Page 93 of Devilish

“Fine. Have it your way. I’m happy to talk.”

Of course he was. He’d always liked the sound of his own voice.

“I did a little digging on your newboyfriend,” he sneered, his fork in midair, then he bit down on the chicken and chewed like some masticating cow. It took everything I had not to gag as he swallowed. “Lucien Vale. What an adventure you must’ve had with him. Rich, young—some might say handsome.”

Fuck you,I thought, while trying not to let his words affect me. Even if they were hitting a little too close to home.

“I bet he looked like the perfect mark to someone like you. The perfectout.” Rupert cocked his head. “That’s it, isn’t it? You were having fun with him.Enjoyinghim. Tell me, Kai, did you really think I’d just let you go? That I’d let you be free?”

Tears pricked at my eyes as his words tore away the fragile armor I’d been building. I’d tried so hard to keep my walls up when I left here, to protect myself in case this very moment happened. But the longer I stayed with Lucien, the more I’d let them crumble—until I did believe I was free.

And I had been. If only for a few short weeks.

The loud clang of Rupert’s fork on the plate startled me.

“You’ll look at me when I’m talking to you,boy.”

I gritted my teeth in an effort not to tell him to go fuck himself. All that would get me was some physical pain to go along with my emotional anguish. Instead, I raised my eyes to his.

“That’s better.” He picked up his knife and pointed it at me. “Did your new beau tell you about the little celebration I threw for the two of you?”

The explosion. That had to be what he was talking about. And the gleeful tone he had over destroying Lucien’s business, and almost Lucien himself, made me clench my hands where they rested on the table.

“Fireworks.” The gleam in his eyes was so bright it was like he was seeing it all over again. “You should’ve seen it.” Rupert’s attention shifted to my hands. “Oh dear, did I say something to upset you?” He dropped his knife to the table and shoved his chair back, and the hair on the back of my neck stood tall.

I held my breath as he came around the table, every nerve on edge as he stopped by my side and reached for my wrist. He yanked it up and looked at my balled fist.

“You going to hit me, Kai?”

I swallowed. “The thought crossed my mind.”

It was the first thing I’d said all night, and it was clearly not what Rupert had expected. Shock registered on his ugly face, then, quick as the snake he was, he reached for my shirt and dragged me out of my seat until I was on my feet.

“You think you can hurtme?” he spat, his breath hot and reeking of alcohol. “I dare you to try, you pathetic little shit. You’re a nobody. A nothing. Hit me—see what happens.”

I wanted to. I wanted to so fucking badly. But I wanted thewhymore.

“Why am I even here if you hate me so much?” I said. “Is it just to get back at Lucien?”

Rupert’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You think I’m going to let some sex club owner tell me where I can and can’t go? What I can and can’t do with what belongs to me?” He drew me forward another inch. “And yes, you do belong to me. I paid a pretty penny for you, which means Lucien Vale owes me big for taking you.”

“You don’t think burning his club down is payment enough?”

He shook his head then let go of my shirt. “You’ve got a mouth on you now. That come from your boyfriend? Because that’s not going to work for me.”

“Why, because you like it better when I shut up? Stay locked in my room like a prisoner?”

“Yes,” he said. “You’ll do what I tell you, when I tell you.”

No.I wasn’t doing this again. Not when my eyes were open to a life I’d never realized existed.

I backed away and then turned to make a run for it. The dining room was off the main foyer, and as I rounded the corner for the door, I hit a wall of steel in the form of the massive guy who’d kidnapped me.

“Going somewhere?” he said, staring down at me with an expression that said I was fucked. He could bench-press me one-handed; there was no way I was getting past a guy like that.

There had to be another way.

The room Rupert always kept me in had no windows, so once I was up there, there was no getting out. I needed to escape before he locked me up.

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