“You’re out of your goddamn mind—”
She plants a finger on my lips, and for some reason, it silences the roaring in my brain telling me to get up and fight.
“I need you to be a good boy and behave, Atreus. After all, you’re the one who offered the reward, not me. And I have so much interesting information to divulge.”
My eyes narrow. I’m tempted to bite off her finger to show her she cannot control me. If I tried to run now, she’d keep me pinned to this very seat with the assortment of knives tucked away in her suit. She looks like an expert in close combat and has a knack for sneaking around. Something tells me she’s not going to let me out of this alive if I attempt to escape.
Maybe if I played along… if I distract her with complacency … there might be an opportunity later.
“Fine. What if I did what you wanted, then what?”
A devious smirk forms on her face. “See? Knew you’d come around.” Finally, she removes her finger. “I’m sure you want to know all about your little killer, don’t you?”
I clear my throat. “What do you know about that?”
“Well, I’ve seen one of the bodies for myself, and I know for a fact there was a lipstick kiss on the neck.”
So she was there. Interesting.
“Which body?”
“Patience, Atreus,” she says.
“My patience is thinning with every passing second, bunny,” I scoff.
“No. Not bunny. Call me Miss,” she replies. “Or Mistress.”
Who does she think she is?
I snort. “Tough luck.”
She wraps the tie even further around her fist until her masked face is mere inches away from mine. “I have my ways to get what I want.”
I can’t see much of her, except those bright red lips and that filthy smile that follows, and for some reason, my eyes home in on the way her lips move when she speaks. “Even from you.”
“And you think I’m obliged to please you,” I respond.
“Very much so,” she says. “After all, I have what you want.” She leans in so close her lips are right in front of mine, and it suddenly becomes very hard to focus on anything at all except her breath lingering on my skin. “I’ll give you your killer on a silver platter.”
I swallow away the lump in my throat while she slowly begins to smile.
“Fine.”
The smile on her face only deepens. “Now are you going to bark for me or what?”
Absolutely degrading.
“Woof,” I snarl.
She grins. “Attaboy.”
Fuck this. I hate it. I hate how much she enjoys it.
“Now tell me,” I say, my patience running out.
“Oh no, you have to give me what I want first. That’s how it goes,” she says. “And I want you to please me.”
“I already did what you asked.”
