Now he’s got my attention.
“Oh, you thought I’d be content with just you? No girl,” Lex says, tilting his head. “I won’t rest until I have my dog back as well. Because what is a dog without its master? Nothing.”
The way he talks about Beast is horrendous.
Infuriating.
And it pushes me beyond my limit as I bolt up, grab the box of cigars, and throw it right at him.
He catches it mere inches away from his face.
“Don’t talk about him like that! He deserves to be free!” I yell in anger. “You’re disgusting.”
Lex shakes his head and puts the box back on the table, staring at me.
“Call me whatever you want, girl. It doesn’t change the fact that he disobeyed my orders, and I am the one who’s going to punish him for it.”
The smug look on his face makes bile rise in my throat.
“But I have my money now … and I don’t need to take your lives if I can have something far more valuable,” Lex continues. “Complete and utter humiliation.”
He snaps his fingers, and guards pour into the room.
“No,” I shriek as they grab ahold of me. “Don’t!”
“Don’t what?” Lex raises a brow. “Put you back where you belong?”
My throat clamps up, and it feels like I suddenly can’t breathe anymore.
No, no, no!
I fight off the guard as he puts his hands on me, but I’m no match for two of them dragging me by the arms.
I have nothing, no power, nothing left to give except words.
So I throw everything I have out into the world.
Pain.
Pure pain.
“I never should’ve freed you from that chair!” I scream at my father, whose eyes are filled with bitterness. “I should’ve pickedhimover you and let you die!”
Lex blows out another breath laced with cigar smoke in my direction, wearing a filthy smile on his face. “Too late for regrets, girl … down to the cellar you go.”
* * *
Beast
I raceto the mansion in my car, not giving a shit about the speed limit. Every second is another one wasted. Another one she spends in his claws.
The mere thought of Lex even touching her with a single finger sends me into a maddening spiral of rage, and I roar out loud, slamming the steering wheel.
“Goddammit!”
I never should’ve left her behind like that.
Nothing in this world could ever be fast enough for me. I need to get to hernow.