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“Of course. Take as long as you need.”
“No,” I start to say, but the word is just a harsh whisper because of the sandpaper in my throat.
The doctor leaves, closing the door behind him.
Sebastian slowly turns. My pulse races, taking in the sight of his tall, powerful frame in his immaculately cut suit. His dark hair falls over steely blue eyes that rake over my body from head to toe. I’m trapped here with my captor, already tied down and defenseless, but I know, even if I didn’t have a single restraint on my body, Sebastian would be just as commanding.
It’s in his blood. His bones. The instinct to dominate surrounds him like an aura.
And God, I submitted to him willingly.
The memories hit me hard, fear mingling with the memory of pleasure in a toxic cocktail as I recall the nights he spent schooling me in seduction, tempting my body with his wicked mouth, and expert hands, and demanding cock, until I was wet and aching for him, caught up in the shameful rush of submission.
He’s pushed me to my limits, time and time again. But that was in the service of pleasure.
What does he want from me now?
He stalks toward me, all pretense of gentle concern gone from his eyes. I’m seeing the real man now, and he’s cold.Harsh.
“Why are you doing this?” I ask, and I’m glad that I don’t sound afraid, despite how I feel inside. I don’t want him to see my weakness. It’s bad enough that I’m in such a vulnerable position.
“You’ve been lying to me, Avery. If that even is your real name…”
He pulls my necklace out of his jacket, dangling the slim gold chain from his fingertips so that the locket sways, hypnotic. It’s just a small, pretty thing, I couldn’t bear to part with it. Who knew it would be the undoing of all my careful plans?
I was reckless. Stupid. And now I’m paying the price.
“Because the Avery I thought I knew would have no reason to own this,” Sebastian continues, opening the locket to reveal the torn, faded old photo of Miles I keep inside. “No way of knowing this man. So tell me, while you still have the chance:Who the hell are you?”
I gulp, my mind racing. I don’t know what to tell him.
The truth is out of the question:‘I’m the woman who loved Miles, the good man you embroiled in your gambling circle until he ran up so many debts, he killed himself for the shame of it all.’
No. If I come clean now about my secret agenda, then it’s all over. All my work to avenge Miles’ death, the sacrifices and price I’ve paid to get this close to him will be gone, up in smoke.
Surely, it can’t all be for nothing.
I swore revenge. I won’t give up now, no matter how bleak it looks.
Somehow, I’ll find a way.
“You know who I am,” I tell Sebastian, my voice dry and pitiful. “I don’t understand why you’re doing this to me.”
Sebastian suddenly grabs the chair and hurls it across the room away from us in rage. I gasp in shock.
“Bullshit!” he roars, and I’m stunned to see emotion break across his handsome face. Betrayal flashes in his eyes, revealing a pain I never expected to see. “I let you in,” he says, stabbing a finger towards me. “I opened up. For the first time,I trusted you…”
His voice twists, bitter and desperate, and despite everything, I feel an answering ache, deep in my chest.
Regret.
Because despite everything, Sebastian and I are more alike than I ever imagined. There’s nobody we can trust. Nobody we can relax, and show our true hearts, not even for a second. And if our situations were reversed… Then you can bet I would have done the exact same thing. He’d be the one strapped to this bed, at my mercy.
I’d be the one demanding answers, filled with fury.
But there’s still one important difference between us. I’ve made myself into this ruthless monster to defeat him.
Sebastian? He madehimselfthis way.
