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“How do you even know someone is after me, though?”
“I just do.”
“How?”
“What part of me not answering to you do you not understand?”
“I’m just saying. What if you’re wrong? What if no one is after me? What if—”
I abruptly stood, roaring, “Because I already received orders to kill you! This isn’t a game! I had to put my ass on the line for you, Cove! Why do you think that ring is in there in the first place? This has all been planned out. So either you start marching in line or I’m going to have to put a bullet in your head. Am I making myself fucking clear?”
With a terrified expression, she rasped, “For how long?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Please, Jace. Just tell me how long I have to pretend to love you?”
“Love has nothing to do with this.”
She bowed her head, wiping away fresh tears from her eyes.
For the first time in I don’t know how long, I craved to comfort her but resisted the desire to handle her with care. It was such a foreign response for me. Cove was triggering a side of me I thought died long ago. It was both a blessing and a curse. I didn’t deserve to feel her pain. Not when I was the one inflicting it.
Once again going against my better judgment, I answered her question, “A week.”
She scoffed out, “A week or I’m dead.”
I grabbed her face to look at me, making sure she comprehended the severity of the situation before I brutally added another truth, “I don’t want to kill you, but don’t think for a second I’m your fucking hero. Now if you want to make it out this alive, you’re going to have to follow my orders, or I’ll have no choice but to end you. And trust me, Cove. You’ll want me to be the man who does it, not the men who’ll silence you for whatever you may or may not know.”
Fuck!
This wasn’t supposed to happen. She wasn’t supposed to be here with me, handcuffed to this goddamn bed like we were playing house in a fucked-up story.
This was bad.
The blaze in her eyes.
The feel of her skin.
The smell of her scent all around
I was fucked.
But it didn’t matter. I was already going straight to hell. I just didn’t want to drag her there with me.
My expression was impassive, neutral. She couldn’t read one damn thing about me, and it further fueled her fire until I let her go and backed away.
Meeting my eyes, she asked, “If I agree to this, what happens next?”
In one breath, I spoke with conviction…
“You’re going to have to get used to my touch.”
Fourteen
Cove
Jace opened the closest in the room, nodding to the tight, sleek, white, silk dress among the clothes I assumed were hanging for me.
“You have an hour to get ready.”
I opened my mouth, but quickly shut it.
“Good girl,” he praised, grabbing the dress and throwing it on the bed.
The front of it was cut in a low v, and it looked like it was backless with a high slit on each side of the dress.
“I don’t have—”
“Everything you need to get ready is in the bathroom behind that door.” He gestured to the corner of the room.
I swallowed hard, suddenly my heart was hammering in my chest for a whole set of different reasons.
I went to speak, but he interrupted, “From this point forward, no more questions, bunny. For the next week, all I expect from you is obedience. Am I making myself clear?”
I simply nodded, fighting with the desire to argue with him.
“Does that mean you’re going to unhandcuff me?”
In three calculated strides, he set me free then warned, “Don’t make me regret this.”
“This isn’t a game! I had to put my ass on the line for you, Cove!”
Even with him standing there in front of me, his statement repeated in my mind. I felt like I had no choice in the matter. I had to follow his orders, or I was dead.
In the end, my life was all that mattered.
Surrendering, I promised, “You won’t.”
With that, he turned and left, closing the door behind him. For a second, I thought he was putting a lot of faith in me until I heard him lock the door from the outside.
“So much for trust…”
I basically moved in autopilot, showering and then applying my makeup before I got dressed. Jace wasn’t lying, everything I needed was already there for me, and I couldn’t help but wonder how long this had all been planned out.
Whoever prepared my stuff certainly knew my sizes, from the dress to the panties, to stiletto red heels on my feet. The toiletries in the bathroom were some of my favorite products. I couldn’t believe how much of what was there, were actually new products of what I’d been using for years.
