Those eyes linger for a second too long before they close, his lightly tanned skin paler than normal as he starts to move again. “Don’t ask me again, Caterina.”
I stare at him, mindless and numb, as we enter a dark bedroom. Stefano flicks on a lamp on the mahogany sideboard, illuminating the dark green walls before carrying me over to the large, ornately carved wooden bed.
I almost laugh at the clichéd black satin sheets, but none of this is funny.
I try to push him away as he sets me down, but his hands land on my shoulders, holding me in place. “Let me see the burn.”
“Go to fuckinghell.” I aim my fist at his face, but he dodges it easily, grabbing my hands and holding them in one massive, tattooed hand as he pushes my dress aside. Furious, I buck, and he swears.
“Just stay– for fuck’s sake, I’m trying tohelpyou—,”
“Help me?” I laugh in his face, even though there’s no amusement left in me. “Like youhelpedme back there? You certainly seem comfortable enough with a branding iron, Asante. Do you brand every girl that passes through before they’resold?”
His grip around my wrist tightens, dark emotion washing across his expression. “You don’t know a single fucking thing about my life, Caterina. You’ve been here for five minutes. I’ve been here forfourteen years.”
“Don’t pretend like you’re not one ofthem,” I hiss the words back at him, barbed and vicious. “You’re the fucking Asanteheir, Stefano. This is your fucking house, and you are allowing women to be raped downstairs.”
At his flinch, the anger only surges, a smoldering flame erupting as I throw all of the emotion burning in my chest at him. “Excuse me if I don’t want your little pity party. Go andfuck yourself. Oh - but don’t forget to tie me up before you go, so your father – or your uncle, whatever he is - canrape me too.”
I scream those last words at him, directly into his face, and he pales.
Both of us are breathing heavily. My lungs burn as though the oxygen I’m sucking down in gasps isn’t reaching them, as if I’m going to pass out as my words force themselves into the air.
Stefano lets go of my hands as if they’re on fire, and I shove him back. “Fuck yourmedicalcareand false concern. Get on with your orders,heir.”
I hold out my wrists, and he stares as if they’ll bite him. “Caterina—,”
“No.” I snarl at him. “This? This isnothing. He can think that he’s won. But watch your fucking back, Stefano, because if it takes me the rest of my goddamned life, I am going tokillyou. You, and everyone else in this fucking pit.”
They can brand me.
Trainme.
Burn who I was into ashes.
But when I ignite, I’m taking every single one of them with me.
We stare at each other in the wake of my declaration. A silent stand-off.
Stefano is first to look away, swiping a hand over his face.
“There are over a thousand cameras in this house. In every single room, focused on every single area - except for this one, and the en-suite next door. There are no blind spots, andeverycamera has a microphone. The cameras are monitored at all times.”
I blink, but don’t say anything, eyeing him as he moves to one of the carved wooden posts. He picks up a metal cuff attachedto the wood with a chain as if he’s weighing it before he slowly drags it over to where I sit. My back is rigid as he leans forward and wraps it around my ankle. “More than a hundred guards patrol the grounds and halls at all times. Every single one is armed. You saw the dogs.”
He moves to my other ankle. Ties that cuff into place. Tests it with his finger, before he motions to the bedding behind me. “Lie down, Caterina. Before you fall down.”
So he can chain my wrists.
The shaking returns. I don’t move.
His voice is quiet. “He will not come tonight. He’ll be drinking for hours. Cecile will fight tooth and nail to make sure he doesn’t get anywhere near you.”
Our eyes meet. There’s nothing to suggest he’s lying in his gaze.
Something to be grateful to the bitch for. Although her choice in men isseriouslyquestionable.
When I lay down, he moves around the bed, circling my wrist in careful fingers and pulling it up. I stare at the ceiling. “Why bother tying me down at all, if you’re so convinced he won’t come?”
