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“I’ll come.” I set down my crayon and followed the guard out of my cell. He didn’t even bother to cuff me. Weird.
When I entered the private visitation room, I found my “murder victim” sitting there, looking more alive and beautiful than ever in a dark gray suit and blood-red tie. His silky hair was pulled back, exposing the pulsing muscles in his angular jaw.
My hackles rose, and the rage pooled in my chest. He was lucky I wasn’t allowed to have pencils because he’d be out an eye.
“Here to gloat, Stark?”
“Maybe a little. But mostly I am here to talk.” His eyes glided to the chair across from him. “You look lovely in orange, by the way.”
I glanced down at my hideous prison shirt. Did he think this was funny?
“Sit,” he commanded.
I remained standing.
“Please?” he added.
I drew a breath and took a seat.
“Masie, I know you probably do not wish to see me.”
“Probably?” I raised a brow.
“Fine. Youabsolutelydo not wish to see me. And though I’d planned to watch you rot in here forever,” his gaze settled on the table, “the truth is, I cannot. I miss you. I ache every night, knowing you are in here suffering.”
Right. Sure.After enduring the most humiliating murder trial of my life, I’d been locked up for six months now—seven if you counted my arrest and jail time when I was denied bail. The entire world thought I was some psycho who’d chopped up a random John Doe whom I’d invited into my house. There had been no sign of forced entry and no weapons on my victim. My self-defense story flopped.
Why did I listen to Thomas? Such an idiot!I meant me, of course.
Now they were about to make a Netflix special about me. Did Stark have any idea how that felt? I’d be put alongside Dahmer or the freaking Zodiac in the docucrime section.
I glared, biting my tongue, hateful words flooding my mind. “Cut the crap, vampire. You don’t miss me. Just say what you want.”
“I do miss you, and that is the truth. But if admitting it means nothing to you, then I will stick to business. We are closer than ever to civil war. A million vampires are rallying, ready to defy our laws and come out of the shadows.”
So, basically, Stark and his minions were about to lose power. The Party was about to be overthrown.
I folded my hands on the cold stainless-steel table. “What would you like me to do about it?” Because, if he hadn’t noticed, I was locked up. For killinghim!
“What if I could get you out of here?”
“Sure. Sounds great. But let me repeat myself—what do you want me to do about it?”
“Everyone still believes you are my Anna and,” he looked down, unable to meet my angry gaze, “they believe I had you locked up because I wish to maintain power.”
And they’d be right.
He continued, “Our people are not happy. But if I were to free you, and you told them to stand down—that this is not the right time to go public—I think we could stop the uprising. Your words will carry much weight.”
I laughed and leaned back in my chair. “So they see you for who you really are: a power-hungry, vindictive vampire who’d do anything to stay in charge, even putting an innocent woman in prison.”
“No.” His pale eyes whipped to my face. “I did this to you because you…” he swallowed, “broke my heart.”
“Bullshit.” I slapped my hand on the table. “You put me in here because you think I betrayed you by marrying Lazlo. And you couldn’t stand the thought of losing to him when all you had to do was pull your head from your ass and listen to me for five seconds. Hestoleme. Heforcedme to marry him. Hedrankme to the brink of death over and over again. Then he wanted me to suck his…his baby gherkin. It was sheer terror. But did you care? No. Did you see the pain I was in afterwards? No. The worst part is that I literally blamed myself for everything because I was too weak to fight him off. A freaking vampire!”
I laughed bitterly and shook my head at my ridiculous guilt. “And now, after six months of very deep reflection, I realize that I won. I beat him. I never gave anything to that monster. Not my love. Not my submission. All he got from me was justice and a fiery death. But you? You’re more of a monster than he ever was. You robbed me of the life I’d fought so hard to keep that night. I survived, only to have you turn me from victor and survivor into a victim of your ego.
“Andthatis why I don’t believe you love me. Because when I neededyouto be there, you failed.” I stood, pressing my finger on the table. “Youbrokemyheart. Not the other way around. And to prove it, I have a life sentence, a family living in shame, and no hope ofeverfinding happiness. I’m an infamous convicted murderer and always will be in the eyes of the entire world.
