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AMELIA
My stomach growls, and I’m grateful for the chatter in the room. It drowns out the grumbling, but the pang in my gut is still very apparent.
It didn’t become so noticeable until they brought the food out, but as soon as the smell of buttered rolls hit me, food was all I could think about. Almost. The man on my left tosses me sidelong glances that make my skin crawl, but at this point, if he offered me a roll, I’d let him feed it to me like a dog.
“Are you hungry, Pet?”
I lift my gaze to Lorenzo and lick my lips when he shovels a forkful of salad into his mouth.
I nod and turn my body toward him. He pushes the plate away and dabs his lips with his napkin.
“I bet so.”
That’s it. He rejoins a conversation with the man from this morning, ignoring my presence once again.
I bite my lip to keep from screaming at him and return my gaze to the floor. If it weren’t for the other people here, I would get up and walk away. Take a roll on my way out for good measure. He’d follow. He’d threaten me. And I’d probably wind up giving in to him because I’m a fucking coward. Or I’m a reasonable person who wants to stay alive. However you want to look at it.
But at least I wouldn’t be submitting on the floor like this.
Self-loathing momentarily distracts me from my hunger, but it’s equally matched with hatred for Lorenzo. I fucking get it. He blames me for his animals being taken, and he’s pissed that I stopped his tiger shows. Hisinhumanetiger shows. I may understand the anger, but he’s still a lunatic with a taste for cruelty.
And yet, he’s the man in the room who’s the least threatening to me. I don’t understand it, but I catch myself shifting his way every time the guy on my left glances at me.
Lorenzo is the Devil I know. I know his motives, and I know what he wants.
I don’t know these other men at all.
Platters with lids are served to the table, and I salivate at the aroma when the lid on Lorenz’s plate is lifted. I arch my neck to see what it is, and my eyes lock onto asparagus and corn. There’s steak and lobster on it as well, but I ignore that.
To my surprise, a platter is set in front of me. I look between the server and Lorenzo to make sure this isn’t some sort of mistake. Lorenzo smiles and takes a drink from his wine glass.
The server hands me a bottle of water, and I set it on the ground before lifting the lid, anticipation filling me.
My face falls. I search the plate as if I somehow missed the parts edible to me.
Steak. A big, bloody T-bone steak is what awaits me.
I slam the lid back on and shove it away from me. Tears prick my eyes, and I don’t look at Lorenzo, though I feel his stare. I cross my arms over my knees, and my fingers dig into my skin until the sting cuts through my disappointment.
Reality crashes down on me and washes out my hope. Washes out my naivety. And even part of my fear.
It doesn’t matter how I act. Cut him. Scream at him. Crawl for him. Sit on the floor next to him like the animal he wants me to be. None of it matters. The result will always be the same.
I don’t even believe him when he says he’ll take someone else if I don’t behave. I’m the one who had the contacts. I’m the one who got his animals taken away.
I’m the one he wants.
I begin to stand, and Lorenzo puts a hand between my shoulder blades to hold me down. I look up at him and glare.
“Think about this, Kitty.”
“Clarify something for me.” I shove against his hand and raise onto my knees. His gaze dips to my cleavage before he makes eye contact with me. “If I sit here and wait patiently for you to finish humiliating me, does that change the outcome for me at all? Will you be done? Or do you have more degrading shit planned?”
The man to my left, who I now know from their conversation is Settimo, snickers, and I shoot him a glare. His eyebrows raise like he can’t believe I would have the audacity.
I turn back to Lorenzo. He doesn’t answer me, but I don’t need him to. I already know.
“That’s what I thought.” I force myself away from him, and it doesn’t take near the exertion it should. He lets me stand, and we both ignore the curiosity spreading throughout the room. Conversation dwindles and I can feel eyes on my back.
