Page 25 of Hearts Of Darkness

He marches me down a wide path and jerks me to a stop on the edge of a driveway that’s magnified in luxury by the three black Jeeps and the black Ferrari parked there.

“Take a good look around,” he says, crushing me to his side. “Drink it all in… Perhaps now you’ll see that the inside of my bedroom isn’t such a bad deal after all.”

“What is this place?” I whisper.

“I’ve given you the answer to that question already.”

Home.

Beyond the fancy vehicles and the emerald-green lawn is a picture-perfect vista of paradise, or it would be if it wasn’t for all the lookout towers set along the beach.

I turn my head away, determined not to cry. It might be his home, but it will never be mine.

His mansion is like something from the Deep South. It’s an elegant estate with an inherent romanticism about it, but it’s a fortress, nonetheless, shielded with jade flora and tiny pink flowers, and broken glass cemented into every window ledge. Several more modern-looking buildings are situated to the left of it, but they’re no less guarded. I count over a hundred men in total patrolling their boundaries.

I sense him watching me all the time. Drinking in my reaction, feeding off my frustration… I can tell he’s been wanting to show me my hopeless reality for days. Is he tiring of my constant defiance? Too bad. He’s taken nearly everything from me, and it’s all I have left.

“I wasn’t trying to run,” I say quietly. “I know there’s no escape from this place. I know what you’ll do to my parents if I try.”

He laughs. “Then maybe we’re finally starting to understand one another,my angel.”

I don’t want to be his ‘angel’.

I don’t want to be his anything.

“I’llneverunderstand you!” I try to yank my arm away, but his grip is unflinching. “You’re nothing but a heartless monster!”

“I thought we’d agreed I was the devil?” His dark pools are glinting unpleasantly at me now.

“There’s a difference?”

“A monster is never Machiavellian in his intent, Eve. He’snot that smart or patient. I, on the other hand… You wouldn’t fuck me willingly, so I starved you for two days. It made your submission that much sweeter. A monster would have taken what he wanted from you, then and there.”

“I hate you!” Tears of helpless rage and some other emotion sting the corners of my eyes. “I wish I’d never walked into that damn liquor store!”

“Careful,” he warns, pulling me back to the unwelcome warmth of his body, lust sparking in his hooded gaze. “I tend to find your defiance amusing, but you’re pushing my patience today.” My gaze flickers to the gun tucked into the front of his jeans. “Get back to the bedroom. Wait for me there.”

My stomach lurches in horror. Anything but that.

“Let me at least breathe clean air before you lock me away again!”

“No. You lost that privilege when—”

“Señor Dante?”

One of his armed guards has approached us, unseen. He’s hovering nervously on the fringes of our altercation.

“What is it?” he snaps.

The guard glances down at his grip on my arm and then shifts his gaze away. He’s a young man, attractive, not much older than me, with the same olive skin and dark hair ashim.He’s nowhere near as tall or as imposing, though. His features are sharper, and his muscle tone is less defined.

“Well?”

“Señor Grayson is waiting for you in sector six.” Despite a thick accent, his English is excellent. “Everything is set up and awaiting your instigation.”

My captor nods. “Tell Grayson I’ll be there shortly.”

“Yes, señor.”

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