I looked to my blue-eyed demon standing at the window, hands in his pockets, his back to me. He was dressed in black slacks and a white undershirt, the most casual I had seen him in five years. My eyes trailed up his arms, noting how his tattoos didn’t stop until the top of his neck, under his chin. This wasn’t the Collin I knew, but my heart wanted to know him.
The last few weeks had been a blur while I recovered, and I was getting close to his house servant, Bella. Now, I just needed to get close to him.
“Thank you,” I said softly.
“For?” he questioned, not even casting a glance in my direction.
“The vanilla body wash.”
He visibly tensed, his body going rigid, and I noted the way his jaw clenched. Vanilla was the only scent I wore, and he used to always comment on how good I smelled. It made me feel good. It made me feel seen by him when really, he was only supposed to get close to Gwen.
“Go to bed.”
Always pushing me away. “I just wanted to say thank you. It was sweet of you to do that.”
He laughed, startling me, but this laugh wasn’t my Collin’s laugh. This was dark and cruel, damn near sinister. It made my skin crawl. “I am anything but sweet, Karina.”
Bravery coursed through me as I dared to take a few steps farther into the room. “That’s a lie.”
He turned his head to me, his body not moving an inch. His icy eyes held mine. “I said go to bed.”
“I will once you agree.”
A wicked smile spread across his face. “You're in no place to be making demands, angel. You are a prisoner here. Has that not settled into your pretty, little blonde head yet?”
I knew I was. This wasn’t Stockholm Syndrome. This was me trying to find my Collin again, and I planned to do so. “Oh, I am aware of my place here,” I hissed. “You should just kill me and get it over with.”
At that, his body turned to me, and I couldn’t help as my eyes drifted downward, noting how the thin white material of hisshirt clung to his abdominal muscles. When my eyes rose up to look at his face, he still wore that wicked smile.
“Careful. Don’t tempt me.”
I stepped forward, pointing at him. “You and I both know you don’t have the balls.”
Within that next moment, something flew past my head, dangerously close to my face. I twisted my neck to see a blade sticking out of the wall beside me. When I turned back to Collin, he gestured to it. “Still don’t think I have the balls, Karina?”
It was my turn to smile. “I’m not dead, am I?”
His smile dropped. “Go to bed.”
No. I pressed on. “You remembered that vanilla was my favorite,” I pushed.
He looked bored. “I do not control what the house help brings back from the mainland.”
“You told them to get that for me. Admit it,” I demanded, my voice getting louder.
“Raise your voice at me again and see what happens,” he warned, his voice a low growl.
“I will do what I damn well please! You won’t kill me, but you buy my favorite soap, you keep me fed, you provided protection for me, because deep down, in your fucking core—”
Then, he was there, in front of me, his tattooed hand gripping my jaw painfully. “You will be quiet and go to bed. I am not in the mood for your bullshit. I do not want to hear you or see you again until I can figure out what to do with you.”
Tears started to form as I looked up at him. “I just came to say thank you,” I whispered once he pushed me away. He turned away from me. Shutting me out. Rejecting me.
“Collin…please,” I begged, my voice shaking in desperation.
“Get away from me,” he whispered.
My throat felt tight. The sight of his back was something I should be used to by now, but still, my heart held out hope. My heart was stupid.
