Page 16 of Ruthless Redemption

“Would you prefer if I fed you? Because I will.” My pulse spikes with possibility. I’d sit at her side, her hair in my fist, a fork in the other. I’d feed her gently. Patiently. And with every insolent remark she made, I’d whisper in her ear all the punishments I had planned once her belly was full.

“I already told you I’d lose my appetite if I had to share a meal with you.”

“Don’t tell me I misjudged your intelligence.” I raise a brow. “I thought you were smarter than this.”

“Meaning?”

“Denying what your body needs hurts nobody but yourself. You’ll lose strength and focus. Malnourishment will only make it harder for you to find a way out of your situation. What you should actually be doing is taking every possible action to increase your chance of success… That is, if you want to get out of your predicament. But maybe remaining with me is what you truly want.” I fork another mouthful.

“Monstrous and delusional.” She scoffs a barely audible breath. “God, I’d love to know what lies you told my brother to add to his reasons for disowning me.”

“Maybe he didn’t disown you. Maybe he understands what you need more than you do and left you here to find happiness.”There. She has the truth. I can’t be held accountable for leading her astray.

“Happiness?” Her laughter increases, her breasts jolting with faux mirth. “You’re a punishment, Matthew. A sickening, loathsome form of torture.”

“You told your sister you were falling in love with me.”

The briefest glimpse of pain pinches her features before anger reclaims supremacy. “I fell in love with a man who doesn’t exist.”

“He could exist,amore mio. I can be that man for you. I can be whatever you need.” I want nothing more than to be the embodiment of the man she gave her heart to. To be trustworthy. Honorable. A successful businessman instead of a proficient murderer.

All it would take is a little more time to chip away at the brutal default settings that have been cemented in place.

“The only man you know how to be is a pathological liar.”

“Pathological is a stretch. I assure you I had a motive for each and every instance of deception.” I force another mouthful of spaghetti.

“I’m sure you had a whole string of motives, but none of them would make your actions excusable.”

“Without those actions, we never would’ve existed.”

“And the world would’ve been a far better place.”

She doesn’t mean that. Her anger is a front for her pain. Her temper is a vain attempt to hide how much she still wants me. And shedoeswant me. I can see it in her eyes. The heat remains there, flickering and wild.

“All you need is a reason to forgive me and I can give that to you, too.” I place the napkin back on the table and hold her stare. “My actions were a direct result of my infatuation. I would’ve done anything to keep you close, and I still will, because you’re everything to me. I’m lost to you, Layla. Life without you isn’t something I’m willing to concede to.”

5

LAYLA

I stealmyself against his admission.

Thought by thought, brick by brick, I frantically build my walls higher against his seduction. I remind myself of what he’s done. I relive the hypocrisy. The malignance.

But it’s hard.

Even now, with hatred swimming in my veins, I can’t switch myself off to his charm.

That’swhy I stayed in my room for three days. I needed the time to assemble my defenses. It’s also why I came out here in my current state of undress.

I’d hoped to distract him from the wicked way he weaves me around his little finger. That my body would leave him tongue-tied and disheveled. That for once, I could be the reigning force. The superior. A victor.

Instead, I’ve achieved the opposite.

He’s far more confident and cunning now. Each retort seems perfectly constructed, as if spoken from a playbook, while I struggle to keep a grip on my hectic emotions.

The conversation I hoped we would never have is now tormenting my ears, his words of adoration stripping layers from my shield.

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