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“It’ll be more satisfying to break her heart if she loves you, don’t you think? Thinks you really care about her. Then you shun her. Think how that’ll make her father feel, knowing you destroyed her soul.” She lets go of my shoulder. “Be nice to her.”
“Fine.” I spin around and walk back to her bedroom door, unlocking it and shoving it open. “You can explore the house all you want,” I tell her. She’s sitting slumped on the bed, head in her hands. I get a sudden urge to wrap my arms around her, wipe away the tears on her cheeks. I shake the urge away. She is Piper’s daughter. This is about revenge, nothing else. “Do not set foot in the attic. Do not try to leave the house or I’ll keep you locked in this room until the wedding day.”
She looks up at me, sniffing loudly. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“I want to.”
“I’ll call the police,” she says. “They’ll come and free me.”
“No service out here,” I tell her. “No plug in your room. Your cellphone’s battery will soon run out.”
“Please,” she says. “Let me go.”
I shake my head. “Anything else?”
“What did I do to deserve this?”
I give her a cold smile. “Your father murdered my entire family. We are enemies. Get used to it.” She looks like I’ve punched her in the stomach. I want to take back what I’ve said. I can’t bear seeing her looking so hurt. Like I’ve just kicked a kitten in the face.
I pull the door closed before I say something that weakens my position. I lock the door the same way I lock away my feelings. One turn of the key and it’s done.
Eva is still standing by the stairs, giving me a disapproving stare as I head her way. “What?” I snap. “I was nice. I gave her the right to roam the house, didn’t I?”
“Then locked her in. Told her what her father did and then left her to deal with the shock of that, totally alone.”
“I’m done with this conversation,” I tell her. “You work for me, not the other way around.” I march past her, heading back to my study.
Once I’m in there, I close the door, sinking into my chair. I reach for my humidor and pull out a cigar. Let her cry, I think to myself. She’ll stop soon enough. Why should I even care?
Something is troubling me.
What Eva said. If I make Anna fall in love with me, it’ll be even more satisfying to throw her out. Destroy the Piper family for good.
I should feel happy about the idea. So why does the thought bring me no pleasure?
I pour myself a glass of whiskey. The perimeter alarm sounds when I’m halfway down it.
I check the cameras. Alessandro is driving up to the gate. I hit the button to let him through before he even needs to stop his car.
I’m glad he’s here. It’s time to arrange a wedding.
Eleven
Anna
* * *
My hands are still shaking when the door opens again. I’m glad it’s not him. I don’t think I could take him yelling my face like that again.
I don’t want to cry. It won’t help. It never helped me growing up. I can’t stop myself. It’s because all of this is my own fault. That’s the worst part of everything. I came here of my own free will, like an idiot.
I’m alone in the world. There is no cell service. I can’t call for help. I’m locked in a bedroom in a house in the middle of nowhere. A creepy Gothic mansion with its very own ogre in charge. One part Heathcliff, one part Shrek, mostly Beast.
I’m not exactly feeling a lot like Belle right now. I don’t want to burst into song. I want to get out of here. Outside, it’s dark and raining, but I don’t care. I’d rather freeze to death than put up with spending another minute in this house.
The door opens, and it’s a man I don’t recognize. He’s older than the maid, white hair, olive skin, hooded eyes that look like they’ve seen a lot of things over the years. He’s wearing a black suit that looks decidedly funereal.
“Good evening,” he says, nodding toward me. “How are you feeling?” He closes the door behind him. I hear the key sliding home on the far side.
