Page 33 of Tied

Chapter 16

Cain

I can’t believe this fucking asshole. His instructions were clear: intimidate her, make her feel small and frightened, say whatever you want to scare the shit out of her—but never touch her, unless you absolutely have to.

She’s mine. Mine to play with and mine to train. She needs to be absolutely dependent on me, and only me.

It’s a classic good cop-bad cop game we’re playing, but it’ll only work if Jack learns to adhere to the rules as I’ve laid them out. I never gave him permission to come close to her like that, to touch her, to fucking rape her. My stomach turns at the thought of what might have happened if I hadn’t shown up when I did. I know Jack has been lusting after Riley from the moment he saw her. She’s his type and she seems like easy prey, a girl who is at our mercy, vulnerable, and so irresistible with her seemingly innocent allure. I can’t really blame the guy for wanting her because fuck, I want her, too.

But unlike him, I will have her.

I’m the only one allowed to lay a hand on her in any capacity. And if he doesn’t get that, I’ll have to make sure that he’ll never be alone with her again.

Riley is sitting on the bed, hiding underneath the heavy blanket with only the top of her head peeking through, only a few brown strands of hair revealing her presence beneath the massive lump of fabric.

“Sorry for that,” I say as I sit down next to her on the mattress.

She moves under the blanket, and a moment later, her eyes peep out on top, a deep furrow between them as she lowers the blanket just enough to reveal her face.

“Sorry for that?” she repeats, mocking my voice. “Are you fucking kidding me? That guy tried to rape me! How can you let this happen to me? What kind of monster—”

“I didn’t let it happen, did I?” I cut her off.

She huffs. “Uh, yeah, maybe not this time. But you left me alone with him! And you don’t seem to be rattled by this at all.”

“Trust me, I’ll take care of Jack. It won’t happen again.”

The crease between her eyebrows eases, but only slightly.

“What won’t happen again? Him trying to rape me, or you leaving me alone with him?”

“Both. I promise you that.”

Her probing gaze rests on me while she seems to consider my words. I can see the gears working between her ears, her lashes fluttering subtly while the grip on her safety blanket grows weaker and less urgent.

“Are you expecting me to thank you?” she says eventually, her voice brisk and cold.

I shake my head. “No. But what I want you to do right now is eat. You haven’t eaten in a whole day, and we can’t have that.”

Awareness flashes across her face, as if she just realized something. She doesn’t say anything, but her eyes lazily wander over to the tray on the bed next to her.

“I know it’s not much, but it will have to do for now,” I tell her. “You’ll get something warm later today—if you prove yourself worthy.”

She lets out an indignant huff.

“Prove myself worthy,” she repeats in a low voice, defeat dominating her facial expression now. “And how exactly do I do that?”

She doesn’t look at me but keeps her eyes glued on the packaged sandwich.

“By being a good girl today,” I inform her. “By listening to me, by cooperating—and by not causing scenes like the one I just witnessed.”

“Causing scenes?!” she shrills at me. “That asshole almost rapes me, and you blame me for causing a scene!”

“You provoked him,” I say. “You insulted him.”

Her eyes widen and her lower lip begins to tremble again, a subtle taste of pain now overshadowing the look on her face.

“You weren’t here,” she murmurs. “How would you even know…?”

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