Page 7 of Tide of Treason
I ignored her diagnosis. “Looks like they’ve sent someone.”
“The sessions will continue,” Elara stated quietly, taking the file and placing it into a drawer in her desk. “And you will begin taking your medication again, whether you want to or not. I won’t see any improvement if you refuse to cooperate.”
Her gaze darted over my shoulder, and the corner of her mouth gave a twitch. I suspected the boss in that ill-fitting suit was about to waltz in, but from the gap in the blinds, I wasn’t so sure anymore. Guards and orderlies stood there, eyes wide and tongues wagging at some woman’s backside. So much for the men meant to keep the inmates in line.
Clack . . . clack . . . clack.
I pressed my pencil deeper into the margin of my page.
I only had to hear the cadence of those heels to realise it was a woman.
Men didn’t clack that way.
They stomped or walked with military precision, like I did.
“You know, doc,” I said suddenly, turning to face Elara. I had a tight smile, and it made her uneasy. “Maybe you’re right. I will take the meds, after all.”
The relief brightening her eyes was genuine. “And the reason for your sudden change in opinion?”
Clack,
clack,
clack.
I chuckled low in my throat and spun the pencil between my fingers. “I want a clear head when I meet my fiancé’s family.” I just neglected to mention I’d already met one of them.
The woman in question paused outside the door, giving an order to the orderly standing closest to her. The command was quiet and polite, like a mother telling her child to pick uphis toy. The words she said to me three years ago filled with her voice once again.Ragazzo stupendo.Refined. Slightly accented. A hint of steel, a bite in her tone that made the man instantly jump to follow her order.
“What a perfect display of authority,” I murmured, the smirk turning into a full grin.
The door opened.
It happened so quickly even I was startled. I never lost my composure, though. No, I kept my gaze on Elara, that smile still playing on my lips.
“Lucius.”
Merda.
If I followed Kayla Sforza anywhere, I might as well string a price tag around my neck. Didn’t matter that she was my future sister-in-law. She looked at you like she’d calculated your price per kilo, then decided you weren’t worth the trouble. You didn’t come out the same after meeting those eyes; there was violence in the whites, an old truth men didn’t talk about. She’d witnessed horrors, and she’d inflicted worse.
I said nothing.
I wasn’t budging until the asshole in the discount suit finally showed.
“I’m not a patient person,” Kayla continued when I didn’t speak. She threw Elara a glance, a polite curve of the lips that still managed to look threatening. I’d never seen it before, but something in the older Sforza’s presence made the good doctor wary.
“Get up.”
Frustration barreled through my chest.
I briefly considered making her wait, giving myself exactly five seconds to indulge my pride. But her eyes promised violence, something darkly enticing and thoroughly unpleasant, if I dared waste her time. With a resigned sigh, I rose to my full height. I took some satisfaction in the way her gaze collided with my chest. Traced upward reluctantly. She might be a queen, but even queens had to tilt their heads back to meet my gaze. That pin-prick of victory tasted indecently sweet.
“Lucius,” Elara said softly, her voice wavering. “Behave.”
I shrugged, slipped both hands into my jean pockets, and trudged out of the office, feeling strangely tired. Mental exhaustion, my psychologist would call it. Hours of questions, of analyzing my thoughts and reactions to certain events and stimuli. My past was discussed. My present and my future. Everything that had ever traumatised me, from the first beating to the last.
“Is this necessary?” I shoved down the sudden irritation at my question’s vulnerability. “You could’ve at least sent an aide to fetch me.”
