“They call it a ranch but it’s not like any ranch I’ve ever known.”
“Do you have kids?”
That was an unexpected question. “You’re rude, you know that?” I blurted.
“You dare talk to me that way?”
“I do.” I glanced away, my throat going dry. “What do I have to lose?”
He shrugged, then leaned in and picked up his drink. His hand clenched the glass until I thought it would break. “I chased a set once. He was scared.”
My own fingers wove tightly together in my lap. Why was he telling me this? “Are you threatening me?”
“Just saying it so you know.”
“So, you’re a bully like all the rest? And all this.” I waved my hand through the air. “The car outside, your expensive clothes. You come from wealth. Is it really all yours?” What had gotten into me. My mouth was moving but I wasn’t thinking.
“What the hell?”
“Why don’t you just rape me and get it over with?”
7
Malin
His words slashed like a knife thrust in my gut. I set my drink down and got up, walking over to the pool table, leaning against it. All I could see was the back of Cassius’s head now.
I wasn’t a rapist but could never forget chasing Kirion around Dad’s house to terrorize him with the idea that I was a monster. Back then, I might’ve seemed like one to him, to my father. To myself. At that time, I didn’t want to think about things in rational ways. I didn’t want to feel. Not sadness, not happiness—nothing.
“Wow. You’re quite the brave little omega, aren’t you?” Maybe nothing had changed in the past six years. Maybe I really was the worthless son my dad despised.
Cassius turned on the couch, bringing one leg up to balance and placing an elbow on the backrest. His face looked contorted. His pale eyes blazed.
“You really want to know what Brimstone is like? Fine.” His voice rose. “Since I’ve been there, I’ve had two heats whichwere rented out. I don’t remember much about it. I was heavily drugged.” He hissed as if even that memory was too much. “They later told me more medication than normal was used because I wasn’t cooperating. Well, fuck, what do they expect? And to answer your other shitty question, I don’t have kids. Nothing took. It put a black dot on my record which was probably why I was hired for the party. At least they could make income off me that way.”
That entire speech had been with a raised voice. I could’ve been offended. An omega yelling at me? Instead, something else was happening inside me. Like triggers to fight but also protect. A bizarre hot feeling in my stomach threatened to double me over.
My default was to bully when I met difficult people, people I didn’t understand. But the fight in me was not directed at Cassius. I had a sudden vision of burning Brimstone to the ground and walking out of the smoke like some villain in a thriller movie, Cassius slung over my shoulder, not knowing if he was dead or alive.
I shook my head to clear it, then approached the couch. “Well, I guess they made money all right.” My voice sounded empty and weird.
Cassius turned away, punching the couch. An exasperated groan escaped his throat.
I returned to the sitting area and settled into an EZ chair further away from him. Something shuddered in my chest. Ignoring it, I leaned back and crossed my legs.
“All right. You answered my rude question. My turn to answer.”
When Cassius looked at me, his eyes had softened. The lashes were damp. “What?”
I huffed, then said, “Yep to your last question. The money is my trust from my dad. It’s mine but I never earned it. We don’tspeak, if that might be your next question. But I did grow up in privilege. Excessive spoiled privilege.”
Cassius’s mouth opened, then closed.
“I was never abused.” I couldn’t help feeling a frown form between my eyebrows. “Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. My omega dad died when I was ten.”
Did I think admitting that last fact might gain me sympathy points? Sometimes that worked. But I didn’t really want sympathy, just attention. My therapist had carefully taught me that much.
“Your turn.” I pretended to be bored, tapping my fingers on one knee. “How old are you?”
