Page 12 of The Puppetmaster

“Because I need this,” I whisper. “I… deserve this.”

His black eyes narrow, an inquisitive flicker dancing in their depths. “Elaborate,” he commands.

My vision blurs around the corners, my focus entirely on him, drowning out everything else—the music, the voices, the curious looks we’re getting. I can feel my lips part, the response dancing on the tip of my tongue, only waiting to escape.

“Tell me,” he growls. His eyes are like slits, pinning me down without physically touching me.

And just like that, the words start pouring out of me.

A story that up until now has only belonged to me. But now it becomes his, too.

Chapter 7

Raad

She speaks cautiously and with such poise, but her words are honest, that I can tell. Despite what she may think, there’s no right or wrong answer to my question.

I would be disappointed, though, if Alena were just like any other girl in here—a spoiled, bored little brat who’s willing to take a spanking here and there if it means she gets to hide in a gilded cage in return.

Girls like that are easy to spot and I’ve been surrounded by them for years. They were fun once, but they are not fit to become my puppet.

I know Alena is not like that. She wouldneverhave attracted my attention if that were the case. I could never be entirely sure though, because you never know until you sit across from them, until youtalkto them, interrogate them.

My insight into human nature has rarely let me down, and it proves to be right about Alena, too.

“I’ve always worked hard my entire life,” she begins. “I had to. I had to take responsibility; I had to sacrifice.”

“Why did you have to?”

I know the answer to that question, but I want to hear her say it. I want to know how honest and open she is willing to be, even this early on.

She looks a little irritated at my interruption, and I love that she doesn’t try to hide that from me. I hate liars, and I’ve had too many girls disguise their true selves in hopes of pleasing me.

“Because it was just me and my sister after my mother died,” she says, her voice strong and unwavering. “I had to take care of her, and myself.”

My response is automatic and not born out of the shock at this revelation, but it’s sincere nonetheless. “I’m sorry.”

I’m familiar with Alena’s upbringing, and I know it was far from easy, even before her mother’s sudden death. I knew about her sister, and I even knew about where she lived during that tragic time of her life. She grew up in New York, the same city I now call home, but in a borough that could not be more different than my neighborhood. She had it rough, way tougher than I could ever imagine.

But she knew how to deal with it. She may not look like it now, but I know what a troubled little badass this girl is.

And I can’t fucking wait to tame her.

She waves me off. “I don’t want to talk about it right now. That burden was something I never asked for, but I accepted it, and after a while I thrived on it.”

Her face lights up as she speaks, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I’m amazed and intrigued by her at the same time. It’s a true rarity for me to be surprised, which makes it all the more delicious.

“There came a point in my life when I no longer had to work my ass off just to survive. I was doing fine, my sister was doing fine, and once we were able to leave the neighborhood where we grew up, I could have eased up a bit. But I didn’t. I just kept plowing away, always wanting more, aiming for more, so fucking sure there was potential buried deep within me just waiting to be unveiled.”

“But?” I urge when she pauses.

She looks at me, startled this time, as if I’d said something unexpected, when the “but” was so obvious in every word of her tale.

It’s also the one thing that I have no answer to. I know something must have changed in her life, something sudden and unexpected, something that I had no hand in—otherwise she wouldn’t be here.

She takes a deep breath, her gaze drifting to the side for a moment before she looks back at me.

“But,” she continues. “You know, the thing with potential is that it is entirely worthless if no one but you knows it’s there. If no one but you wants to entrust you with the responsibility needed for growth. I know I’m capable of more than I’ve been trusted with, and I was ready and willing to take on that responsibility, but...”

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