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“I don't believe you.” Vanessa stepped closer. “Mitch would never leave. Not like this!”
“Vanessa…” The chaotic laughter threatening to burst from Candace reminded Vanessa of someone else from her past.Someone who threatened my life differently.It was one thing to come for Vanessa's blood and air. It was another to come for the other half of her soul. “Oh, Vanessa. Sometimes I forget how young you are. You do such a commendable job putting on mature airs when you're around me. Yet here you are, cracking.”
Vanessa’s knuckles turned white from how desperately she clutched her handbag. Inside, her phone transmitted every word they said to a van on the outskirts of Candace's property.
Just keep it together. Just for long enough.
“Where is Mitch? Where is she?” Vanessa’s voice broke. “Where is my partner?”
“Yourpartner?” Candace grabbed the tablecloth. “Since when do you get to lay claim to a woman who so clearly prefers another? I knew you to be a woman who let her pet do as she willed forGodknows why, but that ended when she offered herself to me.Allof her.”
Vanessa grunted in fear. Frustration.Bring her to me. Take me to her.She needed Mitch like she needed the fresh air beyond these constricting walls. This place of pain and torment must be a league behind her.
The tablecloth ripped away. There, beneath the surface of the coffee table, was a cage. Within the cage were two eyes so deep in their own game that they stole away the last of Vanessa's resolve.
Mitch.
She was in her underwear on all fours, the perfect catlike position to beguile someone who paid for an otherworldly experience. Except Vanessa had not asked for this. Nothing was arousing about the sight of her beloved trapped in a cage to be another woman's plaything.
If what Agent James had said was correct…
“As you can see, Ms. Richards,” Candace said with the haughty air of a woman who had won, “everything within my domain is mine. Michelle is now a part of my expansive domain. Therefore, she is mine. What left is there to explain to you?”
Vanessa fell to her knees, meeting Mitch's gaze at eye level. The coquettish kitten in her cage did not offer any overt signal that she needed saving. Nor did she offer Vanessa the comfort of a well-executed plan coming to fruition. If anything, Vanessa felt more defeated than before.
This wasn't just her partner, the woman who had shared her bed for years.
This was the breath that filled her lungs. The dewy touch of a brand-new morning. The laughter that excited her on a dreary day. The warm, soothing waters of an everlasting love that would treasure her, always.
And it was locked away from her. She would never find the key.
Pandora's box had been reversed. Gone was the light from Vanessa's eyes. Deep was her despair as she let out a groan of monstrous proportions. No woman walked away from this the same… and Vanessa was not a woman to walk away from this at all.
She would die right here. That was preferable to carrying on as if this were a normal breakup. Even a fake one.
“I understand how difficult this must be for you.” Candace mocked her with such a matronly tone. “It's not easy for a woman like you to break away from the love of her life so… effortlessly, like she did with you. Trust me when I say I've already mulled in my mind how I will officially make her mine. Which is why I amsoglad you're here, Vanessa.” She spread her palms across the coffee table, lording over Vanessa who remained sunken on her knees. “This could be great therapy for all of us. A metaphorical passing of the bitch, as it were. Because you're here to bequeath me this beautiful specimen of subservient womanhood. You've done all you can for her. It's time for my hand to train her to a new level.”
“You…” Vanessa was powerless to get Mitch out of there, yet it didn't stop her from reaching a hand toward the pet in a cage. Mitch did not reach back for her. While her eyes weren't devoid of life, they looked back at Vanessa as if she were an unknown. As if they hadn't spent the past few years building not only a life but a wholeworldtogether. “Youmonster…”
“Your proclivities have always been strange to me, I admit. I can't imagine a life where I could stand, let alone gain arousal from, my partner playing with other people right before my eyes. Why, the mere thought makes me homicidal, Vanessa! How do you do it?”
Don't let her get to you… don't let her get to you…
“Never mind. Just know that I've thought this through, and your arrival was so fortuitous! Now I know why I didn't enjoy my spoils the moment they walked through my door. It's because it wasn't the right time. A piece of paper might now say that Michelle is minelegally,but she and I both know that our sexual life together will mean nothing if there's any attachment toyou,her former Mistress. Isn't that why you're here to give us your blessing, Vanessa? You're here to transfer your ownership of this precious pet to me. A rehoming, if you will!”
Stop talking about her like that… stop talking about her like that…
“Since you like to watch so much, I think that's exactly what we'll do.” Candace stood up. Vanessa pushed her forehead into the carpet, unable to look at Mitch and her unfathomable gaze any longer. “You can watch me consummate my new marriage. A happy ending for all involved.”
Her footsteps treaded closer. Vanessa's hands balled into fists. Her ponytail, which barely contained her mane of curly hair, slumped down the back of her neck.
“You'll never have her…”
Vanessa cried out in surprise. Or was it pain? Horror? Terror? Never in a million years did she expect Candace to slam her heel down, stabbing Vanessa in the back and forcing her onto the floor. Handcuffs rattled against the cage as Mitch showed her true self.
“She's already mine, you poor excuse for a Mistress! Seriously!” Candace’s heel disappeared, only to be replaced with a kick to Vanessa's ribs. “Are you surprised this whore ran away from you? You're the weakest woman I've ever encountered! Every time you came into my presence, I felt so much disgust that it was a wonder I didn't retch on you. The only reason I let you into my space is because ofher.You had the perfect woman, and you squandered it!”
The words rolled off Vanessa’s back. She could handle being insulted in such a demeaning way, if only because there were more important matters to internally combust over.Mitch…She watched this whole thing happen. She pressed against the bars, unable to stand, let alone get herself out.
