“He knew. I thought I got away with it. He said someone had to die, and he chose the chef. But that now I owed him a life. I believed him.”
“And now?”
“And now I’m just… fucked up. And around more fucked-up rich men who think what they want is more important than what’s right or kind, so…” She shrugs. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? I can’t seem to get away from people like you. I thought Teddy was my way out, but BP got him, and the rest of you are all the same.”
“We are not the same.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re exactly the same.”
I crouch down in front of her naked, fucked body, and caress her cheek lightly. “You are our sole captive, Ella. We are not here with dozens of girls. We do not take advantage of the innocent, and we do not traffic in flesh. If our brother had not been killed by the same man who corrupted you, then you would not have known a day in captivity. We followed you because we wantedto know who was responsible for Theodore’s passing, and while you have experienced some unique approaches to interrogation, we would never have touched you if you weren’t so involved.”
She thinks about that for a moment.
“Leo hunted me down and found me in my room, and…”
“Yes. We are hunters. I am not telling you that we are good men. I am telling you that we are not the same kind of man as the one we are now hunting, and I am telling you that the man who killed your parents, and our brother, is dead.”
“Then can I eat like a normal fucking person?”
It is a good moment to push the point, one at which I am trying to define myself as something other than a complete monster.
“Do you think that the role you played in Teddy’s passing has been atoned for?”
I see storm clouds gathering in her eyes, and I know she is about to lash out.
“Fuck you,” she says.
How delightfully predictable. It’s quite cute.
She gets up and storms out of the room. I let her go. She will learn that the leash and the paddle and the table with the stocks and even the bowl on the floor full of caviar and truffles were not what was really causing her pain. What truly caused her agony was knowing what she did to deserve them—and that has not changed.
She will be back on her knees soon enough, and this time she will beg us to punish her.
CHAPTER 13
Aiden
I relax my rules around Ella. I let her live as a human, which I suppose would not be considered a huge kindness in most cases. I also allow her to interact with my brothers as she and they wish. But I know the storm I saw in her eyes has to break at some point. None of us can flee it forever.
It takes about a week, in which the household conducts itself more or less as usual. Leo and I are busy killing those who deserve to die, and to be fair to Luke, he spends a lot of time in the gym. We don’t use Luke to do violence. He is quite sensitive and we don’t want to risk a relapse if he becomes traumatized by what we do.
Ella could run away if she wanted, but she doesn’t really want to. In spite of the humiliation of her treatment, she feels safe with us. She would never admit it, of course, but it shows in all the physiological signs of relaxation that are so evident, like the way she flips Leo off when she’s making toast.
“Stop it!” she squeals as he wraps an arm around her waist, sweeps her off her feet, then pins her up against a very expensive refrigerator.
“If you think fucking with me is a good idea, I have a lot to teach you,” he growls, his teeth snapping at her nose.
“Fucking you isn’t a good idea. Maybe fucking with you is a good idea.”
She’s trying to bait him into rough sex.
He knows it. He flashes a smile and puts her down, patting her on the head. “Nice try,” he says. “But if you want that, you are going to have to ask nicely.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lies.
“Of course you do. Say the word, and I’ll bend you over the counter, whip your ass until you cry, then fuck you until you can’t come anymore.”
She opens her mouth, but he interjects. “Sayanyword, and I’ll do that.”
