He’s playing with me, like the cat does to the mouse.
Carrson leans dangerously close. “I know all your dearest desires, little Tiger. You want your old life back. You want your dad to stop drinking, to be safe. You want to go to medical school and help people.” He says the last part in a mocking tone, like it’s disgusting, the thought of helping others. Like he can’t think of anything more reprehensible.
I gasp, because he got it all correct. In three sentences he laid bare every wish that I make every single day before I go to sleep, before I go to school, before I start work.
My life before senior year wasn’t perfect. Dad still drank. I was not the most popular girl or the most socially advanced, but it was pretty close, and I miss it. Every damn day. I miss my friends. I miss my teachers looking at me with respect, telling me I was going somewhere in life. That I was going to do great things.
Here in Ashfordville, I’m a shadow of my former self. No one notices me. No one cares. I could be run over tomorrow or killed by a group of maniac frat boys, and the only one to miss me would be my dad.
“You can’t have those things, the ones you want. Your dad’s a mess, and you have no money. I checked. After you pay rent this month, you’ll have $108 left in your bank account.”
My mouth falls open. My mind blanks, because how could he possibly know that? The amount of money in my bank account. The cost of my rent.
Carrson reads my expression easily. He smirks and says, “That’s right, I know exactly how much rent you pay because my father, who just happens to be a Congressman, owns the building. How do you like that little twist of fate? But it’s really not so surprising, is it? He owns 80 percent of this town, and the rest is owned by the fathers of my brothers here. The bank? Also under our control. There’s nothing that’s out of my reach. There’s nowhere you can run that I won’t find you.”
He pauses, giving me a moment for thatto sink in.
“By my calculations, even with your scholarship, you won’t have enough to make tuition for next year.” Carrson states what I already know to be the truth, even though I’ve been denying it to myself over the past month. Even though I wanted to believe I’d find a way out of my predicament. I’m not sure how, maybe a fairy godmother or some other divine intervention?
There’s no change in his expression when he tells me, “You’re going to get kicked out of college by the end of this year. No degree. No future. Definitely no medical school.”
Tears spring to my eyes at the reality of my grim future, one I can no longer deny. I blink them back, but not quick enough.
“Aww,” he mocks me with a sneer that makes me want to kick him in the face. “Poor little Laurel, what are you going to do? You’ll be out on the street and your dad too.”
“You’re the devil,” I snarl at him, so angry I could gouge his eyes out with my bare hands. I raise my arm to strike him, but he catches it easily and holds me still with an iron grip.
“I’m glad you understand the situation so well.” His smile is cruel. “Iamthe devil, and this is Hell. Welcome. Play by my rules or die. Those are your choices.”
I rip my hand out of his grasp and let it drop. “What rules?”
He inspects his fingernails like I bore him. “Be my Bonded. It’s my senior year. Once I graduate, I’ll move back to my dad’s mansion in Ashport and take on my role there. I’ll unbind you…it won’t be easy.” For the first time, I sense hesitation in him, but it quickly hardens into resolve. “I think I can do it without getting us killed.”
“Killed!” I squeak, fear rippling down my spine. “I don’t understand any of what you’re talking about. What’s a Bonded?”
“It means you’re my property. Mine to do with as I please.” He says it simply, like that’s totally normal.
“What?” I sit up straighter, shoving hair out of my eyes. “Are you crazy?”
Carrson eases back, giving me space to breathe. “Not in the least. This situation may be crazy, butIam not.”
“To do with as you please? You mean like sex?”
“Anything I want to do to you. I can fuck you, beat you, betray you. The only thing I can’t do is share you. You’re mine alone. No man is allowed to touch another man’s Bonded.”
“But you just said you don’t want to sleep with me.”
“I don’t,” he says, his voice low and deliberate. “So you lie. Tell them I fuck you every night in every filthy, depraved way. You’ll say I use you, break you. Fill you up so completely, there’s no room left for anyone else. That’s the story, and if you want to survive, Laurel, you’ll sell it.”
“If they don’t believe me?”
“You die, and your father too. But I’m not all bad. In return for your obedience, I’ll get your dad into rehab. What he does with that I can’t control, but it’ll be a good facility. There’s one in New York ready to take him. I’ve already got it arranged. Top-notch care.”
New York is so far away, but if there’s even a small chance I can get the dad I used to know back…
Carrson continues, “Plus, I’ll pay for your tuition for all four years here at Ashford U. You’ll have to get your own money for medical school, but if you keep your grades up like you have been I’m sure you can get a scholarship.”
I blink at him, shocked, because honestly, it’s a generous offer.
