Page 50 of Neverland

“Why do you hate me so much?” I sobbed, his face becoming a blur through the tears.

“I don’t hate you.”

“Then what do you call this? This certainly isn’t love. You don’t do this to people you love. This is pure hatred.”

His thumb ran along my bottom lip. “This isn’t hatred,” he repeated.

“What did I ever do to you, Dominic?” I choked on the sob. “What did I ever do to you all those years ago in the schoolyard that made you want to be so cruel to me?”

His eyes hooded as if our life movie played behind him. “Have you ever been so infatuated with someone or something, you’d do almost anything to keep them in your life?”

“Even if it meant hurting them?”

He inched closer. “Yes, because hurting them is often more satisfying.” Dominic’s lips grazed mine. “Hurting you put you to your knees in front of me, pleading for mercy.” He picked the cross off my neck and studied the foreign jewelry, his tone, spiteful. “It makes you remember that I am your god.” With a yank, Dominic snapped the chain and held the broken pieces in his hand. “Perhaps you need a little reminder of why you’re here. Of why you owe me your life. And why you escaping is a betrayal to our agreement.”

“I never made an agreement with you. Ever.”

He smiled wickedly. “Oh, but you did. Finders keepers, remember?”

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