Page 36 of The Devil

“Really? So you were writing in it from within the womb?”

“You can’t read that!” She tries to grab it again, but I hold her off.

“Whose is it, Amal?”

“It’s my mother’s,” she finally says, eyes panicked. Vulnerable again, like that night I brought her to my house. “It’s all I have of hers.”

I realize I don’t know anything about her mother. Nothing at all.

“Please give it back,” she says, teeth clenched, eyes watery and sounding nothing like herself.

I hold it out to her.

She looks at it like she’s almost afraid of it. When I gesture for her to take it again, she does and holds it close. Still keeping one eye on me, she grabs the purse up from the sofa and opens it.

“Where are the other things that were inside?”

I make a point of peering into it and point out the objects I left in there. “Your lipstick’s right there and⁠—”

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it. There was another notebook. And two phones.” She tucks the diary safely inside.

“You’ll get them back once you tell me what the fuck you’re doing here. Now let’s go. I don’t want my pastry getting cold.”

“Fuck your pastry and fuck you. I need those things.”

“Fuck me?” I ask with a snort, stepping toward her. Looming over her. She shrinks back looking at me like I don’t expect her to. Like she did the night she thought I’d hurt her. She sees the man I’ve become. The Devil. I back off. “Be careful, Little Virgin. Let’s go.”

“You don’t understand. I need those things!”

“Once you tell me why and what you’re doing here, we’ll discuss.”

“You don’t⁠—”

“I’m being patient with you, Amal, but don’t push your luck.” I tell her. I bend to pick up her duffel, but she shoves me, trying to get my attention, I guess. “See now that’s pushing your luck.” I grip her arm, spin her around and smack her ass. She yelps, her free hand covering her butt as I turn her to face me again. “More of that to come in a little bit. Remember your vow of obedience.” I release her and pick up the duffel. “Let’s go.”

She doesn’t quite know how to respond. I see it on her face which is growing red with fury as her hands clench into fists and she grits her teeth, digging her heels in.

“This isn’t a fucking joke, Jet. You don’t have the right to take my things!”

“No?” I drop the bag, patience worn out. “Everything that was yours is mine now. Including you. And as far as this being a joke,” I start, walking her backwards. “What about anything I’ve done gave you the impression any of this is a joke to me?” She matches each of my steps in the opposite direction until her back hits the wall. “You stole something from me you have no idea about. In the meantime, I’m trying to keep my fucking promise to you to keep you safe because I guess I’m just that kind of guy!”

“I never asked you to.”

“Well, I guess I did anyway. Now tell me, Amal. Tell me what the fuck makes you think any of this is remotely funny to me.”

She sets her hands against my chest to push me away. “I told you I’d get your watch back. I didn’t have a choice when I took it.”

“You had a choice. You chose wrong. Do you know how fucking hard it’s been keeping your location a secret from Cassian until I got to you?” I say, slamming my hands flat to the wall on either side of her head, making her jump. “Until I made sure I could keep my promise to you?”

“By forcing me to marry you? Who the hell is going to keep me safe from you?”

That hits like a slap to my face and I find my hands turning to fists against the wall. “Safe from me? You really think I’d hurt you?” I ask through gritted teeth.

“It’s what you do now, isn’t it? You’re an enforcer. The Devil, they call you. I know. I know all about it. Allegra told me all about it, Jet.”

“Did she?” I hear myself ask. My gaze narrows on her. What she’s saying, well, I can’t deny any of it. Though inadvertent, I built a reputation for myself. All that rage, that fury inside me, it needed an outlet and I guess I found it. “I’m not your devil, Amal,” I say.

“Aren’t you? Look at you. Look at us.” She gestures to the window in which we’re reflected and I see us. She, a tiny thing. A lost little thing. And me. The Devil in my long black coat, twice her size, looming over her.