Page 33 of Sinful Crown

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“Then ask to be released.” It’s a shit thing to say since I’ll never allow it, but she needs that false sense of having options, so I’ll give it to her. Momentarily.

“I won’t beg,” she says, looking up at me once more. Tears well in her eyes, and for a moment, I want to drop the act and pull her into my arms.

“But if you don’t ask, how can I ever grant your wish?” I smirk, trying to shift the energy in the room to something lighter. Something that will get Sasha to let her guard down, if only a little.

She bites her bottom lip, looking contemplative. We stare at each other for several long minutes, neither saying a word. In this scenario, the first one to speak loses, and that will never be me.

“Can I leave the room?” she finally says in a small, mousey voice.

I hate it.

I want her fight. Her strength. Not this broken version she’s showing me now. Or…is it all an act? A part ofherplan. Guess we’ll see.

I give a shrug. “Very well. Tomorrow you can have some liberties to roam, but be forewarned…I won’t take kindly to duplicity. Be a good girl, and you can have freedom, but if you try to leave, you won’t like the consequences.”

She grits her teeth. Her jaw is tight with barely restrained anger. She wants to say something. To fight back. But she’s playing a game right now, and she plays it well…to a degree. I read people better than most, and despite how hard she tries, I can see the defiance shining in her eyes. I welcome her fire.

9

SASHA

Early morning sunlightstreams in from the window next to me. Blinking my eyelids, I push away the sleep lingering in my body and work to rid myself of the morning fog.

As my vision clears, my surroundings focus, and confusion bleeds away to panic.

Where the hell am I?

My body springs up from the soft mattress I had been lying on as I work to get my bearings.

I shake my head back and forth, opening and closing my eyes several times, but it only takes a moment for my reality to set in.

Gideon’s house.

Scratch that.

Gideon’s fortress.

His evil lair, where he resides and probably tortures unwilling guests.

My body shudders at the thought, but I push the idea away. There’s no reason to believe he’d hurt me. Not when he maintains that he’s only trying to protect me.

Why should I think otherwise? Hell, he agreed to unlock the door. To give me freedom and free rein.

As if the house can hear my thoughts, something, somewhere in the room, begins to ring.

I look around and spot a phone or some sort of intercom beside the bed.

Narrowing my eyes, I inspect it further.

It’s not a regular phone. At least not one that can make outside calls.

Obviously. Pressing the button to answer it, I wait for whoever is calling to speak. Something tells me I know exactly who it will be.

“Good morning, firefly.” His husky voice washes over me, and my belly flips in response. “Breakfast will be served shortly.”

I open my mouth to respond but decide not to.

Screw him.


Tags: Ava Harrison Romance