Sara’s Uber arrived in a little over a minute, and Reaver nearly tossed her in, slamming the door shut behind her. When she was gone, he whipped around. Before I knew what was happening, he had a fistful of my hair. I squealed, but he snarled at me to be quiet.
“What did I fucking tell you to do, deathtrap?” he hissed, and I opened my mouth several times to try to speak, but nothing came out.
“What? All of a sudden you can’t speak?” he snapped. I opened my mouth again to respond, and he hooked a finger over my bottom teeth and held my mouth open.
“Allow me to remind you. I told you to work my shift, thengo homeand wait for me to text you. Where in that very short list of instructions did you hear ‘kiss some fuckhole in a parking lot?’”
Shit. So he had seen that part. I frowned. Why did he even fucking care? I tried to twist my head away from him, but he just increased the pressure on both his grip in my hair and the fingers he had hooked in my mouth.
“What part ofyou’re minedid you not understand? Next time I tell you to do something, you will fucking listen to me, or I will bend you the fuck over my knee.”
My eyes widened in shock. He would dowhat?
He smirked at my clearly surprised expression. “Don’t think I won’t do it, deathtrap. I always follow through on my threats. I’ll spank you like the naughty little girl you are if you disobey me again.” Suddenly, he softened slightly and removed his fingers from my mouth. His eyes fell to my cheek, and he frowned, lightly brushing his thumb over where John had struck me.
“This is going to bruise,” he said, though it sounded more like he was talking to himself than me. Anger flashed through his eyes again, and he released me, stepping back. “Let’s go. I’m taking you home.”
“I can get home on my own,” I snarled. I didn’t want him to know where I lived. He snorted.
“That wasn’t an offer, Lilith.” He grabbed my arm and dragged me into the parking lot. I realized he didn’t have his helmet with him, and he pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, unlocking a black Audi A8. How could he afford a motorcycleandan Audi? He was probably some spoiled rich kid who was just working this job for something to do.
Jealousy simmered within me. He had likely grown up with everything justhandedto him; life was not fucking fair.
He opened the passenger door and threw me in like I was a bag of groceries before slamming the door shut and stalking to the driver’s side.
I hugged my bag to my chest and stared out the windshield. He got in the car and pressed the button to the ignition.
Fuck him. “I’m not telling you where I live, fuckhole!” I snapped at him, and he froze. I bit my lip but held my ground. I knew he was going to do something fucked up, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t just going to willingly give him whatever the fuck he wanted all the time. Blackmail or not.
He twisted in his seat and grabbed my bag, ripping it out of my arms.
“Hey!” I squealed, and he rummaged through it until he found my wallet. “What the fuck, Reaver! You can’t just go through my shit!” The first thing he found was the money I had made that night. He shot me an evil smile and took the cash, stuffing it in the back pocket of his jeans.
“Reaver! What the actual fuck is wrong with you, that’s mine!” I screamed, and he just laughed and shrugged.
“It wasmyshift, so they’remytips. I’ll give you the opportunity to earn it back, though, don’t worry. Every time you’re good, I’ll give you a twenty.” He clearly thought this was hilarious. He couldn’t seem to stop laughing as he continued to dig through my wallet until he found my ID.
“Thirty-oneRavenwood Street.”He flicked the card back at me and shoved my now totally disheveled bag in my lap.
“I fucking hate you!” I screamed at him, and it was the truth. I had never hated anyone more… except maybe Death himself.
He threw the car into gear and pulled out of the parking lot, shooting me an amused grin.
“You’re doing it to yourself, deathtrap. All you had to do was give me your address. Instead, you wanted to be a brat. Look at what happens to brats. They lose their tips. And guess what? I got your fucking address anyway.”
I dropped my face into my hands and screeched wordlessly, kicking my feet in frustration while he laughed next to me.
“If you’re trying to convince me you’renota brat, that little temper tantrum isn’t helping.” He chuckled as he pulled onto the freeway.
“I’m going to fucking get you back one day, Reaver. I’m going to get you so bad, and you’re going to regret treating me like this,” I whispered. He just gave me one of those infuriating grins as the streetlights passed through the car, periodically illuminating his devastatingly handsome face.
“Bring it on, deathtrap,” was all he said, and we sat in silence for the rest of the ride.
“The darkest places in Hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”
—DANTE ALIGHIERI, INFERNO
He parked in front of my apartment and got out of the car. I was too furious to move, so I just sat there, staring straight ahead. He jogged around to my side and opened the passenger door.
