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That gave me pause. After pondering the question, I could say I honestly didn’t give a shit what my patrons thought. If any of them pissed me off enough, I could airlock their asses into space and grease a few palms to make the consequences go away. There also hadn’t been any Braxians there to witness. There rarely were any Braxians in the VIP section unless they were guests. So why had I felt so angry, hurt, and humiliated?
You were jealous.
Yeah but…
You were jealous.
Fine. Yes, I felt jealous. That little pissant shouldn’t prowl around my woman. She knew better. Tonight had been so fucking perfect… Even she thought so.
‘Please don’t do this, Anton. Today was so perfect.’
I wanted to go free her but changing my mind now would make me look weak. She needed to learn she couldn’t do things like this. She was mine.
Chapter 13
Grace
My perfect evening kept replaying in my head over and over again. How did it go so wrong? I didn’t deserve this. To think, like an idiot, I had been picturing Anton and me living happily ever after. It didn’t matter that my actions angered him. Nothing justified him hurting me every time he became upset.
Why did he ruin everything?
The door opened. By the size of the silhouette walking in, I knew William was bringing me food and water. So, the first six hours had gone by. Only the first six hours. I wouldn’t survive the remaining eighteen hours. My extremities were numb, and I already agonized through at least a dozen bouts of cramping. One of them had been so bad I passed out. If Anton kept doing this to me, could it cause permanent damage? Whether he realized it or not, he couldn’t have devised a crueler punishment for me.
William crouched in front of my cage, a sympathetic look on his face. He wasn’t a bad sort though I didn’t quite understand his friendship with Anton. We didn’t talk much, but he was always polite and helpful. He also never looked down on me. The energy bar and bottle of water in his hands didn’t appeal to me. All I could think about was slipping into oblivion and forgetting I ever allowed myself to care for the monster that owned me. Plus, I wasn’t feeling too well.
“You should eat, Grace,” William whispered.
He held the energy bar through the narrow bars of my cell. I gave him a sad smile and shook my head. I wasn’t hungry.
“Can you feel your hands?” he asked, guessing part of the problem.
I shook my head again, feeling my throat tighten. Kindness was the last thing I needed right now. He frowned but said nothing. Scooting closer, he placed a long straw in the water bottle and slipped the tip through the bars. For a minute, I almost declined, but then thought better of it. It would be another six hours before William returned. Leaning forward, I took the straw between my lips and drank.
“You need to be more careful, Grace. Don’t you know by now how proud Braxians are?”
Dropping the straw, I rested my head against the cage and gave free rein to my anger.
“I did nothing wrong, William. Nothing! My best friend and I danced and talked. That’s it. Anton and I had the perfect evening. And then he goes and does this. For what?”
“He felt humiliated.”
I turned my face away with an irritated groan.
“Grace,” William said, “it may have been innocent on your part but for Braxians, perception is everything.”
“No, revenge is everything,” I bit back.
“Look at me, Grace.”
Though somewhat reluctant, I complied. William sat crossed legged in front of me. He had a rugged kind of charm. Square jaw covered with a five o’clock shadow, light brown hair sprinkled with silver, and blue eyes leveled on me with a serious look.
“Honor and respect are everything to Anton.”
“I didn’t disrespect him, though.”
“You may not have intended to but that’s how it came across to him, and in the end, that’s what matters.”
I shook my head, refusing to accept this. “That’s crazy. At this rate, anything I do will potentially offend him. It can’t be like this. If my dancing with Marcus was so upsetting, why didn’t he say something? Why not cut in before it became a problem? Am I to be punished every time he feels I sneezed the wrong way? I don’t want to live in constant fear of him.”
