AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I have to avert my gaze, nodding while toweling off my hair. At least the towel hides my face, now flushing thanks to embarrassment. “Yes, thank you.”
“Good. Come on.” I have no choice but to follow him out of the steamy room, but instead of leading me back to the room I’ve stayed in since I got here, he takes me farther down the hall. I follow slowly, with hesitance. Does he know what he’s doing? Did he forget to drop me off?
He opens the door, and I find myself in a large, sunny room with a king-size bed. Now my heart is racing all over again. Is this what he was cleaning me up for? No matter how much my body wants him, this can’t be right. How naïve am I, thinking he only did that to be nice? When am I going to learn?
He turns to me, then frowns as his gaze moves over my face. “What? What’s the problem now?” I’m too afraid to talk, but the direction my gaze moves in—the large bed with its piles of pillows and what looks like satin sheets—answers his question. “I brought you in here to get dressed. That’s all. Calm down.” He keeps telling me to do that, doesn’t he? I doubt I could make him understand how impossible it is to be calm around him. Not when he’s so unpredictable, and he’s been so damn cruel and violent.
Instead, I settle for sitting on the edge of the bed, shaking a little while he opens the door to a vast closet that looks more like the interior of an upscale men’s store. Black walls, dark wood shelving, and a table in the center holding watches and cuff links that gleam in the light from tastefully recessed fixtures. There’s an entire wall of suits, and the one opposite holds dress shirts, along with a rack of ties. The man has good taste. I wonder what it would be like to have a closet like this, full of expensive clothes and shoes and jewelry.
I wonder what it would be like to live such a dishonest life that I’d be able to afford such things. Nobody makes this kind of money legally, and it isn’t like I have any illusions about this man. He’s a criminal, plain and simple. A criminal with an extraordinary closet.
He pulls a shirt from inside and buttons it up, barely glancing my way in passing. “Don’t just sit there. This isn’t an invitation to stick around. Put on some clothes.”
To my surprise, he leaves me alone, shaking a little, wondering if this means he trusts me a little more now.
And I’m afraid of what that means and what might happen next.
12
ENZO
Prince is still unconscious, though he’s breathing and no longer has that gray pallor to his face. “I’m going to make sure he pays for this,” I promise in a low voice, shaking with rage. “I promise you that.”
The fucking bastard. It’s obvious he never had any intention of going into this potential deal in good faith. He’s done nothing but jerk me along from the beginning—all his posturing and bitching over the phone was an act, clearly. He cares nothing about the girl I’m holding, not if he was ready to pull a stunt like that. I might as well be fighting smoke, trying desperately to take hold of it and bend it to my will. All it does is slip away.
I’ve never shrunk back from what needs to be done, but his actions surprise even me. How do I win against a man with no principles whatsoever?
The question weighs heavily on my mind as I descend to the living room and sink onto the sofa. I could sleep for days if only my mind would allow it. I can’t shut off my thoughts; questions and accusations drift to the surface.
I hear her before I see her approaching the top of the stairs. “I’m sorry. I hope you don’t mind that I chose this.”
Mind? The sight of her in one of my white dress shirts might be one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen. I have to get a hold of myself before my jaw drops. Even when I manage to control my reaction, I can’t help but stare at her as she descends the stairs. Slowly, tentatively, chewing her bottom lip the entire time. All that does is make my mouth go dry. She is determined to tempt me at every turn.
“Not at all,” I murmur, barely holding on to myself. Now that I’ve seen her body and touched her, the temptation is more impossible than ever to ignore. And I can’t forget how she burst into flames under me out there before the gun went off and everything went to hell with Prince. She was close to giving in, I know it. I’m sure that’s the last reaction she expected to have, but there was no denying it. Given another few moments, I would have been inside her.
I would never consider Prince’s shooting a good thing, but the timing might have been on our side the longer I think about it.
“Please, have a seat.” I gesture toward the other end of the sofa. “We need to have a talk.”
She may as well be walking to the electric chair. Folding her arms over her middle, she takes one slow step at a time. “I did the best I could with Prince,” she whispers. “I really did.”
“That’s not what this is about.” It’s almost funny that she thinks it is. She’s lost sight of the big picture, and I have no problem reminding her.
“Oh.” She lowers herself onto the sofa, sitting up straight with her hands folded in her lap. The very picture of a good girl. If she knows what’s good for her, that good-girl attitude will follow her into our conversation. She wants to please me. It’s in her best interest.
“Here’s how this is going to go.” I angle my body toward hers and read the fear in her eyes. It was always there, but now it’s stronger. More potent. “You are going to be honest with me. You are going to answer my questions clearly, immediately, and you will not tell me any lies.”
I reach into my pocket, closing my fingers around the switchblade she’s already familiar with. She sucks in a sharp gasp at the sight of it. “Or else, I have to be honest with you, I can’t promise I’ll be able to control myself.”
As it is, the sight of her fear is too intoxicating. I want to teach her the true meaning of fear. I need to. It’s the only way I’ll ever find any peace.
“What if you ask me something, and I don’t know the answer?”
“I think you will. I think if you want to live through this, you’re going to have the answers I want. I think you’re suddenly going to remember a lot of things you only thought you’d forgotten. But these won’t be stories you’re telling me. They’ll be the truth, the entire truth.” I open the knife and study my nails before I begin cleaning them with the edge of the blade. “Indicate your understanding of what I just said.”
Every silent second that passes between us is like the turning of a knob, ratcheting up my tension. Making it more likely I’ll lose myself in the process of punishing her.
Finally, she emits a whimper. “I don’t know what you want, but I’ll do my best.”
