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There was something about his smile that nauseated me as he leaned against the window. A genuine smile. A happiness I hadn't seen over the course of the day.
I sat upright and crossed my arms over the smooth, red sheet I'd wrapped around my chest. There was something very wrong with this conversation he had. It wasn’t just anyone, and it wasn’t family.
He let out a fictitious groaning sound at something that must have been said. "Tomorrow…anything your heart desires."
He caught my glare when his eyes flicked upward to mine. Why did I care who this was? Anything he said or did with me was a lie, aside from his monstrous side that came out.
He looked past me with a grin and hummed. A similar hum as he would against my shoulder. "I love you too…"
The pain hit me first. Then came devastation as all the lies swirled together. He’d even wanted me to hear him speak to another woman with genuine affection. He wanted me to feel this way. He wanted me to be punished for the things I’d never done to Katya.
Did this woman he spoke to know about his enjoyment of other women? No, he wouldn't get away with this. A swallow caught in my throat as I tried to speak.
"Armon," I attempted to say his name sensually, but it came out as a croak.
His brows rose as his attention focused on me. "No one." For some silly reason, I recoiled. This was the manipulator who had charmed me into believing he might be a nice person as he sat with a coffee in hand. An unbelievably good liar. Even to whatever woman he spoke to. "Good night."
His attention remained on me when he swiped the screen and prowled across the room and tossed the phone on the cushioned chair he passed. What was the worst he could do to me for letting her know I was in the room? Despite my will to refuse this deception, confidence failed me when he reached the bed and looked down with an unreadable expression.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Sasha
Clutching the sheet to my chest, I scooted to the far edge of the mattress. The rapid movement and my lack of care to be gentle had a searing pain in my shoulder.
"You called me over to you. What is it that you desire?" Armon asked with false curiosity. He circled the bed to the side I sat on. Instead of being trapped in his dominant stare, I focused on my hands. "I want nothing from you."
He bent to trail his fingertips over the sheet along the outline of my leg. "But that tone you used sounded so wanting of me."
"I could never want someone like you." And that would always be true.
"Why not?" He rumpled the sheet and slowly pulled it from my tight hold. Cold heightened the sensations affecting my hardening nipples.
"You're a monster." I turned to the view of the darkening horizon.
He gripped my chin, gently but demanding I turn to his harsh expression. The one I knew from any time he thought of his sister. Though his voice remained controlled considering the topic, he said, “By the condition I found my sister in, the only monster in this room is you, but I’ll be your monster since that’s what you want.” His hand extended to tangle into my hair and curl around my neck. He pulled me close, his hand firmly steering me to force my gaze as my chin landed against his torso. A malicious delight took over his tone and the expression he’d trapped me into seeing. “I’ll make sure you beg me for more of the beast I am to you, which is far better than what my sister ever got from you.”
This was the man who filled me with terror outside the window of my car. The one who gave me no choice but to be obedient to his will. The one whose mercy turned out to be no mercy at all, and he wanted me to remember that. It seemed he didn’t mean to leave the past in the past.
There would be no mercy. I wouldn’t even be given the opportunity to earn redemption for what my family had done to her. In a way, this hurt worse than the day spent showing me insincere kindness. I wouldn’t cry, though. I’d cried enough. I’d let him defeat me for their actions.
Violence was better than this. My family’s own disregard was better than what Armon did, even though he claimed my life had been miserable.
“I would rather the unhappy life I had over another day with you.” I meant every word.
The hand that forced my face against him began to comb through my hair in a way the other woman probably loved. "I've not managed to see to your happiness as I promised. How about this…" He raked through my hair several more times. How much I hated him for these games of feigned affection. The only reason I even cared and wanted it was because I’d willingly given my innocence to him. Nothing else could explain it.
He turned and went to his phone and swiped the screen. "I'm going to fulfill another promise." He typed into it. At the responding buzz, he smirked. "Lay back, Sweet One."
No way would his request be fulfilled, and I lay on my back for whatever humiliation he had planned. Especially given this hostile mood he was in. One so bad he made sure not to acknowledge me, but now his full attention was going to stay on me.
I shook my head. “No.”
“No?”
“I won’t let you humiliate me in front of your friends.”
He looked over my nude form. “I won’t deny being a jealous man infuriated by how much other men love to look at you, so I no longer want anyone else to see any beautiful bit of your body.”
