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It took me a moment to remember exactly what had happened, but when I did, I groaned at the memory, trying to cover my eyes.
“You’re okay,” Thorn told me. “Everything’s alright now, my Rose. I’ve got you… No one can hurt you now.”
My bottom lip trembled, and he held me close until the shakes went away, and it was just us, me in his arms, vulnerable but protected from every corner.
“Carina,” I whispered, moving back so I could look into his eyes. “What happened? Why did she do that?”
“Jealousy,” Thorn said darkly. “She wanted your place. I should have known all along. I never should have brought her along. Please Rose, forgive me. This is all my fault.”
“No,” I said desperately, holding his handsome face in my hands. “It’s nobody’s fault but hers. You didn’t decide you wanted to get rid of me… You didn’t set fire to the garden.”
My own words made me remember the debris of his beautiful rose garden, and I gasped at the thought. All those memories, the beautiful shrines he’d built for every woman in his life – all gone, erased, nothing but a pile of smoking ash and glowing embers.
“The garden,” I said softly.
He hung his head and I knew it was gone without asking a question. I held him close. I knew how much it had meant to him since he was a little boy, and I ached just like he did, knowing it had been eradicated from this world. It was all gone.
“What about Carina?” I asked hesitantly, my voice conveying the mix of emotions I felt when I spoke about her. “She’s okay?”
He looked into my eyes, as if trying to gather the words to explain what had happened.
“She had… a stand-off with Pia,” he finally managed to get out.
“And?” I asked desperately, my heart hammering in my chest.
“Pia killed her,” Thorn said flatly. “In self-defense. She’s gone, Harlow.”
The fact that he’d used my real name told me he wasn’t making all of this up. She truly was gone… One of my best friends, the girl I’d trusted for all of a few months before she’d betrayed me. Gone, erased just like the garden was. A victim of her own plan… I should’ve been the one to die, but instead, it had been Carina.
“She was sick,” Thorn told me plainly. “She had a sick, twisted mind. It’s better this way. I would’ve had to lock her away if this hadn’t happened.”
“You wouldn’t have killed her?” I asked on impulse, blushing once the words left my mouth.
I had no illusions about Thorn. I knew he’d killed before, and I knew he’d kill again. He never talked about it to me, but I could feel the weight of his victims weighing on him. I never asked. We hadn’t reached the right time just yet.
“No,” he finally said. “I couldn’t have. I felt something for her.”
“What?” I asked right away, jealousy coursing through me and taking any rational thoughts away in a sea of envy that washed me over. “You cared about her? You wanted her?”
“No,” he said sadly, finally meeting my eyes. “Pity, Rose. I felt pity for her.”
My heart swelled with emotion, a mix of sadness and acceptance for what he’d said. I felt broken, more than I ever had when we were in the playroom. Carina’s fate had cut me deep.
“What about Pia?” I asked softly. “Is she alright?”
“She will be,” he said, smoothing my hair. “She did it for you. For us. She could have left her alive, Rose. But she took her life because she knew Carina would never stop.”
I wasn’t sure what to say to that. Since he’d made them watch him fucking me, I was convinced Pia and Carina were two of a kind. They both wanted what I had – Thorn – what we had together.
“Is she staying here?” I asked softly, and he looked into my eyes, pondering the answer.
“We’ll talk about that soon,” he said. “But now, you have more important things to focus on.”
“What?” I asked shakily.
“Your dance,” he said, his voice strangely gentle as he touched his fingertips to my cheeks. “Your last dance, Rose. Don’t think I’ve forgotten…”
It all came rushing back to me. The promise I’d made him, what I said I would let him do. Submitting so completely there would be no going back. Once my performance was done, I’d never be able to dance again. I’d promised him that. I couldn’t back down now.
I didn’t even want to.
“Have you organized it?” I asked him, and he nodded.
“You will dance in a theater in the city,” he told me. “I’ve invited some personal friends to watch. But you will dance for me. Only for me. I want your eyes on me the whole time. Do you understand, Rose?”
“Yes,” I whispered. “I understand. Only for you.”
