“Who?”
“Your family. Your wife and sons, do they know who you are and what you do?” Disgust colors my words, but he doesn’t seem bothered at all by the mention of his family.
“They know what I want them to know,” he says, and the arrogance pouring off him makes me want to scream. At first I’m so mad at myself for missing the signs, for not seeing who he really is, but in my heart I know that’s not true. The truth is he’s a master at hiding who he really is. He played the part for me, the one I needed him to be, just like he does for his family and for everyone at the college.
“Does anyone know who you really are?” I ask.
He lowers down so he can grip the iron railing at the foot of the bed as he watches me. “Some do.” His lips curl into another devious smile. “There’s always at least one girl in class who’s willing to suck my dick for an A. I suppose you could say they know who I am, at least a little better than most. They don’t know everything. And then there’s you, of course. I’d say you’re starting to get to know me very well, aren’t you, Savanna?”
“I wish I didn’t,” I say, making one corner of his mouth curl up even higher.
“Now you’re just trying to hurt my feelings. Are you still angry because I had to hit you? That was entirely your fault for fighting back. I did warn you.”
I look around my dungeon room. “I guess I was trying really hard to avoid ending up in a place like this, trapped with a monster like you.”
“Wasn’t worth it, though, was it?” he taunts. “You still ended up here. You were always going to end up here.”
I clutch the blanket tighter and ask, “Why?”
His face turns hard as he says, “Because you were always meant to be mine.” I watch the way his fingers tighten around the iron bar he’s still gripping. “Nothis.”
I resist the urge to think about Niki, knowing it’ll break me if I do. Instead, I keep trying to get him to talk. If he’s talking, then at least he’s not hurting me. “Why did you try to have me drugged that night at the club? That was you, right? You were behind that?”
He studies me for several seconds before finally saying, “I knew Ben had a thing for you, and I used that to my advantage. I underestimated how obsessed he was, though. I supplied the pills he needed. I knew he was going to use them on you, and I gave him the location of one of the houses I use for various purposes.”
My fingers grip the blanket even tighter. I can take a guess at what thosevarious purposesare.
“The plan was to let him drug you and transport you to the house. Once you got there, I was going to grab you for myself and get rid of Ben. When I realized he’d taken your friend by mistake, well,” he stops and shrugs one of his shoulders. “I knew Sasha would kill every single person in that house as soon as Ben stepped foot inside of it with her.”
“Why are you even supplying all these drugs? Why are you even involved in any of this?” I ask.
“I could lie and say it’s because of the money, but the truth is I enjoy it. I like getting away with things, and I like doing it right under the noses of everyone around me.” His sadistic smile comes back when he says, “And I really like going home and fucking my wife right after I’ve had some young college student suck me off in my office during my lunch break.”
“God, you’re sick,” I tell him, making him laugh.
“Oh don’t worry, Savanna. I always give them A’s if they get on their knees for me. I’m fair in that at least.”
“You’re a sick bastard,” I tell him, but it only makes his smile grow.
When he stands back up and starts to walk around the bed, I freeze, clutching my blanket tighter and wishing I’d kept my mouth shut. He doesn’t miss anything, noticing the fear in my eyes and the rigidness of my body, and I can tell he’s enjoying every second of it. After taking another step closer, he sits on the bed near my feet, and I scrunch up into an even tighter ball, clutching the pitiful blanket that I’m using as a barrier between us.
“So what deal would you like to make?” he asks, and my skin crawls at the tone of his voice, at what he’s insinuating.
“I don’t want to make a deal,” I tell him.
He ignores me. “How about one kiss for a meal? You must be hungry by now.”
I don’t say anything, the idea so crazy that I’m still having a hard time believing all this is real.
“It’s fair, Savanna,” he says. “I’m not asking you to get on your knees.” He laughs at the horrified look I give him and adds, “Yet.”
“That’s never going to happen,” I tell him.
“We’ll see. All I’m asking for now is a kiss. I won’t even touch you, but you need to kiss me like you mean it. It can’t be a quick peck on the lips. You kiss me, and you get to eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” I tell him. It’s true. I still feel too sick about this whole thing to be hungry. I know it will catch up to me at some point, but I also know I’ll starve before I agree to do anything with him.
A flash of anger crosses his face before he gets control of himself. “I’m asking nicely, Savanna. That won’t last for very much longer.”
