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“Why are you here, Frederick?” Rhett calmly asked as he directed me to a seat near him, pushing down on my shoulder until I dropped into it. I clenched the arms of the chair, trying to hold myself together. Rhett stayed at my side, his entire demeanor calm and unaffected.
Why wasn’t my father doing anything? He had yet to speak a word to me!
“I-I came to pay what I owe you,” Dad stammered.
Rhett shook his head. “Our business is closed.” His voice was firm and hard—final. It sent chills down my spine.
Why was my father doing business with a man like Rhett? I thought Dad hated him.
“But I—”
“Did I fucking say it was negotiable?” Rhett growled. I flinched, and I wasn’t even the one he was speaking to. “You sold your daughter to me—your only child. You think I’d fucking give her back to you and take cash when I know you’ll just turn around and sell her to the next person you owe?”
My heart stopped for a moment. Tears welled in my eyes. I sucked in a sharp breath of air, trying not to freak out.
He’d sold me?
My father had sold me.
I was reeling.
I’m not the biggest monster in your world.
A sob ripped from my chest, and I clamped my hand over my mouth, trying to muffle any other sounds I might make. Rhett growled. “Get out,” he growled at my father. “Your payment to me is done. I will not negotiate a cash exchange. Donotshow up at my fucking house again.”
“She is my—”
“She stopped being your fuckinganythingthe moment you delivered her to me, drugged out of her fucking mind.” I choked. My father haddruggedme? “She ismine. Do not forget that, Frederick. Nowget the fuck out.”
My father grabbed the bag at his feet and then quickly walked out of the house, not casting me another glance. I hiccupped, and a moment later, Rhett was lifting me into his arms, cradling me against his chest. And he didn’t utter a word as he headed toward a set of stairs.
Because he knew I’d just realized he’d actually saved me. Sure, Rhett had broken me, had twisted me around, had fucked me up. But he’d saved me from men I was sure were much crueler than him.
And I had no idea how I was meant to repay him.
13
Rhett
Ipushed down on the handle to Natalia’s bedroom, pleased to see that her room had been prepared just as I’d asked it to be. Last night while I was waiting for her to come to, I’d ordered the room to be cleaned and prepared for a long-term guest.
One day, I wanted her to share my room with me, but until that day came, this would be her space—a space where she felt safe.
From anyone that wasn’t me, that was.
She lifted her tear-streaked face from my shoulder and looked around us. I gently set her on her feet, waiting until I knew she was steady before I released her. Using the heel of her hands, she swiped at her cheeks, wiping away her tears, sniffling as she did so.
“This is your new room,” I quietly told her.
She looked up at me. The fight was gone from her eyes, and in its place was a deep sadness for her reality—a reality I’d done my best to protect her from.
And I suddenly realized I missed seeing that fire in her soul.
Fucking shit, what was wrong with me?
What I once wanted to see gone—burned out—I now craved to see blazing in the depths of her dark eyes.
She looked around the room once more before sniffling again. “Can I have a shower?”
