“Stop.” His eyes narrow. “You didn’t do anything. You left. Plain and simple.”
“I-I was trapped,” I whisper.
“And now you’re shocked you ended up in another locked room?” His voice is velvet-wrapped knives. “At least this one is free of your parents.”
Anger flares inside me. “And this is your payback. Great. You wreck my family’s world, drag me into your house, and call it a marriage because you want to watch me suffer.”
His mouth curves. “You make it sound romantic.”
“I hate you,” I spit.
“I know.” He watches me, studies really, then a smirk. “But you’re also doing an awful job of hiding what else you feel.”
I stiffen.
“Don’t,” I whisper because I don’t know what I’m asking him not to do—touch me, look at me.
His voice dips, quiet and cruel. “Don’t confuse my restraint with weakness.”
My breath catches.
“If I wanted to take what I want,” he continues, eyes locked on mine, “I would.”
My spine chills.
Then I force my chin up anyway because fear is not obedience, and I refuse to let him mistake it for surrender.
“Don’t confuse my fear with obedience.” I swallow hard.
His hand lifts slowly, like he’s going to touch my face, and my skin tingles in anticipation and horror.
Just when I think he will, he stops himself.
Footsteps pass down the hall.
“Car’s still outside. Vin’s waiting on a callback.” Rafe’s voice drifts around us.
Lorenzo doesn’t look away from me as he answers, voice flat. “Tell him to keep waiting.”
Rafe keeps moving without pausing.
Once the hall goes quiet again, Lorenzo steps back.
“Go to bed,” he orders, voice rougher now. “Find a hobby. Read something depressing. Don’t test the guards.”
“Or what?” I can’t stop pushing, and apparently, fear makes me reckless. “You’ll lock me in a tower? Take away my books? Chain me to the bed?”
“Careful,” he says. “Keep talking like that, and you’ll confuse us both.”
Heat flashes through me, mortifying and hot.
Luckily, he turns before he notices. I’m sure he would torture me with the fact that I’m clearly not myself right now.
“I have work to do,” he throws over his shoulder as he walks toward his study. “Try not to break anything while I’m gone.” Then he disappears.
I stay pressed to the wall for a long moment, lungs trying to remember how to work.
My hands are shaking. My heart is racing. I’m furious.
