Page 20 of Crown Jewels
“What? No.” Not entirely.
“Vahn,” he warned. “You have a contract with Trina…”
“There’s no girl.” I sighed and calmed my tone. “Look, you said I had four years to do what I wanted. This is what I want.”
He studied me for a second before grumbling, “Fine, I’ll let this go for now.” He lifted his hand and pointed at me. “But I want to meet these friends of yours when I’m in town next week.”
That couldn’t happen. “They’re busy people…”
“I don’t give a shit.” He cut me off. “Either you show up with your friends next week, or your ass is coming home.”
EMMA
Iwasn’t sure if it was Vahn’s cocky confidence that pissed me off, or that he somehow knew more about me than I knew about myself. Either way, I was done with his condescending lecture.
“You think you know everything, but you don’t.”
He may know what my favorite color was, and what kind of flower I liked, but he didn’t have any clue about my masturbation failures. The insinuation that he did was just rude.
He pulled his shirt over his head and looked down at me. “Says the girl who didn’t know what kind of flowers she liked.”
“You know what Vahn,” I jumped out of the chair and jabbed my finger in his chest. “I hate tulips. I hate them so much that I’m going to go in my room and tear up all those fake flowers you mentioned.”
Well, maybe not tear them up. They were pretty and I liked the colors. But I would sit on my bed and stare menacingly at them.
And what was Vahn’s reaction to my outburst? A sardonic snort. He didn’t even have the decency to say something back to me, he just snorted. If his chest wasn’t eye level with me then I would kick his ass. Or I would at least try.
He was pretty stacked, and could snap me like a twig if I was his height, but I was wiry. I’d get a few hits in.
“You’re not the only one who knows something about someone.” I knew things about him to.
“It’s kind of hard to please everyone if you don’t know what they like.”
This son of a bitch. “I hope you choke on your eggs in the morning.”
“That’s a good idea.” He bent down and got right in my face. “You should try a little breath play. It might get you there.”
I heard the crack of my palm smacking against his cheek before I realized my hand was flying through the air.
Vahn’s face jerked to the side with the force of my strike, and a smile curled my lips. A part of me was mortified with what I’d done. I wasn’t a violent person.
All those years in foster homes or living with an abusive addict father, and not once had I ever hit someone back. I didn’t see the point. Two wrongs don’t make a right and all that. Besides, why would I stoop to their level?
Then comes Vahn Kessler with his cocky attitude, and my nonviolence streak was broken. I should be sorry, but I wasn’t. He deserved that.
Vahn twisted his neck to look back down at me, and suddenly I was sorry. There was something menacing blazing in his navy eyes. Something dark and twisted that sent a chill down my spine. It was even in his voice.
“Did you just fucking hit me?”
“Well… um…” I was kind of afraid of him right now. I could literally feel myself trembling.
Don’t take his shit Emma. Stand up for yourself.
My inner voice was right. It was time I stood up for myself.
I puffed my chest out, lifted my chin and said, “You know what Vahn, yes I did hit you. And I would hit you again.”
I couldn’t tell if his nod was good or bad. But when he clicked his tongue, something told me that good wasn’t in the equation.
