Page 15 of Alfie, Darling

‘You don’t know anything about us.’

‘I know she’s not fucking you. Why? You’re hot. She certainly seems like she could do with a good fuck.’

Petros slammed his hand down onto the couch before storming towards me. Fear welled in my chest, but I tried to hide it. I didn’t flinch when he thrust his arm through the bars and grasped me by the throat.

‘If you talk about her like that again, I’ll snap your pathetic fucking neck.’

‘You can’t,’ I said in a choked voice. ‘She needs me. And she’s holding you at arm’s length. Does she need me more than she wants you here?’

His nostrils flared as his fingers tightened their grip.

‘I can’t wait to see you die,’ he snarled.

Intensity bubbled between us as he held me there. God, he really was a good-looking man. It had been a long while since I’d been dominated by a man, and my dick reacted accordingly.

He looked down before letting go of my throat in disgust.

‘You sick little fuck, what’s wrong with you?’ he asked.

‘Your blonde isn’t the only messed up one around here. If you help me out of here, I could suck the tension right out of you.’ It’s all I had available to offer.

‘I don’t want to fuck you.’ He reached in and grabbed my other hand, attaching it to the other handcuff so both my wrists were once again attached to the bars.

‘You never know, if celibacy isn’t making her want you, maybe seeing you with someone else might kick her into action.’

His jaw ticked. He looked like he was seriously considering punching me square in the face.

Instead, he left me there.

‘Well, that went well,’ I sighed to myself as the door shut behind him.

EIGHT

PETROS

‘No fucking way,’ I said, my nails digging into my palm.

‘It’s his weakness, don’t you see? We followed him for weeks and what did we see? Him falling between another pair of legs every five minutes. The humiliation did nothing. I can’t torture him properly yet because I need him coherent and infection-free. It’s perfect.’

‘How could you face doing it? After what he did?’

Harriet stood facing me, her back to the countertop. ‘Because nothing is going to stop me. I don’t care if this is the last thing I do, I’m going to kill them all.’

Her eyes glittered, and I swallowed hard. ‘You don’t need to do it.’

‘You don’t get to tell me what I need. My whole life I’ve been told what I need, or what I deserve. I worked fucking hard for my freedom, Petros, and I won’t let any man tell me what I can or cannot do. You’re either with me or against me.’

My words were like a gobstopper lodged in my throat. I wanted to tell her no. To forbid her from her insane plan of using sex to torture Alfie. She was convinced it would break him. I was convinced it would break me.

Harriet softened at whatever she saw in my face.

‘I need someone to play the game with me. Someone I trust who can help me taunt him. Who better than you? You’ve always been there for me.’

A flicker of hope struck alight.

I dared not breathe in case I huffed it out.

‘I know it’s not okay to expect you to put yourself in a position to be used to torment him, and I can find someone else if you prefer. It’s just that I trust you. You’d never hurt me.’

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