Page 37 of Red Captive

“You said you were on board with marrying one of these males. Have you changed your mind?” His whole frame tightens. His eyes seem to darken. “Or are you lying again?”

Crap!

I need to keep it together. He suspects me.

“No, I’m not lying,” I finally whisper. “I haven’t changed my mind about marrying one of them.”

“How much are they paying you?”

“A lot and not to me; to my mom and my brother. It’s life-changing money, and they need it.” My voice wobbles. My lips, too. Shit!

His jaw tightens. Yep, I think it’s safe to say that he doesn’t believe me at all.

“Why does it matter?” I ask.

“It doesn’t. Forget I asked.”

For some unknown reason, his comment stings. It shouldn’t. I don’t even like Steel.

“For the record, I haven’t lied about anything. Everything I’ve told you is the truth.” I inject as much sincerity as I can into my words, keeping my eyes on him.

“You’re lying about something, Miss Harris. I’m not sure of what. It could be that you’re lying about your past and about your family needing help. Or, you’re lying about being comfortable with selling yourself to the highest bidder.”

“There isn’t going to be an auction,” I blurt, sounding irritated.

“Semantics! Maybe you’re lying about all of it. Chances are good that you are. You’ve told me that you’re okay with it. I don’t care about the rest. It’s really as simple as that.” The vehicle comes to a stop, and he gets out, coming around the vehicle to help me out.

As soon as we enter, Steel clasps me by the elbow, and we’re walking through the palace. We go down hallways, up the stairs, and take the elevator, going down several more hallways before we’re back at the apartment.

Steel locks the door, putting the key in his pocket.

I start toward the bedroom. I can’t wait to get these heels off. I turn just before reaching the door.

“For the record, I’m not lying about my family and their…our predicament. I’m not lying about being willing to marry one of these guys. I’ll do it, and I’ll do it willingly if I have to. But know that my reasons for doing it are valid. I don’t deserve to be judged by you. I haven’t done anything that would warrant your treatment of me. Know that without this money, my family will be in real trouble. I’m not sure why I’m telling you all this since I don’t owe you anything, least of all an explanation. Believe me, don’t believe me. I don’t give a shit!”

I have to work not to slam the door behind me. Then I sit down on the bed and start undoing the buckles of my shoes. I’m trying desperately to hold back the tears. I can’t keep crying like this. My predicament is less than stellar, but it’s going to work out. My family will be fine. They’ll be rich. A tear falls, and I wipe it away. This is followed by another stupid tear. I can’t stop them. I hate crying. Before becoming a Tribute, I could count on one hand how many times I’d cried in my life. When my dog died, when my stepfather passed away, and when my mother lost her leg. That’s it. Now I cry all the damned time, and it has to stop. Things could be worse.

13

Jen

“Ready?” Steel asks me. He barely looks at me before turning and walking to the door. We’ve done this a couple of times now, and it’s become a bit of a routine.

“Yep.” I force myself to sound upbeat. I’m about to meet candidate number four, and each of them has been worse than the last.

The second guy was younger and quite good-looking. Jasper loved himself far more than August ever could, which is saying something. I couldn’t wait to leave. It was an absolute disaster. The guy didn’t even pick up on my vibes. He just went on and on about himself and all about how wonderful he was. He assumed I was going to pick him. That it was already a done deal. On a positive note, he only wanted three children as opposed to five or six. I’m still reeling from that one. He also wanted to start a family immediately. I really need to talk with the general about that.

The shifter I met yesterday barely said two words to me. Our meeting lasted all of twenty minutes at the most. It wasclear that it would be more of a business arrangement than an actual marriage. Axel handed me a contract and then shook my hand, telling me to send a list of questions or queries to his PA and that he would get to them as soon as possible. I’m not completely convinced that something along those lines wouldn’t be the best thing, except within the contract – I flipped through the document – it states that my darling husband would be permitted to have as many affairs as he wishes while I would need to remain faithful to him. Also, that he would only have sex with me to make me pregnant. None of it sat right with me. I’m happy with a business arrangement for a marriage, but it would need to go both ways and would need to be fair. Not that I want to stray and sleep around. That isn’t me! But that he can and I can’t is a deal breaker for me, for sure.

“Let’s go, then,” Steel says, making me realize that I’ve been standing there like a dork, staring into space.

“Sorry.” I clear my throat. “Of course.”

Steel opens the door, and I walk out. He doesn’t take my arm. I’m getting better at walking in heels.

We head out in silence. We haven’t spoken much over the last few days. It’s safe to say that things are strained between us, which is fine. I think I prefer it when he isn’t talking to me since he doesn’t have much to say that’s very nice.

We go through the motions until we reach the stairs that lead to reception.

---