Page 62 of Heartless Prince

I thought he might chuckle at that, but instead he pressed his lips into a tight line. “Yes. But I really am sorry, Tatum,” he said. My eyes widened. It was the first time he’d used my real name in what felt like forever. “I pushed you too far last night, too soon.”

I swallowed hard. I wasn’t sure how to respond.

I changed the subject instead, trying to capitalize on his guilt. “You said I was being paid to be here with you,” I said warily. “But I’m not. I told you the other day, it’s my parents who are being paid.”

He sat up and rubbed his chin. “Well, yeah. Most of the girls who wind up here have the money distributed amongst their family members while they serve their contracts. It’s not like they can spend it while they’re here.”

I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant,” I said, my voice sounding sharper than I intended. “I didn’t agree to any of this, and I know the other girls didn’t either.”

He sighed. “Christ… this again? I know what your contract says, but this act is getting very old, very fast. Just stop.”

“Why won’t you listen to me?” I said. “This isn’t an act. I’m not a prostitute. I’m here against my will and my parents are benefiting from it. Just like the other girls. They were either kidnapped or their parents sold them here!”

“For fuck’s sake...”

“Please, Elias, if you actually care about me at all, just listen! None of us want to be here. I’m not lying.”

“Yes, you are.” His eyes narrowed. “The girls are all here willingly. Competition to work at the Lodge is actually very fierce, because they can be offered up to a million dollars for their contracts, depending on the length and other factors.”

I shook my head. How could he say these things with a straight face? “What about Priyanka? That other girl from Roden. She was a straight-A law student, and she probably would’ve made a ton of money once she graduated. More than a million over the years. She wouldn’t sell herself here, and I know for a fact that she didn’t. She told me so herself!” I said.

Annoyance again, sparking hotter this time. “I thought we were doing so well today,” Elias said with an irritated sigh. “But we can’t have you spouting these lies, Doll. I need you to calm down or the guards will have to come in here and give you something to make you calm down. I’m sure you know what will happen then.”

The message was clear. No matter how sweet or nice he was to me, he was still my owner. I was still his possession to do whatever he pleased with. If I didn’t react the way he wanted, I could easily be drugged and forced back into my cell, just to shut me up or make me behave. I could be silenced for as long as it took for me to accept my new position under him.

I glowered at him, then got off the bed. I didn’t want to be near him anymore.

Elias stood and stalked over to me. “Don’t be like this. I’d really hate to spoil our good day. Wouldn’t you?”

I glared up at him indignantly. “It’s already spoiled.”

He looked at me like I was nothing but a toddler having a tantrum over a broken toy. “I’m going to give you one more chance to calm down, Doll. You’re a good actress, and it’s going to make it very fun to train you as my whore. I like all the fight you have in you. But now is not the fucking time.”

His words were like a cold-water slap to my face. That was all I was to him in the end. A whore. Something subhuman, an object to be trained and molded into the perfect pleasure doll.

“You’re sick,” I muttered. “If you just opened your eyes for five minutes, you’d see the truth. I don’t belong here, and neither do any of the other girls. This place and the Lodge aren’t high-class brothels. They’re sex trafficking hives, and the men in your society who set them up belong in prison.”

Elias narrowed his eyes and pushed me up against the wall. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were doing this on purpose to make me punish you. Is that what you want me to do?” he said, a dangerous edge to his voice.

“No. I just want you to let me go home!”

I inwardly cringed as I said it. I wasn’t saying ‘I want to go home’ like a normal person. No, I was saying that I wanted Elias to let me go home, as if a large chunk of my mind had already given itself over to him and his claims to my ownership. As if part of me genuinely thought I couldn’t do anything without his express permission.

He leaned even closer. “Your contract states that you will remain with me as long as I want to keep you. You know that. And right now, I don’t want to let you go.”

Hot anger swept through me. “No! I fucking don’t know anything of the sort, because I never signed any fucking contract!” I shouted, pushing him away from me with one hand.

I wasn’t sure what came over me, but before I could stop myself, my other hand was swiping through the air, delivering a hard slap to his right cheek.

I immediately skittered away from the wall, cowering in fear near the bed. Oh, shit.

I slapped Elias.

I actually reached out and slapped a man who could beat me senseless if he so desired.

He touched a hand to his reddening cheek and turned toward the bed, eyes steel-hard as he regarded me. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he said. His voice was soft yet icy-cold and dangerous.

I fell to my knees. “Please, I’m sorry!” I said, desperate to avoid whatever terrible punishment he had in store for me now. Hot tears were already spilling from my eyes. “I didn’t mean it. It was an accident!”

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