Page 80 of Shattered In Darkness

I grin. Wolfish. “You think you’re so strong. You’re not. I can break you any second I want.”

I reach for her, and she flinches. I like it.

I grip the back of her neck, her pulse hammers under my palm. She’s fever-hot. “You ache for it, don’t you?” My grip gets tighter. “You want to be owned. You want to know I’m in control.”

Tears start to slip. They glisten on her face, making her prettier. Her eyes shine, wet and blue as bruises. Little trembling pearls down her cheek. I want to lick the tears off, taste the fear, swallow it and make it mine. I want everything. I want too much.

Always have.

I run my thumb under her eye, smearing it. Nothing gentle. “Good,” I say, too soft. “Let me see how weak you are.”

Lola clenches her jaw, bites through it, still trying to pretend there’s any fight left.

She’ll never win.

I crouch in front of her, eyes locked on her. The way her collarbones jut, but I still want to press my teeth to every inch. “You ever gonna tell me the truth?” My words echo. “Or do I have to break you for real?”

She doesn’t answer.

I grab her by the chin, force her head up, and slam it back into the wood. Not enough to split, but enough to shock. She gasps. Color rushes up her neck.

“You get cute ideas, down here in the dark?” My voice is just a snarl. “Think about lying to me again? You think if you keep your mouth shut, I’ll just stop asking?”

I never stop.

I lean in until I can taste her breath. Cinnamon and coffee. Fear, under all of it. “You want it easy, Lola? Talk. Otherwise, we do this the hard fucking way.”

Her pulse throbs under my fingers. I squeeze, not letting it go easy.

She chokes on a laugh. “You think I’m scared of you?”

I want to shake her. I want to split her open, see what color her fear is inside.

“You should be,” I whisper, dead cold. “You should beg me to play nice. Because all you have is what I allow. If you behave, you get food. You get warmth. Maybe even get my hands or my cock or whatever makes you feel less empty. If you want to be a brat? Then you get nothing.” Nothing means nothing. I want her to picture it. To taste it. “No light. No water. I’ll leave you down here until you starve. I’ll rip out every inch you think you own, just to hear you cry.”

She tries to hide it, but I see the flick in her gaze. She hates the way my threats get to her. She hates that her body tenses, legs clamped together like she’s holding back not a scream—but a moan. That sick wanting, buried somewhere even she can’t kill.

I let go of her jaw. Let her head go limp. “You only get what you earn from now on. You want the good shit, you make me happy. You play games, you pay for it.”

If I let myself, I could almost feel sorry for her. For me. Monsters in this little tomb, gnawing on old wounds.

“Start talking,” I tell her. “Tell me everything about Marcus. Tell me what you do for him. Don’t leave anything out.”

The moment she tries to lie to me, it’s in her eyes. It’s always in the eyes. The way her chin tucks, shoulders round, like there’s a secret burning holes in her tongue and she thinks if she swallows it fast enough I’ll just let her go.

Not a fucking chance.

I want the truth. I want every memory, every humiliation, every hour Marcus poisoned her head and used her body and made her less than human. I want it all.

She tries to breathe. Tries to gather herself. I don’t let her. I close my hand around her throat, just hard enough for her pulse to leap under my thumb. She gasps; color flushes up her jaw. She’s still pretending to be strong.

I squeeze tighter. “Talk, Lola. Tell me about Marcus. Tell me about his fucking network. The men. The clients. The jobs.”

She chokes, but the tears don’t fall yet. “He keeps me hidden. I’m just a pretty thing for him to parade when it helps him close a deal,” she stammers. “Sometimes he sends me as bait. Sometimes for photos. Sometimes for worse.” Her lip trembles. “I don’t remember all the names. I never got to know them.”

I watch her, searching for lies. Fuck if I’ll let her off easy.

“For worst. What does that mean?” I keep my voice low.