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Pia led me to my room, her smile bordering on a snarl as we entered my own space. She walked inside briskly and began checking everything. Under the duvet, under the bed, in the closet. She rummaged through everything like a woman possessed and I just stared at her in shock, unsure of what was happening.
“What do you think you’re going to find?” I asked her bitterly, but she didn’t give me the time of day, just kept searching.
I sat down in front of the vanity and watched her with crossed arms. My heart was beating nervously, wondering if she’d find the sleeping pills I was supposed to take all that time ago. But she didn’t, and she came to stand in front of me with her hands on her hips as I tried to hide my relief.
“I know you’re up to something,” she said. “I know you’re trying to get away.”
I didn’t say a word as she leaned down, her beautiful face close to mine, twisted into a vicious snarl.
“I really don’t know what he sees in you,” she spat out, grabbing my cheeks and turning my head from side to side.
“You’re hurting me,” I hissed, but she paid me no mind, inspecting me closely.
This close, she looked even more infuriatingly perfect than she did from afar. Her skin was gorgeous, without a single blemish or freckle. her deep-set eyes were dark and sexy, and her lips were plump and rosy. I envied her. The beauty, the grace she moved with almost made her look like a dancer, though I doubted she knew anything about ballet. She hadn’t mentioned it once to me.
Still, the infuriated expression on her face made her seem more savage, rougher. I stared back at her without fear. I wondered if she was jealous of me, of the attraction Ellis obviously had for me. I’d never really thought of them together, but perhaps there was something there, and that made her angry because she thought he’d chosen me. She had nothing to worry about. I was going to get out of there and never look back, and I didn’t give a shit about Ellis anyway. All I had for him in my heart was resentment and the need for revenge for what he’d done to me.
“I see right through you,” she told me plainly, and then she finally let go, turning around.
I rubbed my cheek which still hurt from her claws, but I didn’t say a thing, instead waiting for her to look back at me. Her mask was firmly in place now and she was the beautiful, graceful Pia I had come to know so well. She was all business now, whatever had happened in the hall long forgotten in favor of what we had to do to prepare me for the worst day of my life.
“Time to get you ready,” she said with a wide grin. “We need you to look perfect tonight, after all. Don’t we?”
I nodded meekly, too scared to give her a proper reply. She was a loose cannon – one wrong look or word and she’d be all over me. She picked up a makeup brush from the counter and started working on my face, and I watched her without glancing at my own reflection. She was going through something, that was for sure. Her hand was shaking, and when she finished applying my blusher, I looked like a clown. I let out a little giggle when I looked at myself in the mirror, but when I shifted my attention to Pia, I noticed she was on the verge of tears.
“Hey,” I said gently, reaching for her hand adorned with ring after ring. “Are you all right?”
She snatched her hand away from me, and the fake smile was back in place, as bright as ever. Just like that, my chance of a confidante was gone.
“I’m fine,” she snapped. “Now, let’s focus on making you as beautiful as we possibly can. Big day today, isn’t it?”
I nodded miserably and let her get back to work.
By the time she was finished, I could barely recognize myself. Maybe it was a good thing. After what they’d done to me, I would never be the same girl again.
15
Harlow
I was led into the room by two women. They were both wearing pretty dresses, but I was completely naked, and my body was shivering.
Ellis approached me with an impersonal smile and my soul wept at what they were about to do to me.
He took my hand and I considered my last chance to escape. I could get away now. I could still run as fast as I possibly could, and maybe prevent them from taking this away from me. I looked over my shoulder at the large door. Someone had left it ajar, as if they were toying with me, forcing me to land in the bad cell one more time. I tugged at Ellis’s arm, but he didn’t let go. I watched the door get farther and farther away from me.
