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He was insane. Completely certifiable if he thought she could ever be happyobeyinghim, being demeaned and degraded by him, reduced to athing—not even a real person anymore.
“Was Trish happy?” she asked, her tone accusatory, but the answer he gave wasn’t defensive or the one she expected.
“Very.”
“Were you?”
His voice changed. Veronica was surprised when it came out choked. “Yes. You look a lot like her.”
And did both of them look like his mother? Because that was in the serial killer handbook. Mommy issues. But she was far too wise to say that thought out loud.
“Go back to bed now. I’ll let you sleep in since we were out so late.” He kissed the top of her head and she went back to her room, thankful at least that she had a room away from him. The memory of his lips pressed against her forehead seared into her brain, keeping her from sleep for a long time.
* * *
Sunlight camein through the windows and balcony door, but Veronica rolled onto her stomach, taking the pillow with her to cover her head and block out the light. She wasn’t yet awake enough to remember where she was.
Luke smacked her across the ass, not hard, but still degrading. “Get up, and make breakfast.”
She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, as if she’d woken into another dream layer and if she concentrated hard enough she’d wake back up in the crappy apartment she’d been evicted from, or better yet, her penthouse. Being so tired, it was still possible to imagine that everything from losing the penthouse, onward, had been nothing but an ugly nightmare. After all, there was sun shining in her room. That had to mean penthouse.
What was the more likely scenario? That a Big Deal ad executive had gotten into such bad credit card debt she’d become nearly homeless and had been kidnapped by a rancher, or that all of that was a nightmare that mixed in a few inappropriate sexual fantasies? When she took the pillow away from her face and opened her eyes, it would be her penthouse with the spectacular view of the park.
The pillow was ripped away. She heard it hit the carpeted floor.
“Now, Veronica. It’s nine a.m. That’s practically sunset around here.”
Oh God. She hoped he was kidding. The sound of his voice made her think that was unlikely.
She rolled back over and pulled the covers over her head. A second later, he’d ripped the blankets off her. Then she heard the unmistakable sound of a belt zipping through belt loops. Before she could react, he slammed the strip of leather against the mattress, so close to her leg she felt the air whoosh. She scrambled out of the bed, still wearing the bath robe from the previous night and crouched next to the night stand.
“I-I’m not making you and your sweaty pigs breakfast.”
Somehow the sound of boots on carpet was as intimidating as they would have been on hardwood. He snapped the belt. “Oh really? Iwilluse this on you. I’ll strap those legs and then make you wear a short dress so the guys can see you’ve been a bad girl.”
She held her hands over her head in a defensive gesture. “Okay, okay!”
Luke went to the closet and pulled out a short sun dress. “It only gets chilly at night right now, so you’ll wear this today.”
She balked at being told what to wear, but with the belt still in his hand, it was a battle she was willing to let go. He sat in the rocking chair in the corner of the room.
“Get dressed.”
“Leave.”
He snapped the belt again, and she struggled with the knot on the robe.
“There are underthings in the drawers. I prefer no panties, but I’ll let you make that call today.”
“Please don’t do this.”
He rolled his eyes. “Princess, you’re in my castle now. You’ll do what I say when I say. Pleading and begging isn’t going to save you. All I want to do is look at you. Is that so bad?”
Veronica opened the drawers to find bras and panties. The panties were her size, but the bra was a size too small. She didn’t want to think about the fact that she was wearing some dead woman’s underthings and that most likely another unfortunate woman would wear these after her.
She slipped the panties on underneath the robe and heard Luke’stsk tskbehind her.
“I take it back. It’ll be two rough weeks for you. It was optimistic to say one.”
