Page 44 of Heartless Prince

I looked up at him again. “I just don’t know why you’re doing this. How I ended up here. Or what’s going to happen next. I’m scared,” I whispered, my bottom lip trembling. I sniffed and drew in a deep, shaky breath.

Elias crouched down next to me. “You knew what you were getting into when you signed up for this. You knew you would be sent here for training, and then you would be sent to the Lodge. Why are you pretending otherwise?”

I stared at him blankly. I didn’t know anything of the sort. What was the Lodge? Would I be given to other men there?

The thought was like a red-hot knife twisting in my guts. As much as I hated myself for thinking it, I didn’t want to be owned or punished by anyone other than Elias. Better the devil you know. So far, he hadn’t hurt me too badly, but god knows what another man might do to me…

“I don’t understand,” I said, shaking my head. “I didn’t sign up for anything.”

He laughed. “Yes you did. You know what I’m talking about. Granted, you didn’t know I would be your new master, but you still knew what you were getting into in general when you sold yourself to the society.”

I shook my head vehemently. “No! I didn’t! I’m telling you, I never signed up for any of this!”

He ignored the fact I wasn’t calling him Master. “What do you mean?” he asked sharply.

“I mean I didn’t do it. My parents sold me here! At least that’s what I was told.”

His eyes widened ever so slightly. The movement was barely perceptible, but I saw it. “Your parents?”

“Yes. Your father told me about it. He even showed me the contracts they signed. I don’t belong here,” I said in a broken whisper, tears sliding down my cheeks again. “I would never sell myself. Never.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you lying? Is this some sort of game?”

I shook my head and widened my eyes. “No, I swear!” I felt as if I were choking on all my emotions. “Please, this isn’t some sort of act. I mean it. I have no idea what’s going on here, and I didn’t ask for any of it.”

Elias stared down at me, his expression hard and dark. Finally, he picked up the bag he’d brought in earlier. “I have to go,” he said.

He put the controller and the cattle prod in the bag, but he left the notebook and pen behind, along with the risotto. A small mercy.

He headed for the door without another word, and then he was gone.

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