Page 4 of Dirty Behavior

The sound of feet patted around the room, the whoosh of the blanket whipped through the air, followed by the heavy plumping of pillows.

What the hell is he doing?

Cleaning up?

Watching the light that seeped in from under the door, dark shadows passed by like an eclipse. The glow would fade and burst, pop and flick in my dark prison. Then it stopped.

My chest firmed, muscles sparking with nerves.

“Ivy, are you ready to be a good girl?”

His voice sliced my ears and made me sick. Be a good girl? Like I had done something wrong and was in some twisted version of a timeout.

Remo was the one who had crossed the line, Remo was the one who had hit me and locked me up. I hadn't done anything to deserve this type of treatment.

I didn't answer, he wasn't getting a fucking thing from me.

His voice came through louder and more stern. “Ivy, answer me.” I could hear him breathing through the door, the sound was thick and rattled.

Disobedience wasn't something he liked, it seemed to jostle his cage.

Good.Fuck you, asshole.

“Ivy, answer me now or you'll wish you did.” Staying quiet, I balanced on my front leg, ready to strike.

If he wanted to buy a subservient slave. . . He should have gone elsewhere.

That wasn't me.

“Fine, don't answer.” The lock clicked, the door opening slowly with a quiet thunk. “I hope you're ready—”

In one quick snap, I drove my body forward and charged him. Remo was knocked to the floor, his arms falling wildly behind him to catch his weight. “Ahh!” Yelping, a loud rush of air expelled from his lungs. “You fucking bitch!” Twisting quickly, he rolled onto his knees and stood up.

Taking off, I ran out the door and found myself in a maze. Hall after hall was trapping me like a rat in a science experiment. His feet thudded behind me at every turn, but I wasn't going to stop running.

Taking a final turn to the right, I felt his fingers wisp through my hair, latching on and tearing me down. My neck snapped back, body bending unnaturally as Remo threw me to the floor.

“You stupid fucking whore! You want to fight, fine! But now you'll suffer the consequence.” His hands tore at my shirt, flipping me to my stomach.

A sharp pain bore down on my ribs as he kicked me so hard I could hear the bones cracking inside. Yelling in pain, I found the strength to still utter a few words. “Fuck you, you piece of shit.” Curling my arms around my sides, I tried to roll into a ball, hoping I could block some of his hits.

“No, you have that all wrong. Fuck you, Ivy.” Wrapping his fingers into the base of my hair, he tore me off the floor.

My scalp was on fire, the pain raking down my neck and over my body. Dragging me back to the room, Remo threw me on the bed. “I'm going to break you, I'm going to make you mine and take you any way I please.” Closing my eyes, I tried to remove my mind from the horror I was in. “Look at me!” he screamed, slapping my face. “Look at me!”

But I refused to.

“Do you want me to kill your family? Do you really want to risk their lives?” His nails scraped through my hair, squeezing around sweat-filled locks and forcing my head back. “Open your fucking eyes or so help me I will kill them right now.” Gritting my teeth, I peeled my eyes open and stared down my captor. “This isn't going to be easy on you, and I know that. I can understand that, Ivy. But don't make it worse for your family.”

“Why me?”

“Why you? Well. . .” His head ticked side to side, bouncing in thought. “You're the lucky one.”

“Lucky?This is lucky?”

“Maybe I worded that wrong. I'm the lucky one and your father got what he wanted.Freedom.”Remo's teeth tugged his bottom lip, popping loose as the letters crawled out.

My stomach curdled, the pain slicing through every nerve and muscle. But his answers weren't good enough. I needed more.

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