AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I scoff, because he was probably just not expecting me to confront him outright. Fucking jerk seems to always underestimate me, which means he isn’t thinking much of me. Oddly, that offends me more than the audacity of recording me… us, in the first place.
I’m not a fucking afterthought, I’m all that matters. And one day, I’ll make him fucking pay for everything he’s done to me. I just need to focus. Yes, I need to make a list, and then I need to be smart about it.
Despite the anger pulsing through my veins, I know I don’t want him dead. If I’m honest, the thought of killing him never even crossed my mind while he was passed out. I was scared for him. Not for me, but for him.
Fuck, I really need to toughen up. Despite him opening up about his dad, I’m not stupid enough to think it meant something. A ploy, that’s all it was. Same with giving me the gun and forcing him to eat me out. I know he could easily overpower me, so it means fuck all.
No, I need to remember that Grayson is a monster. One that will stop at nothing to play with me, and I… I might just let him. I know I can’t overpower him physically, and in all ways, but one, he has the upper hand. This means I have to outsmart him, something I know I can do.
After all, I managed to become valedictorian of one of the country’s most sought after schools, and I got early acceptance to Harvard. I’m so much more than a pretty face.
“What are you doing, Princess?”
Instead of showing my surprise and unease that he’s managed to sneak up on me, I keep my eyes closed.
“If you’re trying to convince me you’re asleep, you’re doing an awful job.”
Rather than allowing the words to irk me, I remain unmoving. I wasn’t trying to fool him, actually. I just don’t want to talk to him or look at him. Not right now. Not when I feel so raw and vulnerable. I need to be in a better headspace to take him on.
“You like sleeping on your side,” Grayson says, like he needs to convince me that he knows I’m awake. “And you breathe deeper.”
If it wasn’t because I can feel him towering above me, I might have allowed myself to crack a smile. He might not know it, but he’s the one caving right now.
It’s hard not to grin as I realize that my silence is causing him to give me information that could come in handy one day. But no. I can’t allow myself to become cocky, or do anything that might alert him to my plan. I need to play this perfectly, and that means I can’t be too pliable either.
Though I don’t like it, I know what I have to do. Grayson demanded my body in exchange for protection, and that was the first tell that having sex with me is more than a game. Or maybe that’s exactly what it is. A game for dominance where he comes out on top.
Now, I have to let him—all while fighting him enough that he doesn’t become suspicious. If I… yes, if I can play my part perfectly, he might eventually tell me something I can use. Use to get away, and to get him back.
“I never claimed to be asleep,” I say, still keeping my eyes closed. “I’m thinking.”
“What are you thinking about?” he asks, his tone strained as he sits down on the mattress.
Easing open one of my eyelids, I peek up at him. I hate that I feel bad he’s hurting. My conscience really should read the memo about how to react when shooting a bad guy, which is exactly what I did. It was self defense.
As he lies down next to me, grunting in pain, I’m assaulted by the overwhelming scent of my arousal when he moves his head so close our breaths mingle. A lock of his dark hair falls across his eyes, and when he makes no move to push it back where it belongs, I reach out and do it. Sweeping it back up his forehead and out of the way.
After a pregnant silence, I finally answer his question. “I was thinking about my life,” I admit softly. Then I scoff, and add, “Or lack thereof. Being held captive isn’t living, it’s merely existing.”
“You’re still breathing, Princess. I don’t fucking care what you call it, but you’re alive. And that’s all that matters.”
“Is it?” I muse out loud. “What if I cut your hands off so you could never ride your bike again? I wonder if you’d still claim that the ability to breathe was all that mattered.”
I laugh bitterly, knowing that if he denies the loss that would be, he’s lying. I’ve seen him riding, so I know the way the corners of his lips turn up in a genuine smile.
There’s no hiding when someone is in their right element. It’s like their soul smiles, and it makes their body lighter, their smile truer. I know, because that’s how Leslie looked every time she was in the saddle. Her smile couldn’t be contained, and her eyes sparkled more than ever.
Despite bringing it up, I’m not in the mood to talk about removing body parts, so I ask, “What date is it?”
Weird as it is, I never checked on his phone. Things like date and time don’t seem to matter much these days. At least not until I’m going to Harvard at the end of August. But if my mental calculations are right, I need to prepare for what’s coming.
“It’s the second of July,” he answers without checking his phone.
Although I had my suspicions, my throat becomes dry. That means I only have two days to prepare for the first big holiday without my family. I don’t know if I can survive that, let alone how.
Suddenly, all my bravado and thoughts of playing a big game that might cost me my life go out the window. I gasp for breath, though never feeling the relief accompanied with drawing in air. My throat closes up as tears spill from my eyes.
“Princess?” Grayson sounds worried, and if I wasn’t in the middle of a fucking panic attack, I would laugh at the absurdity.
