Page 31 of Brutal King

“You’re lucky I don’t send you back to the stables,” I tell it.

It doesn’t take my threat seriously, as none of them ever do. Curling its tail around itself, it goes back to sleep.

Maybe I should have bought her jeans and sweatpants, I think as I rummage through the drawers and go to the closet to glance at all of the expensive clothes hanging. I had them all brought in hours before Sofia arrived. Because it wasn’t until she was being moved that I had a clear shot at her. It was instinct. Something I wanted was going to be taken out of reach, and I couldn’t allow that.

I toss the last log into the dying embers in the hearth, stoking the fire back to life. Almost immediately, the room warms several degrees. I’ll have to bring in more wood tomorrow. Having her starve and freeze isn’t what I intended.

Glancing back at Sofia, I open the hidden wall panel located across the bed. One more day. I’ll give her one more day to come to me.

Enough is enough. I’ve been a patient man, but have reached my limit. Sofia will eat today.

I wait outside her room. Right on time, there’s the sound of the chair being moved and the lock released. The door opens slowly and she peeks out.

Her blue eyes lock onto mine almost instantly.

“Shit!” she yells and attempts to slam the door shut.

Before she can, I stick a foot in and force my way in. “About to go on one of your excursions, Little Bird?”

She takes several steps back as I approach her. “Get out!”

“I don’t think so.” I take in her greasy hair and the paleness of her face. “You’re coming down to have a proper dinner.

“I don’t need your food,” she hisses.

Going to her rubbish bin, I scoop out several orange peels and arch a brow. “Apparently, you do. Unless you think someone else is stocking the pantry for your midnight snacks, you had to know you were eatingmyfood.”

Her teeth grind so hard I can hear them even from a distance. “You have cameras, then?”

“Some,” I admit, glancing toward the one hidden in the light fixture above.

“I thought so,” she seethes. “Pervert.”

“Is that why you haven’t bothered to shower? Because you think I have them in the bathroom? Rest assured, I don’t have any in there.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t care what you believe. You will come down to eat and when you’re done, you will shower and get into something clean.”

“Keep your fucking clothes. I’m not getting out of these.”

Grabbing her by the Columbia hoodie that could stand on its own by now, I drag her toward me. She slams against my chest,her eyes wide with shock. “I’ll cut the damn thing off you if I have to, but you will shower and get into something clean.”

“Fuck you!” She swings her arm toward me.

Keeping my eyes locked on hers, I catch her wrist before she can jab the paring knife into my neck. “A little knife for a little bird.” A gentle squeeze of my hand and she releases the weapon. It clanks somewhere away. I lean over her more, forcing her to tilt her head up to see me. “It will take something much greater than that to bring me down.”

“I’ll find something big enough,” she vows, the promise of retribution heavy in her tone. “I have a lot of time on my hands to plot your death. I’ll think of something.”

“You do that,” I chuckle and let her go. She catches herself against the bedpost, her breaths coming in small pants. “In the meantime, I have things to discuss with you. Things you would be smart to hear. If only for that, come eat.”

She drops her gaze to her cat, who is currently weaving in and out between my feet. Her hands fist at her sides. Fury rolls off her in waves, the kind that comes from the drive to fight against something even when the odds are stacked against you.

My heart thrums in my chest as I watch the fire in her eyes as she wars with herself. She doesn’t want to give in, it goes against her very nature. And that makes the nod of compliance she gives me a true show of strength.

Beautiful.

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