Chapter 56 – Mikaela
Istared at the manwho’d taken everything from me. Strangely, I felt no fear.
“Would you like to go home with me,” he asked, his voice the gentlest I’d ever heard.
“Yes.” He took my hand, and I shook my head as he approached the exit. “This way.” I pointed to the kitchen. He frowned but followed me. There, I stopped in front of the wall that led to the basement and looked at him expectantly. “Home.” I touched the wall.
He gave my chin a painful squeeze. I didn’t flinch. “Home,” he repeated. Withdrawing something from his pocket, he opened the door.
Wordlessly, I descended, and he followed. At the metallic door, I expected my fear to come rushing back. It didn’t. I stepped inside, and my gaze slid around the room. Except for the missing books, nothing had changed. Slowly, I walked toward the red room and waited for Kabir to unlock it. Inside, I stared at the bed, remembering the last night I’d spent here. Clean sheets replaced the ones soiled with my blood. Still no fear, no shudder.
I felt nothing.
Nearing the bed, I sat down and looked at Kabir.
For the first time since I knew this man, he looked confused, hesitant. Usually, he was in charge because my fear gave him power. Now it looked like he was unsure what to do next. Smiling, I patted the bed. He crossed the room and sat next to me.
“Was there ever a moment you loved me enough not to want to hurt me?” I asked, my voice soft, steady.
For just a fleeting second, he appeared angry, then shrugged. “I did.” He took my hand, and I let him hold it. “I think your mother was the woman I fell in love with. No matter how much I hurt her, she was always forgiving. Unlike the other girls, she defied me several times by speaking. Telling me she loved me, that she’d always love me. She settled my heart, always. Then you were born.” He shook his head. “I thought that was it. I had the family I’d always wanted.” He stopped speaking to stare at my hand.
“I always loved you,” I said.
He looked at me. “Why?”
“You were everything I knew. Even that night at Blackhall, when Zarina tried to sell me, I ran to Luke, who brought me home. Then you punished me for a man I didn’t know, for a man I didn’t meet. You sent me away,” I whispered the last part.
His eyes flared. “I thought—”
“What Andrew said was true?” He nodded. “Did he tell you he was the man who tried to buy me from Zarina, that he wanted to pay forty thousand pounds and not a cent more?” My words became mechanical, that night playing out in my head like a movie. “After I ran, he knew if I told you, you’d be angry. He used Xavier as an excuse to cover his plan to steal me from you. It’s why he never gave you Xavier’s name. Luke did, but you hurt him. Didn’t you?”
He looked surprised like he hadn’t expected me to talk so boldly about what happened that night.
“Zarina had a reason for wanting to sell me,” I continued. “She was angry with you. Andrew just wanted what he couldn’t have. Me. He said he was my first and that you’d gone looney and didn’t know what a gem I was. I could make beautiful babies for you to sell on the black market. You refused.” Zarina’s words flowed from my mouth, my hate for Andrew making it more profound, more believable. Maybe because of who he was or because he held some power against Xavier.
“That fucking bastard,” Kabir gritted, rising.
“Would you punish him for me?” I asked quietly.
He stopped pacing, his eyes meeting mine, that anger I was familiar with back in place. “What do you want me to do, kitten?”
“Hurt him as you hurt me that night. Would you?”
“Yes.”
“Would you bring him down here, so I could see it too?”
