I shift in the chair again, letting it scrape slightly across the floor. Letting him hear that I’m not frozen.
“If you want a fight,” I add, “you could at least make it fair. Untie me. See how that goes.”
The silence that follows is sharp.
Then he steps closer. I can feel him now, his presence pressing in, too close.
“You wouldn’t stand a chance,” he says quietly.
I smile beneath the blindfold.
“Oh, I don’t know,” I say. “Men like you always underestimate me.”
His breathing changes slightly. A hitch he probably doesn’t even realize he gave away.
So I keep pushing. “Is this the part where you tell me how special I am?” I ask lightly. “Or that I remind you of someone else?”
His hand slams down on the back of the chair.
I don’t scream. I refuse.
“You don’t get to talk to me like that,” he snaps.
Bingo.
“I hit a nerve,” I say, my tone sarcastic. “Let me guess. She’s the one who got away?”
His grip tightens.
I push back against the chair, my pulse racing now. But my voice remains steady. “You made a mistake,” I say.
I hear him inhale.
“You brought Sebastian into this.”
I can feel the shift in the room, the way the air tightens when a predator realizes it’s no longer alone at the top of the food chain.
“Don’t say his name,” he says.
I say it anyway. “Sebastian is going to find me,” I say, calm as stone. “And when he does, he’s going to dismantle you piece by piece.”
I expect anger.
What I get instead is a soft, almost reverent sound. “You think he can save you,” he says, laughter in his voice.
“I know he will,” I reply. “And the longer you keep me here, the worse it gets for you.”
The silence stretches again.
Then he takes a step back, his voice colder now. “You’re very confident. One might say overconfident.”
I swallow, fear finally curling deep in my stomach. But I don’t let it show. “I’m not confident,” I say, lifting my chin. “I’m certain.”
Silence follows my last words.
I hear him move again, the scrape of his shoes against the floor measured now. Controlled. Like he’s decided something.
“You talk too much,” he says finally.
