Page 17 of Cherry Auction

“Now it’s your turn to suffer, lovely Mads.”

She’s shaking and clutching her leather collar, eyes wide. “You keep calling me that. Like you know me. Do you? Tell me the truth!”

I shake my head in disgust. “It’s always games with you.”

“I’m not playing games! Moira can show you my brain scans. They’re at her apartment. I have amnesia from head trauma to my temporal lobe.” She taps the side of her head. “You can’t fake that.”

I laugh without pity. “Sure you can. Documents are the easiest thing in the world to fake. The woman I knew would have seen it as a great way to worm her way back into my life and wrap me around her little finger again.”

Her gaze wanders past me to the wall. “I guess I’m not her after all. I don’t think amnesia gives you a complete personality change.”

She appears so innocent. She makes for such believable prey, it’s almost easy to forget she’s the predator here. Almost.

I lean down and whisper in her ear, “You are her.”

She jerks backwards at the intimacy of my warm breath against her skin.

“How would you know?” she asks. “Maybe I just look like this woman you used to know.”

I bite back another incredulous laugh. “There’s a constellation of freckles on your inner thighs shaped like Cassiopeia. I licked them earlier. You’re Madison.”

She frowns, her lips making the shape of the name.Madison. Then she shakes her head as if it doesn’t ring any bells.

But finally, she looks down at her inner thigh. “Cassiopeia is the constellation shaped like aW,” she whispers as if repeating a school lesson.

“I guess your amnesia’s clearing up.”

“No, it’s not like—” She stops and sucks in a long breath of air. “I never know what I’ll remember or not remember. I’ve no clue how or why it works the way it does.”

She’s still staring at the group of freckles on her thigh shaped like the Cassiopeia constellation. “You could’ve just seen that now and be lying to me that you knew it from before.” She looks up at me. “Ididn’t even know that was there.”

Fuck, she’s diabolical. If I didn’t know her for who she truly is, I might even fall for her little act. That was always the trouble with her. She’s so convincing that despite her father’s pure evil, I told myself she was an innocent. But that was the biggest lie of all.

I get right in her face. “I’m not the liar here.”

“No, you just lock people up in dungeons! I don’t knowwhy I’m listening to anything you have to say. You’re taking advantage of someone with amnesia! Pretending you know me is so twisted and fucked up! You’re a sadistic cunt and this is ridiculous!” She grabs the chain of her collar and thrusts it towards me. “Let me out of this fucking thing!”

I laugh in her face. “Aww, poor Mads. You never did like facing the consequences of your actions.”

“My name isBrooke!”

“All right, Brooke. To be honest, Madison might have been a made-up name, too. I never knew anything about you until it was too late. You’re a shape-shifter and I know better than to trust any word you say.”

Her mouth drops open and she sputters.

“Don’t bother. Like you said. I’m a sadistic cunt. That part’s true enough. Then again, I’m only what you and your father molded me into.” I grin at her, and that darkthinginside me stretches in excited preparation.Pain. We’ll get to see her squirming in pain soon. So soon now. She’ll get what’s coming to her. My grin gets wider and I hold out my hands to gesture to the room full of floggers, canes, and whips. “Welcome to your karma.”

That’s when the doorbell rings and she starts to scream.

EIGHT

DOMHNALL

“Help me!”she screams at the top of her lungs.

She runs towards the elevator as far as her chain will allow and continues wailing, “Help! Help! I’m kidnapped! Help! Fire!Fire!!!”

I turn to head for the door. She can scream as loud as she wants. I hope it gives her hope. The sadist in me curls in pleasure at all the ways I’ll crush her. Mind. Body.Soul.

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