Energy surges through me. I want to grab things and smash them.
“Bella, enough.” Papa is quiet in the face of my temper tantrums. It’s so unfair. I hate acting childish around him.
Even when I was a child, my feelings were sometimes like a tsunami crashing over me. My father never knew what to do. My mother was the only one who would hold me until the storm died away. Once she was gone, my father shut down even more.
Whenever I threw a tantrum, he simply turned away.
“You will marry Kaiser. He will be good for you. He will protect you.”
“I don’t need?—”
He cuts me off. “You want more independence, but that comes with responsibility. And you’re too reckless. You would wreck your own life, and I will not have that.”
“I won’t.”
“You will. You already have. Poisoning the entire lacrosse team? Making enemies your first week on campus and for what?”
My lower lip trembles the way it used to when I was little and Papa lectured me. He wants an answer. “They were mean to my friend,” I say in a small voice. I even sound childish.
“Is she powerful? Does she have assets that would make her a good ally?”
“No. I don’t know,” I whisper.
“So you did all of this with no strategy? You never think of the consequences.” I can hear his disgust. “I have tried to teach you, but you refuse to learn patience. Planning. You need to grow up.”
My eyes burn with unshed tears. I refuse to cry or scream at him. I won’t give him the satisfaction.
“Fraternitas can look after you. You’re their responsibility now. The sooner you give in to your fate, the better.”
Before I can argue, he hangs up.
* * *
Kaiser
* * *
I sit in the car, watching people come and go past the parfumerie. A meter man rolls by and pauses. I’m illegally parked, but he doesn’t tag my vehicle and just moves on.
Bella’s been inside for a few minutes. My fingers are tingling again, that pins and needles sensation, the kind I get from sitting too still for too long. My dead limbs, waking up.
I want to go after her. Grab her by the scruff of her neck, like a little wayward kitten. Most fucktoys I can’t wait to be rid of, but her? I want her close. At all times.
For fuck’s sake, I slept with her on top of me. I still can’t believe it.
She must have drugged me. I don’t know how, but why else would I sleep like she slipped me a sleeping pill?
She’s driving me crazy again. I can figure out most opponents after studying them for a few seconds. Her? I’ve watched her for weeks and still don’t understand her.
I need to figure her out, fast, or she’ll be the death of me.
Right now she’ll be talking with her father. We have his office and home rigged with cameras. We haven’t told him this, but we believe he knows. Still, it’ll be interesting to hear what Bella says to him. She might be naive enough to think her father has more control over his domain. She’ll be less guarded.
I need all the insight into her mind I can get. And speaking of insight…
I pull out my phone and dial Father Francis. He greets me, and I ask, “What did she say?”
“She asked about you, actually. She’s curious about you.”
