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He blows more smoke, his beady eyes glittering. “Uh huh. I could’ve squashed the arrogant fuck a long time ago. If I really wanted to. But I’ve got to admit, he was entertaining sometimes. Both of you were. He’s crazy about you. Crazy fucking stupid about you. His obsession made me a little…obsessedmyself.”
I lean back in my chair as he leans forward across the table. His beady eyes bore into mine, a hazel shade that seems to transition depending on the light. No matter the color, all I see is evil as he peers at me and then reaches his meaty hand over.
“Please…” I mutter. “Just… just….”
“What? Kill you?” He rises, gripping my face. “I could. Right now. Run a knife through you and end your misery. All that shaking your pathetic, sorry ass is doing. But I won’t. Because that would be no fun.”
He’s right to call me out on my shaking. My knees bounce in my chair and my hands twist in my lap. My shoulders and torso won’t sit still. The only reason my face does is because he’s holding it roughly within the squeezing palm of his hand.
His touch is as repulsive as my rapist. A coil of disgust twists inside me.
“I’m going to have a lot more fun making you suffer,” he says. His eyes light up, a golden shade about them. “But, first, let’s get the ownership piece out of the way. Cesar, this is your big moment. What you’ve been waiting for. Have the guys bring it in.”
Cesar’s face lights up with a cruel grin and he arrows straight for the door.
I have no idea what’s going on, but it can’t be good if Cesar’s happy about it. The panic sets in, increasing my heartbeat, and making me finicky. I twist in my seat only for Lucius to bark at me to sit perfectly still.
But I can’t. I can’t sit still when I know something horrible’s about to—
“This will be fun,” comes Cesar’s voice. His footsteps thud back into the room with the clink and clang of what sounds like some sort of metal device. He stops at the table and lays down a long iron rod of some sort.
Then my gaze falls on the stamp-like end of the rod in the shape of the Neptune Society crest, and it clicks what’s about to happen.
I scream. I lose every last shred of composure and attempt to make another escape. Halfway across the room, I’m caught by the waist. Cesar’s wrapped arms around me in a bearhug and lifts me off the ground. I’m kicking, thrashing, desperately trying to hurt him in some way.
My wrists are bound. I’m weaponless. Exhausted and alone.
For as much of a fight as I put up, it’s no use. I’m flung against the table, pushed down ’til my cheek is touching the wooden tabletop.
Directly next to where Lucius sits, calm and composed with his drink.
I’m forced to stare into his inhuman eyes. He stares back as though watching paint dry.
This is nothing to him.
“Please,” I sob, choking on my own breath. “Please, don’t… PLEASE!”
“Told you she’s a begger,” Cesar cackles from behind.
“Is that right?”
“You should’ve heard her that night. I still laugh my ass off thinking about it.” He sticks the stamp-like end of the iron rod into the fizzing flames of the fireplace and then rips down part of my robe. My bare shoulder exposed, I can feel the heat before the branding rod even touches my skin.
I’m coming down from my hysteria. Quiet tears slide down my cheek and slant along the bridge of my noise. A glaze sort of effect takes over me as I slip out of the present and check out of the moment. Much like I had the night in the alley.
Now is no different.
Cesar presses the iron into the back of my shoulder blade and a sick sizzling noise fills the air. The pain makes my body twitch and muscles clench. My nails dig into palms and my toes dig into the ground. My mouth drops open in a soundless cry of agony at what feels like a hole burned into my skin.
When he’s done, he yanks me up like a rag doll and then roughly pulls my robe up over my shoulder. I’m shoved back into my seat, where I sit still in my catatonic state.
Lucius’s beady eyes glint. “Was that so bad, Delphine? It was only a few seconds of suffering. You’ll have my mark on you forever. You’re my property now. I can do what I want with you… and, believe me, I will.”
I bite down hard to stifle the noise of panic in my throat, though he senses it, anyway.
“But,” he says in a mock-gentle tone, “because I’ve got a heart, I’m gonna do something nice for you. How about a treat? How about I take you to see him? The guy you love so much. My piece of shit son that I can’t stand, but who has risked heaven and earth for you. We’re going on a field trip.”
salvatore
