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My pulse stuttered and my gaze darted to the top of the stairs. Freedom waited…freedom and es—
“The front door is alarmed and is wired to trigger an alert to my phone, as are all the windows. Try to escape, Vivienne, and see what happens.”
I flinched and jerked my gaze to his. He couldn’t hear the stuttering of my pulse, couldn’t hear the thoughts in my head. He couldn’tknow me.
But he'd just given me a fuck-around-and-find-out ultimatum, hadn’t he? I couldn’t quite catch my breath with all the implications. Still, hope waited, and it started with an open bedroom door. One nod of my head, and he lifted his hand, motioning for me to advance.
I did, heels clicking on the tiled floor until I grabbed the handrail and stepped onto the first step. Silence swallowed any sound of my steps. The stilettos sank into the plushly carpeted stairs. I made my way down the three flights, eyeing the glass wall of the elevator in the center of the house.
A shiver raced through me. I’d been in this house before…but my time here had been fleeting, barely making it past the foyer and the downstairs hall. I'd never made it up here…never anywhere personal.I gripped the cold steel railing and made my way down. I wondered where his bedroom was…
Was it close? My gaze darted along the first floor hall…there? Was it there?
There was a second when those thoughts entered my mind before a wave of dizziness hit me.His bedroom? You’re wanting to know about his goddamn bedroom?I clenched my jaw and hit the last stair, stopping at the edge of the foyer. Shimmering Italian tiles, cold and sleek. All I saw was my face pressed against them…and the two sets of boots in front of my eyes.
I warned you, Vivienne…I told you there’d be consequences…
A pang tore across my chest, fiery and brutal. I gripped the railing, unable to move. Fear rooted me to the spot. I couldn’t look away. The panic. The humiliation.
“Thinking about running?”
My knees trembled, but I forced myself to move and turned before stepping backwards. He descended like evil itself, those cold, unflinching eyes seized me in his stare. Flecks of silver sparkled at his temples as he stepped down to the foyer and cut through the sunlight. I met that sickening stare, then looked away. “No.”
“Good.”
I flinched, powerless,trapped.What exactly did you think was going to happen? The thought rose…
He stopped in front of me. “I need to work.”
I jerked my gaze to his as fear turned to anger. “Then go to work.”
There was a twitch at the corner of his lips. My stomach clenched, my breaths almost panting. He was volatile…so fucking volatile. I waited for him to lunge, to grab my throat and drive me across the foyer. I waited for his wrath, the one I saw shimmering under the surface.
But none of that came. Just a twitch at the corner of his mouth. Don’t tell me the demon was fucking impressed? One nod of his head and he turned, his steps slow enough to be a command of their own. He expected me to follow, like a good little whore.
Hate was a fist in my belly, driving up through my ribs, but I followed, glancing at the closed basement door as we passed. The electronic lock flashed red against the door on the outside, just waiting for him to enter his goddamn code and drag me down there.
Only, he kept walking, cocking his head to the side. Listening. That’s what he was doing, waiting to see if I’d crumple. I tried to quell the thunder in my chest and kept moving, striding past the elegant chef’s kitchen that gleamed, and moving deeper into the house. I was surprised anyone lived here. It didn’t look like it.
Not a speck of dust.
Not a fingerprint left behind.
He turned at a hallway and stepped forward, and I was scared to follow. Being in a confined space with London…
Didn’t think this through, did you?
I tried to catch my breath as he opened a door at the end of the hall and disappeared, leaving it gaping behind him. I hadn’t thought about this…hadn’t thought he’d actually…open the door.
But I couldn’t run, couldn’t even think about turning around and fleeing. If I did, then he’d know he’d won.
No fucking way was that happening.
I clenched my jaw and strode forward.
My gaze took in the sleek black bookshelves that ran across the back wall as I stepped inside. Books filled the space, a lot of them. Perfect as usual, not one out of place.
“The door, Vivienne.”
