Page 31 of Fear Me, Love Me

Vivienne backs away from me, and anger flares through me. How dare she try to escape while I’m offering her dreams on a silver platter. I reach out and seize her throat and drag her close.

“You belong with me,” I seethe, and she struggles in my grip, holding my wrist with both hands.

That’s right. Cling to me, angel. I’ll never let you go.

“Tyrant, please,” she whimpers.

She needn’t be afraid. I’m not going to choke her. I just need to be sure she’s not going to run. “You’re the only one who matters to me. Tell me you love me, and everything you want is yours. Say it, angel. Say,I love you, Tyrant. Then your every wish is my command.”

Tears fill her eyes. “You’re crazy. Why didn’t I see it before? It took you wearing that mask for me to see your true face.”

I pull her into my arms and hold her tightly. “This is who I am, but I’ll always be sweet to you, angel. It’s everyone else who should be scared. Be a good girl and say you fucking love me.”

Vivienne whimpers and struggles for a moment and then gives up. Her body softens against mine, and she takes a shuddering breath.

A smile spreads over my face, and I gather her against my body. “That’s it, angel. See how easy this is?”

Her arms wrap around my waist. Her cheek falls against my chest. She’s stroking me. Feeling me. My angel has always loved to touch me, and my eyes close as warmth cascades through my body.

Her seeking hands slip beneath my jacket, and when she finds what she’s looking for, she pulls it out and backs away from me.

I open my eyes and see that I’m staring down a metal barrel.

My gun.

She stole my fucking gun.

Vivienne points the weapon at me with shaking hands. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’ll kill you before I let you hurt anyone else.”

I watch her through narrowed eyes. Calculating. I could snatch the weapon from her before she gets a chance to fire it. Her grip is terrible. I don’t think she’s ever held a gun before.

There’s no reason to grab it from her. My angel won’t hurt me. She doesn’t have it in her.

I open my jacket, giving her a clear shot at my heart. “Then shoot me. I’m never letting you go, and I’m going to destroy everyone who’s ever hurt you, so killing me is your only option if you want to stop me.”

The gun trembles in her grip. Her eyes sparkle with tears.

She doesn’t shoot.

Vivienne hasn’t got any violence in her heart except toward herself.

I snatch at the gun, and she sobs and jerks it away from me. Aiming into the air, she pulls the trigger, and a shot explodes in the darkness, making her flinch.

Was that supposed to scare me? A warning shot isn’t going to make me back off. I reach for Vivienne again, and she cries out in anguish and throws the gun over the terrace into the garden below.

“Don’t ever come near me again, Tyrant. I don’t want to see you anymore.”

She dashes toward the ballroom, and I lunge for her and miss. Anger bursts through me, and I roar, “Angel, don’t you run from me. You fucking love me.”

She poises on the threshold, outlined against the dancers in that silvery dress, her angelic wings spread. “I don’t love you, Tyrant. I could never love someone like you.”

I grab her hand, but her slender fingers slip through mine, and she disappears into the crowd. I run inside and turn on the spot, peering over the heads of the dancers, through plumes of feathers and wings and headdresses. Vivienne is nowhere in sight.

Frustration and anger race through me.I could never love someone like you.

Never?

Neverlove me?

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