Page 13 of Cruel Master

She sucked in a breath. "Well, then you're in luck," she replied. "Because we're not together anymore."

"Oh?" I tilted my head to the side and examined her.

"Youhaveto let me go," she insisted. "I'll sign whatever divorce papers you want. I want out. I'm done."

"Oh no, darling. The time for that is over. Perhaps you've been living in the outside world for too long, but you should understand the reality of your situation. You belong to me, Angel. Any attempt to escape will be met with more punishment." I gestured back to the chair. "You've been away for too long. This is merely the beginning. You can consider yourself nothing more than a pretty object for me to please and punish at will, is that understood?"

Her soft hair slid over her shoulders as she shook her head. "I'm not a fucking object," she snapped. "You may be angry at me, but you have no fucking clue what you're doing. You think I'm the same naive girl who was forced to marry you? Well, you're wrong. I'm much different than I was then. You don't own shit—and you certainly don't own me."

I left the bed and strode around it before I settled on the side as she finished spewing her bile my way. Grabbing her chin, I tipped her head back and hovered over her.This was fine, I thought. Her anger, her spirit, her fight. I actually preferred it this way. Perhaps if she wasn’t a fighter, I might not have had the fucking self-control to keep myself from fucking her until I broke her.

It was true that my sexual lifestyle was far darker than anything I'd shown her, but this … this was pure revenge. For the woman who'd stolen my sanity and then fled with it in the middle of the night. The woman who'd lied to me, betrayed me and left me to pick up the wreckage.

"I want you to consider something, Angel," I said. "In the last five years, I’ve planned for this moment. I’ve plotted and prepared for the second you would land right back in my lap, and I know exactly how to keep you where I want you—legally and interminably mine."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Her eyes fused to mine.

"It means…" I let my thumb smooth over the side of her face even as I kept her chin in my grip, "that you are quite a disturbed young woman with a history of psychotic breaks and violence against your caretakers."

She frowned. "What the hell are you talking about? I've never—"

"I have years of hospital records to prove that you require someone who has both the means and time to dedicate to your health." Her lips parted as my words began to sink in.

“They’re not real.” Her protest was feeble at best and, at most, shocked. It never occurred to her that I could prevent her from ever being able to go back to Evangeline Price. Perhaps she thought that after all this time, she might one day be able to be herself again. If she wanted that, now was the time to tell me the truth. I waited a beat, but she said nothing. Instead, she just glared at me.

I sighed. “Of course, it’s not real,” I agreed. “But—after all the years you’ve been running from me, quite expertly, I might add—you should know that the perfect paperwork is just as much a weapon as a gun.”

“Paperwork like that would only…” She stopped before finishing her sentence, but I already knew her meaning. It will only draw Jackie’s attention. That was fine by me, though. Soon enough, I’d take care of Jacquelina Price, and once she was gone, if Angel still wanted to run then I’d ensure she never could.

Angel shook her head—in denial or inner turmoil, I couldn’t say.

"Because of your mental health, I'm afraid," I continued as her face grew paler and paler, "you own nothing. Your licenses have been revoked. Your original identifications all showcase that you are nothing more than a young woman who requires a full-time relative to look after you. And as your husband, I am your sole provider and your guardian. If you were ever to leave these premises or go somewhere without a guard approved by me, any attempt to seek help would find you promptly returned to me and back in that fucking chair for another round of torture. Only this time … I won’t leave you for just an hour."

I’d sit here and watch her come for many hours. Days if I had to. I’d wait until it was so painful that she’d pass out and then I’d wake her up only to start all over again. I’d hook her pretty arm up to an IV to make sure she wouldn’t get dehydrated and I’d relish in watching as she came and came and came. No breaks. No stopping. I would show her what it meant to abandon me. What would happen if she dared to do so again.

"You … you wouldn't..." She breathed the words as if she couldn't understand.

I tightened my hold on her face. "I warned you, Angel," I whispered as I leaned close. My lips hovered just before hers. "I said I would hunt you to the ends of the Earth. What I failed to mention, however, was that when I found you, I would ensure you could never leave again. Welcome home,wife."

7

ANGEL

Iwas trapped. Never in a million years had I even considered that Gaven would take this route. That he would strip away everything that made me …me. I'd underestimated him. Somehow. Some way. I'd merely thought of him as a killer. Yes, even after the way he’d taken my goddamned virginity, I’d still assumed that once I was no longer the key to his plans, he would lose interest. That was a very dangerous assumption to make, I realized. This was a far more precarious situation than I’d ever expected.

Though on the run I'd switched random aliases, I'd always considered and hoped that one day I could go back to being who I was. That I could be Evangeline Price once more. With Gaven's words, though, that dream became a complicated web. The only way out would be to find someone who could disentangle it. I had the contacts. I could do it, but even then, I had no doubt that he would think of something far worse and far more confining.

It was as if time had reversed and I was suddenly transported back hundreds of years into the past. It was more difficult in modern law but not impossible. Those considered a danger to society and themselves had no rights. No autonomy. No escape.

Gaven's hands fell away from my face as I sat there in stunned silence.

"Now that you understand your situation," he said, "perhaps I can progress with your new rules."

I didn't look up as he moved from the bed. The mattress rose as he stood. "You will remain naked in this room at all times," he continued. "If and when you are introduced to anyone who comes to this place, you will remain silent unless asked a direct question. When I return, if you are not restrained, then you will greet me on your knees, legs splayed, palms up on your thighs. You will sleep with me each and every night."

My mind rioted and rolled as his words slung arrows into my chest. What was I going to do? Could I escape? Did I explain to him why I ran? No. I couldn't. He was still in danger, and he had no clue. I needed more information. I needed to know just how he’d gotten the power he so obviously had. He had his own men—capturing me wouldn’t have been possible without them. The drugs, too…

He was different. No longer a simple killer but a mastermind with a strategy.

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