Page 23 of Lock Up the Darkness

His lips twitched. “I’m right where I need to be.”

That had me tensing, my body shifting to that high-alert state, as I stopped a few feet from him. “How’s that?”

He gestured to the other side of my car that was out of my visual range.

Keeping an eye on him in my peripheral vision, I rounded the hood.

And then I was staring at a series of angry, jagged scratches etched deep into my paint job.

They spelled out three ominous words.

Bend or break.

Fury threatened to ignite and I fought to push it down, to swallow the insult of it, that he thought I was somebody that he could mess with.

It’s not time yet. Chill.

I gritted my teeth as he rounded the hood toward me. “So, what’s it gonna be, little fighter?”

“Bygones, Aurora?” I recited from Liza’s invitation.

“Exactly.”

Realization hit. “This is a test.”

“Correct.”

“If I accept the bullying you’ve subjected me to and this insult and property damage, you’ll know I’ve really submitted to your rule. That there’s no fight left in me to challenge you again.”

“Right on the money.”

I ran my hands over the scratches. “These are too deep to be buffed out. All these panels will need to be replaced.”

He arched an eyebrow, clearly surprised that I knew that. “If you bend the knee, that will be taken care of.”

I stepped back from my car and looked to see him eyeing me curiously. “What do you say?”

“You’re going to an awful lot of trouble.”

“What?”

“To make me bend to you? I’m just the new girl. I have no connections here. No power. So, why all the effort?” A smile curved my lips. “What are you so afraid of, Your Highness?”

He took a step forward, then grimaced, clenching his fists down at his side, like he was fighting himself. “Watch yourself. You’re getting a good deal here.”

I pulled my car keys from the pocket of my jacket, then unlocked my car. “I’ll think about it,” I told him as I hauled open the passenger door and put my bag down on the seat.

I shut the door, but left the car unlocked.

“There’s no thinking about it. You take the deal right here and now or you default to fucking yourself over for the entire year you have left here.”

I turned from him, smiling to myself.

“Did you hear me?” he called, his heavy booted footsteps sounding behind me as I walked to his motorcycle and looked it over.

“This has had a lot of custom work.”

“You know about bikes?”

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