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“Shut up, you unsufferable bitch,” I yell down the line and it does the trick. She’s finally quiet. I know it won’t last long, so I press on. “I only called to tell you to watch your back. After everything you’ve put me through, I intend to ensure I repay you. For every insult. Every single time you made me feel small, you’ll live to regret it.”
She huffs indignantly. “Are you threatening me?”
“It’s not a threat,Mother.” I spit the word like a curse. “You will pay for everything. That’s a promise.”
I hang up the phone. I won’t call her again. The next time I see that woman, it’ll be to torment her the way she has me. We’ve never had the mother-daughter relationship that I dreamed of, and I’ve finally come to terms with that. There’s no love there, and I intend to keep that promise of retaliation if Bastien will allow it, but not right now. I have too much on my plate to deal with her at the moment.
For now, I’ll hold on to the fact she’s likely terrified. For as strong as she’s tried to make me think she is, she’s nothing but a coward who hides behind harsh words. She’s only ever been able to speak to me like that because she deemed me small. Not anymore. Never again.
The door flies open, and Bastien storms in. I hold up the phone.
“Looking for this?”
He snatches it from me. “Called your mommy? How’d that go?” His words jab at me, seeking a tender spot.
I don’t rise to the bait. “About as well as when you talk to your parents, I imagine. When’s the last time you spoke to them, by the way?” Because I’m done dealing with his abuse. I screwed up ten years ago, and he’s more than exacted his pound of flesh for it. I’m finished saying I’m sorry. I’m done lying down while he tramples all over me.
The moment I took back my power from my mother, I found my voice, and I intend to use it.
“Watch yourself, Camille. You’re treading dangerous waters.”
I shrug. “I’ve just slayed one dragon, Bastien. I’m prepared to slay another.”
His eyes flash with anger before he turns on his heels and walks out of the room.
That night, after dinner, he comes to me while I’m sitting in the living room reading. He tosses a white evening gown with plunging cleavage at me, and it lands in my lap.
“Put it on. Now.”
“Where are we going?” I ask, a little uneasily.
His eyes have that hard, flat look to them. It means he’s going to do something bad to me. He’s going to punish me for what I said about his parents earlier, and for not acting scared and miserable every time I see him. “You can put it on in here, or you can do it in front of my guards.”
He knows my weaknesses as well as I know his.
I stand up and quickly strip down to my panties, then pull the gown on. It’s so light and flimsy, I feel naked. I’m wearing low-heeled nude sandals; nothing on me is covered. Instinctively, I cross my arms over my chest because my nipples are hardening. They’re stiff little peaks pressing against the thin fabric.
“Turn around,” he barks at me as if I were one of the girls at his club. As if I’m nothing but an object to be used and discarded.
“No. You know what? Forget this, I’m not going anywhere with you. Kill me if you must, but I’m done with this.”
He takes a threatening step forward. “You forget who’s in charge, Camille. Let me remind you.”
He spins me around and grabs my wrist. I feel a click, instantly realizing he’s handcuffed me. He cuffs the other wrist as I struggle against his hold. Before I know what’s happening, he throws a hood over my head, and my world goes black. I panic, crying out. It’s hot and stuffy. I can’t breathe.I can’t be in the closet. It’s closing in on me. The walls are crushing me. Let me out, let me out… My legs flail and kick, and it’s only his arm around my waist that keeps me from falling.
I feel his hands on the hood, and I hear a zipping sound that doesn’t help ease my mounting terror. The cloth opens up around my mouth and my body exhales in momentary relief.
“Be quiet, not a word, or I’ll zip you up again.”
I bite back a sob. With the zipper open, I can just barely handle the hood being on my head; if he closes it, my claustrophobia will swim over me and make me feel like I’m suffocating.
He forces me to walk through the house, and I’m stumbling, sucking in panicked breaths, cursing him in my head. My cuffed hands make me feel horribly off balance as if I’m about to fall and smash my face on the ground at any moment. His rough, callused hands guide me down steps and into the back seat of a car.
Being in the dark literally and figuratively has that panic flooding back in. Nothing is worse than blindly being dragged into a situation with Bastien. I’d rather see what’s to come than have it sneak up on me. My mind is overrun with possibilities of where we could be going, and I’m losing my grip.
“Where are you taking me?” I cry out as tears run down my cheeks.
“You want me to zip you back up again?” His voice is hard and raspy.
