I held my breath, hoping he hadn’t smashed his phone when I didn’t reply. It wouldn’t have been the first time. Not that Dante and I fought much, but when we did...
Air rushed out of me when the phone vibrated again.Dante: Are you okay? Don’t lie to me.
Me: Yes. I’m good. I promise.
Dante: Are you going to school on Monday?
Me: I assume I will be. Debitch hasn’t been here since I got back, so I’m running low on information.
There was some time before his next text arrived.
Dante: I will check in again later. I’m going to see what I can find out for you.
I glared at the phone, wishing I was with him right now. Being locked in this room was messing with my head—I’d always had so much freedom. It was the one thing I’d had in spades.
Me: Don’t get into trouble. Love you.
Dante: Trouble? Me? Love you too, Riles.
I threw the phone onto the bedside table, confident that I’d hear it if Dante messaged me again. As I dropped my head down again, I remembered that I had to send my number to Eddy too, but I’d do that when I woke up. For now, I was sleeping some of this nightmare away.
* * *
The restof the weekend passed in slow motion. By the time Monday morning rocked around I’d tried on half my wardrobe, texted Dante twenty times, and set up a time for Eddy to pick me up for school. I hadn’t seen Debitch, and I almost wished she’d come back so we could get this confrontation out of the way. I would not remain a prisoner like this long term. There was no way in hell. So we needed some sort of compromise.
Stewart, who, with a little encouragement, was turning out to be so helpful—he’d even found me a phone charger—knocked on my door. “Riley, the Mistress wants me to inform you that you’ll be going to school this morning. Everything is set up for your enrollment, you just have to go via the office to get your things.”
I flung the door open and grinned at him. “Stew, seriously, that’s the best news I’ve heard all weekend.”
I tried to peer around him to see if Catherine’s coldly beautiful face was close by—she was supposed to be back today—but the hall was empty.
“Am I no longer a prisoner?” I asked, watching him closely.
He smiled. “She is granting you the freedom to go to and from school, for now, and when she returns you will discuss the rest of the rules.”
I was both ready and dreading her return.
“I’ll get dressed,” I said, turning away.
He cleared his throat, and I looked back. “Please wear the uniform correctly,” he said. “I will send one of the day maids up, she will lay it out on the bed.”
I shrugged, having met a few of the day maids already. They never spoke, kept their eyes locked on the ground, and hurried around cleaning.
“I’ll be in the shower then.” Turning the other way, I crossed to my bathroom, as the main bedroom door closed behind me. There was no distinctive click of the lock this time, and I tried to contain the happiness bubbling in my chest.
Freedom had never tasted so sweet, even if I did have to attend a preppy rich school to experience it.
My shower was short because I was more than a little anxious to get out of this room. I slapped on some makeup, taking a little extra care with my eyeliner—I was not rocking up to some rich-kid-school looking like a raccoon. It took me a tad longer to blend makeup around the healing cut on my cheek as well, and nothing could hide it completely, but it was at least harder to see.
I exited the bathroom, clad in matching black underwear, and stopped short when I saw the outfit on the bed. Or more accurately, the shoes perfectly positioned on the floor below.
“No fucking way,” I choked. Were they actually serious right now?
Striding across to the door, I swung it open and called out: “Heels? You want me to wear heels all day?”
I slammed the door then and grumbled the entire way back to my bed. I loved heels as much as the next girl, but I was usually drunk when I wore them, and as Dante said, I usually ended up on my ass at least once during that period of time. My feet already ached just looking at shiny black school shoes.
Knowing I had no choice, I quickly shimmied into the skirt and blouse, not at all surprised they were my exact size. Everything in myclothes roomhad been my exact size, because Debitch was a weirdo stalker.
