Page 16 of Soul Of A Villain

Oliver smiled, enjoying this back-and-forth exchange. There was something exhilarating about this cat-and-mouse game they’d begun. Londyn was revealing so much about herself in these moments. Showing him the different ways she could be manipulated and molded into the perfect captive. For example, she was undoubtedly submissive, but there were these brattish elements about her that made his blood rush. Taming a brat would be fun. “You’ve no bargaining power here, Londyn.”

“I know that. But still…will you listen to my proposal?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Oliver nodded. “If it makes your situation easier to bear in your mind, then propose away. Nothing will probably come from it, however. I’m not known for extending mercy.”

She met his gaze steadfastly, a hard glint within the soft charcoal-hued depths of her eyes that sent a pang of foreboding throughout Oliver’s veins. He may have underestimated her ability to twist his intentions to suit her purpose. Whatever she requested was likely to be agreed upon. The inevitability of a compromise battered him like a tidal wave. He would give in with irrational, rare benevolence. He would grant her this one concession while using it as an opportunity to exert further control. Like a wolf playing with a newborn fawn, allowing it to totter on wobbly legs before devouring it whole, Oliver would get what he wanted.

“I will not fight or try to escape or beg for freedom. I will submit to anything you want from me. But I ask for two things in return.”

“You have my attention, although realistically, you know I can and will do whatever I want anyway,” Oliver coolly replied.

Londyn took a shuddering breath at his calm assertion, then blurted out, “Deposit the money I would have received from the auction into an account in my sister’s name. It will be used strictly for her care. And when you are done with me, instead of giving me back to these men just to be sold again… you promise me a quick and painless death.”

Oliver schooled his features into his usual mask of indifference. Her demands shocked him, although he would never let her know that. The unexpected acceptance of her fate almost made him angry. She should be fighting tooth and nail to escape him. Like she had in the woods last night. He wondered when she would use the knife she’d stolen from the knife block earlier. Hopefully, soon. He couldn’t wait to teach her a lesson. All he had to do now was wait for her to do something foolish.

“Why would I agree to that? I’ve already spent a fortune on you.”

“True.” Londyn’s gaze drifted to Oliver’s hands, then quickly averted. “But will you consider it?”

A grin spread across Oliver’s face. “Are you promising to be a good girl for me? You’ll let me do anything I want without fighting me?” No doubt the tattoo inked onto his knuckles frightened her. It should. Whatever he held in his hand belonged to him, and this enchanting creature was now one of his most valued treasures.

“If you swear to do as I ask, then yes.” She looked paler than before. The dire bleakness of her situation was finally sinking in.

Oliver stalked toward Londyn at the same time as she slid off the barstool. Pain twisted her features when her bare feet touched the coolness of the wooden floor. He would check out whatever injuries she suffered, but for now, that must wait.

“You cannot negotiate something you have no control over, Londyn. Youwillbe my good girl regardless of your wishes. Youwilldo whatever I want, whenever I want. But just so you understand that I’m not completely unreasonable, I will meet one of your demands. It’s your choice as to which I accept.”

ChapterTen

Londyn

His cruelty was stunning.

Londyn’s breath hung in her throat. He could not actually mean to make her choose between her sister’s fate and the pain she would suffer at this monster’s hands.

The glint of desire in Oliver’s icy-blue eyes was unmistakable. They darkened the longer he stared at her. His lean, muscular body grew taut in anticipation of her next move. He wanted her. Wanted tohurther. To take what he had paid a small fortune to possess. Londyn was dizzy with fear and anger that her life had come to this.

“Why offer a choice at all? Or is this just a game to you?” Londyn inched away, instinctively creating distance between them. “No matter what I choose, you will not honor it. You are a criminal. A sadistic user of women. You prey on the helpless and the weaker sex. We both know you will do as you please. Spare me the insinuation that you might keep your word.”

A muscle ticked in Oliver’s jaw. That her words stung him seemed highly improbable. In the robe’s deep pocket, Londyn recklessly gripped the handle of a small paring knife. Earlier, she’d snatched it from the butcher block of knives next to the stove while Oliver gathered items for their breakfast from the refrigerator.

“Your soul is so black and so diseased thatimprisoninga woman is the only way you can have one.” She took another small step back. “Decency and innocence are so offensive to a man like you that you must destroy it by any means possible.”

A smirk flitted across Oliver’s sculpted features at the hurled insults. “I might be the villain in this fucking story, Londyn, but I’m giving you a choice. A death free from pain or the relief of knowing your dear sister will be cared for after you’ve taken your last breath. But my patience is growing thin. I’ll decide for you if you can’t.”

“My sister. I choose my sister!” Londyn cried out.

Oliver pulled his cell phone from his front jeans pocket and dialed a number.

“Hey, I need you to set up a bank account at Georgia State Bank for Paris Yvette Sky. Immediately, that’s when. I’ll text the details in a few minutes. Two million. Establish Lex as attorney of record for all approvals and distributions. Line up private nursing care while you’re at it. The very best you can find. Yes. Indefinitely.” There was a pause as Oliver listened to whatever was being said on the other end of the line, but his gaze did not waver from Londyn’s. “I’ll explain everything later. Thank you, Bridgette.” He ended the call and returned the phone to his front pocket. “Satisfied?”

It was a trick of some sort. A cruel, heartless trick designed to mess with her heart and mind. If her sister was truly provided for… with more money to cover expenditures than Londyn ever would have made auctioning off her virginity, it proved one inescapable fact. Oliver Winter was a monster of epic proportions, blessed with a web of power and money so vast it could swallow an insignificant nobody like her in the blink of an eye. A dark, terrifying monster graced with the face and body of a Greek god and the wicked charm of an archangel banished from heaven.

Londyn’s panic swelled until her chest was tight with it, her body damp from cold sweat that drenched any hope of survival. This man. This killer.

He truly owned her now.

She had sold her soul to the Devil himself.

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