Page 19 of Sacred Vow

She holds out the dress and makes a face. “This is a winter dress.”

“So?”

“So, it’s ninety degrees outside.” She tosses it onto the pile of laundry. “I’m not going anywhere anyway.”

“Then find something else. But hurry up.” I check my watch again. This time of night, it’s going to take longer to get there, and leaving those men in the high stakes room is gonna hurt the house.

“Why aren’t you listening? I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“You still don’t get it, do you, Isolde?” I eliminate the space between us. “I gave you a chance to leave Chicago. I even had a plane sitting on the tarmac waiting for you, a private car to drive you there. You decided to stay. You made that call.”

“I don’t answer to you.” Her hands are balled up into tight fists at her sides.

I pinch her chin between my fingers, pushing her head back until she has to look down her face at me.

“If you had gotten on that plane, maybe I’d agree. But you didn’t. You’re here in Chicago. And when you’re here, you most definitely answer to me.”

“I hate you,” she hisses like a broken record.

“You don’t. But I don’t have time to prove it to you right now. Later, when we get back. If you’ve been a very good girl and don’t cause any trouble tonight, I’ll show you how much you don’t hate me, and how much you need me.”

“And if I’m not a good girl?” She shoots the question at me with mischief in her eyes. The brat seriously doesn’t understand the situation she’s in. I wasn’t hard enough on her. She still thinks this is a game.

“You don’t want to find out.”

The man is a barbarian.

After I found something that he didn’t threaten to burn and that wouldn’t leave me sweating, he all but dragged me out to his car and locked me inside.

“Kraze isn’t this way.” I look out the window as he makes another turn, heading further into a part of the city I don’t hang out in.

“We’re not going to the club.” He makes another turn, this time into an alleyway. It’s short, and when he pulls out the other side, it opens up to a courtyard. Several other cars, all high-end luxury cars that I could never afford to rent, much less own, are all lined up in a perfect row.

“What is this place?” I ask when he shifts to park. He grabs his phone from the charger and tucks it into the inside pocket of his jacket.

“One of my businesses.” He opens his door and climbs out. I have my door opened by the time he gets to my side, but he grabs the door from me and steps in the way.

“You want me to wait out here?” I ask.

“No. But before we go in, there are rules. And you need to understand them before we go in, because there are no second chances here, Isolde. If you break one of my rules, you will be punished. Severely.” He rests one hand on the top of the door and the other on the car, leaning in to where I sit.

“All right.” I fold my hands in my lap. “What are your rules?” I haven’t decided yet if I’m even staying here or not. I tried to keep track of all the streets he took to get here, but he took so many turns, I’m not confident I got them all.

“First, you do exactly what I say, the moment I say it. The men in there aren’t going to give a rat’s ass about you. If you don’t do what you’re told, they’ll see it as disrespect, and I’ll have to act.”

“Obey your every command. Fine. What else?”

“Don’t talk. To anyone in there. Unless I give the okay, you keep your mouth shut. It’s better they don’t know who you are or why you’re with me.”

“Who would talk to me? I’m just a little girl who needs a constant babysitter.”

His lips press into a thin white line. “Keep it up, little girl, and I’ll bend you over my knee right here.”

It’s a threat that I would have probably ignored yesterday. But this is today, and my ass still tingles from the spanking he gave me at the apartment.

“Fine. I’ll just sit in the corner and pretend like I’m not even there.”

“You aren’t sitting in the meeting,” he explains. “You’ll go up to my office.”

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