I uncuff her hand from mine and lock her inside there.
She doesn’t complain at all. Not a word. I can tell she is angry and doesn’t like any of this, but I am going to figure it out.
While she is locked in the bathroom, I go through the entire house.
The doors are all secured with coded locks. The windows I can lock, too, I just never bothered.
Room by room I lock the mansion down. I can’t keep her chained to me, but I can still make sure this place is a fortress.
It takes me almost an hour before I am done. Then I head back upstairs.
I knock on the bathroom door.
“Are you finished in there?” I ask through the closed door.
“Ages ago,” she snaps back at me.
I chuckle. She’s still so feisty. I definitely made a mistake kidnapping this one. I pull the door open and she is standing there with her arms folded, glaring at me.
I step aside so she can walk out of the bathroom.
“What? No cuffs?” she sasses as she passes me.
“I never want to make you feel how your uncle makes you feel, Clara.”
“Ugh. You are such a hypocrite. Don’t insult my uncle. He is my family. He has taken care of me ever since my parents died. He has been there for me.”
“You call that being there for you? Making you afraid? Making you feel horrible about yourself? That’s not what family is supposed to do to each other.”
“What would you know about me or my uncle? You don’t know me. You don’t know him like I do. Don’t you dare insult him,” she says defensively.
“Clara, he’s a monster for what he does to you. I will not just stand by and let that happen anymore.”
“A monster? Is that some kind of a joke? Maybe you should look in the mirror.”
Her eyes pierce into me, her words stabbing into my heart.
“I amnota monster.”
“I’ve heard the rumors about you, and guess what? I’ve seen this firsthand. You have trapped like a prisoner. Cuffed to you. For what? Treating me like I’m a toy here for your entertainment.”
“You won’t be cuffed anymore.”
“So, you’re letting me go home?”
Chapter 9 - Clara
“So, you’re letting me go home?” I ask, filled with empty hope.
Alexei grinds his teeth together, the muscles along his jaw flex and unflex.
“I told you, I will never let that man near you again,” he says, getting angry but holding it back, not letting his temper slip like it did last night. But I can see it in his eyes, the darkness.
“He’s my uncle,” I say, exasperated.
“He’s a fucking savage.”
“Stop pointing fingers at other people when you are dong worse things to me right now. Who the hell do you think you are? You took me against my will, forced me to sleep next to you, made me fear for my life to the point where I almost ran off a cliff in a pitch-dark forest.You are the monster, Alexei.”