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“I can’t let you go. I hope you realize that.” Kane almost sounds apologetic, which makes me even angrier.
My gaze drifts past him to some hooks on the wall that I realize are holding ropes.
He glances over his shoulder and laughs. “Yes, those are used for exactly what you think they are. A lot of people have died in this room, Alice. More than I can count anymore.”
I try not to shudder, but as much as I’ve fantasized about dark, dangerous men taking me away and ravaging me, the reality is terrifying. Suddenly, I just want to go home, and my throat goes tight and hot as I try to hold back tears.
“Am I going to be one of them?” I whisper.
“That depends.”
Something in me cracks. “Can you please stop being cryptic? Just—just tell me what you want.” It’s all but a cry for mercy at this point because all they’ve done is torment me with isolation and then softness and little hints of pleasure, and all without giving me any kind of clue what they want from me.
“You’re worth one thing to Guido Romano: an advantageous match,” he says, sounding like some fucking bitter duke in one of my historical romance books. “He’s selling your name, your body, your virginity, and the lie about your genetics.”
I shake my head. “I don’t understand. Why would he do that if I’m not even his daughter.”
“Because I’m not sure anyone else knows,” Kane admits simply. “It took us a long while to get this evidence, Alice, and trust me when I say it never takes us this long to get any kind of information. I had to outsource.” He says the last words bitterly, like he was talking about stepping in dog shit. “Guido Romano murdered your mother because she gave birth to you.”
It’s the second time he’s said that, but it feels like a knife to the gut this time. “Can you be sure?”
“I just need to get the right person. Ariel will make him talk,” Kane says.
I have no doubt of that. “And me?” I ask again because I need to know. “Obviously, killing me will make it so my father can’t do anything with me.”
“You’re not wrong,” he says, but something in his voice tells me that it isn’t what he wants. “However, I don’t want to just take away his little chess piece. I want to use it against him.”
God, this is what it feels like to finally know that the people who were supposed to care about you never did. This is what it is to truly be alone.
Kane leans forward and brushes a lock of hair off my forehead. “You can buy your life from me.”
I glance up at him sharply. “With what?”
“Sacrifice,” he tells me simply. “Everything that makes you worthwhile to your father—give it to us.”
My virginity. My name. My hand in…marriage? The lie about my genetics?
“So you want me to fuck you, and what? Have a kid? Marry you?”
He says nothing. He just stares as the reality of my situation unfolds. He’s asking me to sell myself to them.
Swallowing thickly, I lean a little closer to him and meet his gaze with a bravery I didn’t think I possessed. “In the grand scheme of things,” I say slowly, “it won’t matter to him. So you take one unwilling pawn out of his hands. He’ll just find something else to use. He’s not that old yet. He’ll get another wife, make another baby. Start over,” I spit. “He doesn’t care about me. I have no use to him.”
“Is that really how you see yourself? As a pawn?” he volleys.
I laugh—I can’t help it. “What else am I?”
Holding my gaze, he stands, crosses the few feet that sit between us, and takes my chin in his hands. “Sometimes I see a knight. Clever, brave, unusual. But right now, speaking to me the way you are, I see the queen.”
I shiver. I can’t help it. I’m furious because the reality is hitting me now: I never had a chance at freedom. But Kane might be offering me something close to it.
“What if I say yes to your…offer?” The word tastes like ash on my tongue, but it’s still something. It’s better than anything my fa—Guido—would give. I press my fingers to my throbbing temples.
“What if you do?” he tosses back.
“The four of you are…together,” I say a little lamely. “You can’t marry me.”
He laughs and shakes his head as he lets me go and takes a step back. “Bold of you to assume it would be me, Alice.” I can’t tell if he’s taunting me or not.
