangerous. But I can enlist myself. No one gets that powerful without making enemies. No one can be that dirty without leaving a trail. I just have to find it. Not the little info that keeps Mr. D satisfied, but something big. A scandal. A secret they don’t want the town to know, something big enough to bring them to their knees. Something like the letter the Dolce sister wrote, but with proof. Or that they killed her to shut her up.
That’s the kind of thing that can take down a family like the Dolces. It has to be a scandal, not just illegal but shocking and salacious.
And I know how to find it. It might take time, but I might have that now. I might even have a way in. I don’t know how Royal feels about me now that I pushed him off a bridge, but I know not to assume he’s done with me until he tells me he is. I made that mistake before.
I won’t make it again. I’ll assume what he said on that bridge is still in effect. I can’t change the fact that he’s psychotic and has me in his sights. All I can do is work that to my advantage. Being his toy isn’t exactly prestigious, but it gets me closer to them. And that’s exactly what I want. I want to become one of them, someone they trust. And I’ll do whatever it takes to get there, to get that secret, something so good Mr. D can’t just sit on it. Together, we’ll expose them for the monsters they are, and their crowns will roll.
What’s my plan? It’s simple, really. Obedience is my plan. I can’t change overnight, in a way that makes them suspicious. But I will let them win every battle after a little struggle to make it believable. If Royal wants me on my knees, I’ll kneel. If he wants to own me, I’ll tie a fucking bow around myself and deliver myself to his doorstep. If he wants to fuck me… Well, I already offered my body to a creepy online predator. Why wouldn’t I give it to Royal?
If that’s the price of admission, sign me the fuck up. No matter what it takes, I’m getting in. I don’t want to be just a Dolce girl. I want to be one of them. To be their female counterpart, the piece they didn’t even know they needed until they realize too late that they can’t live without me. One way or another, I’m getting in. Nothing can stop me. After all, I’m a fighter, and I won’t give up until I’ve walked in their world, been swallowed into the belly of the beast, and touched the beating heart of the Dolce monster. Then, I’ll destroy them.
*
Darling Girl
Plain Jane
Red apple
On teacher’s desk
Blonde hair to shoulders—
Proper length—
Everything in its place.
A column of A’s down a page
A book in one hand,
The other tucked behind your back.
But I know your secret.
In the hand they cannot see,
A noose.
Between the pages of the book,
The Marquis de Sade.
Less than a perfect score deserves a spanking—
Will he enjoy it as much as you?
Your proper place,
Bent over teacher’s desk,
A hand fisting your tangled strands
Lift your head and let them see
There’s no Jane here
Only
Mabel.