Page 101 of Borden 3

“You look like this little princess,” I whispered, pointing at the blonde haired princess standing between her royal parents. “She even has green eyes.”

Stasia’s smile returned. Her cheeks reddened and my heart soared despite everything. “Yeah, it’s me, and that’s daddy…” She trailed off, saying nothing else.

We worked on another puzzle. My back felt like it was on fire. I still forced down the cookies, hoping this would placate the fucking asshole still pacing around the kitchen.

“Bed time, sweetheart,” Theo declared a short time later. “Say good night to Emma.”

I let out a relieved breath when she obediently got up. Without expecting it, she launched at me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “Good night, Emma.”

My body roared in pain, but I swallowed down a groan and gently hugged her back. She smelled like bubblegum shampoo and fresh detergent. Theo was a dick but at least he was taking care of her.

She took her plate back into the kitchen, leaving mine behind. My cookies were half-eaten and I speculated Theo was going to give me a hard time about it. I needed to be calm, and to appease the fucker if I wanted to get out of this situation.

I took another bite, my jaw aching as I chewed.

“Brush your teeth, alright,” I heard him tell her in a hushed voice. “I can’t be there for it tonight, but pretend I am. I want them sparkling clean.”

“I will,” she assured him. Then she whispered very quietly, “Daddy, is Emma going to be my mommy?”

I stilled, shocked by her question.

“Baby, we talked about this,” Theo whispered back. Even he sounded like he disapproved of this question. “Get some sleep, okay?”

“Okay, daddy. I promise. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

I coughed around my food at his tenderness. Some serious Jekyll and Hyde shit. I had been physically assaulted by his guys, and currently being mocked right in front of his daughter, whom he treated like his royal princess. And I had to go along with it—wanted to, even—because I couldn’t bear to shed the truth about him in front of her.

She left the room, and silence filled the space now. I dropped the cookie down on the plate, tempted to spit the bite out of my mouth because it was coated in blood. My teeth had cut through my gums on my fall, re-opening now as I ate.

I heard him move around the kitchen. I slowly turned my body around to glimpse at him. He was filling a tupperware up with the cookies. His blond hair was unkempt, falling over his forehead. There was a bruise under his right eye, but it was old and healing. His lip was freshly cut up. Then there was that scar running down his face, and just above his other eye was another old bruise.

Theo looked mean.

He used to look charming when we were teenagers. The light had faded out of him over the years. I felt like maybe it’d been chipped out of him bit by bit. A guess, perhaps, but the way he went from being sweet to his daughter to looking at me like scum made me wonder.

“Where’s her mother?” I asked, not hiding the fact that I’d overheard her.

Theo’s shoulders tensed for a beat, but otherwise he seemed unphased. “Did you know that eight big gangs teamed up to fuck with your husband’s shit? Eight, Emma. Did you know there were that many under your husband’s nose? It’s like the maggots can sense a vacuum on the horizon. See, they seem to understand the recipe for it. All they have to do is pluck you off, and then your kid. Once they do that, Borden will be impulsive enough to go hunting with guns blazing. Gives me Kate Davenoth vibes just thinking about it.” He faked a shudder. “I wonder if he thinks about Kate Davenoth. If he wishes she were still here. If he’d choose her over you. What do you think?”

If he was going to play this fucking game, I’d play it, too. “She must not have a mother,” I mused in response. “No mother would have their kid around someone like you. What poor soul did you trick into getting into bed with you?”

Theo looked at me, amused. “I almost tricked you once, didn’t I?”

“Almost, and thank fuck I got out when I did.”

His amusement faded fast. His eyes narrowed on mine. The fury was there, just beneath the surface. My words were triggering him, the way his triggered me. It was tit for tat. A vicious exchange. We hid behind a wall, not wanting to face the real words we’d spit in each other’s faces if we were bold enough to.

I wanted to be bold enough.

But I didn’t know exactly what he was capable of. Would he kill me? Was he keeping me here to lure Borden? Had he killed Hector and was lying to me that he was chained in some chair somewhere? I was playing with fire. I needed to stop.

“Theo,” I started again, kinder this time. “What am I doing here? Why did you hurt me and take me?”

“Hurt you,” he repeated tightly. “Nightcrawler, I fucking saved you.”

I waited for the punchline, but his viciousness told me he wasn’t actually lying.

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