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How did I get into this mess?
I walk through the gardens to clear my head, calling Chiara.
“Don’t do it. I mean it. I will be fine.”
“He already took my freedom. The rest seems so inconsequential...”
“I hate him, and I hate them. They’re bastards.”
They are, but fighting them is useless. It is what it is, and until I go away, I can’t do anything.
Hanging up, I breathe in and out. I could delay the inevitable, but it would be futile. I step inside our bedroom.
“Changed your mind?”
I ball my hands into fists. Kieran might be beautiful, deceivingly so, but inside he’s rotten. He lies on the bed and puts his phone on the nightstand, his sculpted chest glowing in the dim light.
I approach him. Each step takes me closer to the hangman. The last piece of what’s holding me back is wrenched from me. I stand in front of him while he decides about my life.
I shove the thought away. “I accept.”
My heart pounds in the silence surrounding us. As the seconds tick by, he gestures for me. “Come to bed.”
I look at him, completely stunned. I was sure he would ask me to get naked. “That’s all?”
He cocks his head, and I deflate. I knew it would be too good.
“Every night from now on, I will demand something from you, and you will do it. Whatever it is, however it is.”
His answer squeezes the air from my lungs while my nerves dance on the perilous edge of curiosity and excitement.
“Can I say no?”
“If you say no, things will continue as they are. If you say yes, you will get more and more freedom.”
More chances to escape. That’s the hope I hold on to.
I climb into bed, my voice dropping to a silky seduction. “I want something in exchange.”
“Do you think we’re negotiating?”
“Yes, if you want more than just a blow-up doll.”
“Even if you behave like one, I have my ways, sweetheart.” His mouth is made of sin and cruelty.
A burst of heat and an icy shudder battle to skitter first down my spine.
“We spend one hour a day together in the garden.”
His eyebrows pinch together. Yes, I just surprised both of us. But if I plan on escaping, I have to make him trust me and learn more about him.
“Deal.”
“Good. Now let’s sleep.”
Relief laces his words, making me relieved as well.
I inch toward my side when his hands lock around my waist. When I am tucked under his arms, his features ease, even his eyes lose their frost. I bite my lip, not knowing what to expect when he rolls me around to face him.
