AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She felt alive with him, she knew that too. But despite the casino incident, and last night when emotions had been running too close to the surface for both of them, and this morning when he’d needed to know if he’d hurt her, Morana, for some reason, felt safe with him. It was a stupid thing to feel with a man like him, but she couldn’t understand it.
The moment she’d entered that casino and seen him, something in her had relaxed. The moment she’d left her father and come to him, something in her had collapsed. The moment she’d let him see her naked, something in her had snapped. He’d seen her vulnerable multiple times and nuzzled her jugular instead of ripping it out. He’d seen her feisty so many times and had fed her fire instead of dousing it. He’d seen her as her and despite everything, he’d not exploited that, like her own father had done so many times.
She couldn’t ignore these things. She knew he was a complex man, a harder puzzle than anything she’d ever encountered. She knew he hated her, and if it wasn’t for being alive in place of his sister, it had to be much, much worse. Something he refused to talk to her about. Why?
And, if it was worse, where did she even go forward with him? And yes, she wanted to. She didn’t know where, but somewhere.
Another vibration startled her, but she realized it was too soon and too small to be another plane. It was her phone.
Morana pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen.
The third stack was calling her.
Daddy dearest.
Morana stared at the screen, her hand hovering over the green icon.
She hadn’t spoken to him since that night. Any illusions she’d ever carried had been shattered not just by her fall, but by him using her as bait, never once asking for her. Now that she’d found out about the kidnappings, her own and others, she knew she had to talk to him.
And yet her thumb couldn’t come down.
The screen died.
Another plane went.
The screen lit up again.
Morana took a deep breath and swallowed, making sure her voice remained completely even, and pressed on the green icon, putting the phone to her ear.
“You’ve settled quite well as his whore, Morana,” her father’s voice came out, cold. “I had such plans for you.”
Morana grit her teeth but spoke with a deliberate smirk. “I’m sure you haven’t called to get the details of my scandalous sex life, father. Oh, I forgot to ask, how’s your nose?”
Silence.
Score 1.
“I know you’re out of the building alone,” the man informed her. Ah, the ever-faithful spies. Of course, he had people watching.
“And?”
“You’ve been branded a traitor, Morana. This territory will no longer be safe for you. You’ll be hunted and brought to me for justice, if not killed immediately.”
Morana shook her head. “You care too much about your reputation to do that to me, father. Your name is everything to you. A daughter sleeping with the enemy? Oh, you’d bury the news so deep into the ground it’d never see the light of the day.”
She paused, taking a deep breath. “Isn’t that why the news about my kidnapping was never known?”
Morana heard her father’s breaths catch.
He waited a beat, then ground out, his accent more pronounced. “That fucking vermin! He was a good for nothing brat then and he’s a good for nothing brat now. What did the shit tell you?”
Interesting.
Morana blinked up at the sky, seeing the clouds rolling in overhead, the wind picking up pace.
“What do you think?” Morana bluffed, keeping her voice controlled, seeing what else she could glean. “I know, father.”
She heard his breaths on the phone, deep breaths, clearly trying to control his agitation.
