“Jesus,” he snarls, whirling away.
“Am I wrong?!” I yell at his back. “You told me you were—and I quote—betting on it creating the same sort of obscenities in the minds of the men you were meeting with!” My eyes narrow. “You said you wanted their thoughts wandering, thinking aboutmy bodywhile you were negotiating with them!”
Vaughn barks a laugh, shaking his head. “Un-fucking-believable.”
My brows shoot up. “I’munbelievable?! For what?! Getting whiplash trying to figure out if you’re going to kick in a guy's teeth for holding a door for me, or pimp me out for a business deal?!”
He storms into me and wraps his hand around my throat. His eyes stab into mine, his teeth glinting in the moonlight.
“I’mtrying, Evelina,” he snarls. “But you’re…FUCK!”
“I’mwhat?” I yell back.
“Fucking me up!!” he roars, making me shudder under his grip. “Inevershould have allowed you into that fucking initiation! You shouldn’t even be here!”
“Youbrought me here!” I scream.
“Yes, to keep a fucking eye on you!” he bellows back.
“Tokeep an eye on me?” I blurt incredulously. “What are you talking about?!”
He chokes out a cold, guttural laugh. “You think I don’t know that you’re up to something?!” he snaps, his eyes blazing. “What is it, Evelina! Why the fuck are you digging into Carson's past?! What’s your fucking angle?! We both know you don’t give a shit about joining the Syndicate!”
“I—you know why I came to that initiation,” I stammer, my heart jumping erratically as I try and formulate words. “Because I wanted your help to save?—”
“Your piece of shit father?!” He laughs coldly. “Hilarious. We both know there were other options.”
“No, I don’t think we do!” I snap at him.
He rolls his eyes. “You seriously think, fuckhead though he is, your dad doesn’t still have friends everywhere!? He sat on theIron Table, for fuck's sake! There are dozens of people you could have gone to who would have happily helped him!” he roars. “So why the fuck did you come knocking onmydoor?!”
“How about youtell meabout thesedozensof other options!” I scream back. “Because trust me, I’d rather go toany of themthan deal with your psycho head games and sadistic sexual abuse for one more second!”
“Oh, like your cunt doesn’t drip all over the floor for my brand of sadism. Such a greedy littlewhore?—”
The sound of my palm cracking against his cheek echoes in the night.
Then the entire scene goespin-dropquiet.
My eyes widen, and my pulse beats in a rapid, staccato frenzy. My palm is still stinging from slapping him as Vaughn slowly twists his head back toward me, his cheek bright red.
“Vaughn,” I choke. “I?—”
“You know what I think, princess?” he murmurs quietly, his voice eerily calm.
My pulse jangles as I swallow heavily.
“I didn’t mean to?—”
“I think I’ve done you a disservice,” he growls. “Youthinkyou’ve been dealing with the full force of the monster inside me.” His lips curl dangerously as he leans closer, his eyes wild and glinting. “You haven’t seen the half of it.”
He draws in a slow breath as he slips his hand into his tuxedo.
“You think I’ve shown you the worst I have to offer.”
His hand slides back out, and metal glints in the moonlight.
“I haven’t.”
