Page 19 of Worship

“A private club. Of sorts. And as for why you’re here…well, I don’t know whether to put a bullet inyourhead for what you did or something else. Something…fucked up.”

“Does what I did matter seeing as you’re still living and breathing?” He bristles, the tension flowing between us about ready to explode.

“And now you’re just pissing me off.” He gets out of his chair, and my back presses into the couch instinctively. “You don’t want to deal with me when I’m angry.”

Even with him on the other side of the table, I stand to try and put more distance between us. But his long legs make it easy for him to circle around and close in on me. Slamming his hand into my shoulder, he pushes me back down. “I didn’t say get up.”

I slam my fists into the couch. “Just get this over with and shoot me then! You think I don’t know how this goes? I wronged you, so kill me. We both know you’re good at that.”

“And give you the easy way out?” Leaning over me, his hand pressing into the leather by my head, his finger traces my neck. I breathe out slowly, my heart racing. His touch tickles my skin, and my nails dig into the couch. He’s never touched me like this before, and just as I’m about to question if I like it or not, his hand drops. “No. You owe me too much to put you out of your damn misery.”

“I owe younothing.”

“We’ll see about that.” The smell of him surrounds me. Intoxicates me. The darkness in his eyes revealing its game over. “You’d be dead if it weren’t for me, or have you forgotten how many times you were on death’s door, and it was me who stopped you from falling through the threshold? Blake wasn’t going to save you. Not Nicolas. Notevenyour own sister. You would be nothing but an addict letting any dirty cock down her throat for a hit.”

“You’re disgusting,” I sneer.

“And your idiocy cost me from getting what I wanted. The whole reason I was in that dump in the first place.”

Confusion wriggles my brow. “What are you talking about?”

He laughs, but it’s cold. “Do you think I was there to follow that fucker? To bow down tohim?”

Blood pounds in my ears, and I don’t understand. He was so devoted to Blake. To the club. Is he really telling me that was a lie?

“You messed things up, and now you owe me. All for telling Blake it was me who slid between your thighs.” Hands slap down on my legs, and I yelp when he grabs them. “Nicolas couldn’twaitto tell me how it was you who stabbed me in the back when he had a gun on me. Who knew the little damsel in distress had it in her?”

He squeezes, and I grab his wrist, digging my nails into his skin. Not that it fazes him or lessens his brutal grip. “It wasn’t—”

“Wasn’t what?”

“It wasn’t like that! It’s true. I did lie, and I regretted it the moment it left my mouth.”

“Not only that…” Bitterness drips from his voice now. Disgust. “You put me down forhim.I didn’t get what I needed to get because I fucked the Devil Horn’sprincessto save theprince.”

“No,” I whisper, sickness balling in my stomach, reminding me of all the terrible things that’ve happened.

“Denying it?” When I don’t reply, he catches a handful of my shirt and pulls me off the couch. “Answerme.”

My stomach flips upside down, and fear takes over as he glares down at me. “Please, Milton. He was going to—”

“Don’tbeg,” he rumbles. “Begging will get you nowhere with me.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Always the victim. Don’t you get tired of listening to yourself?”

It angers me when hot tears splash down my face. My arms pathetically flail in an attempt to push him away, but his grip on my shirt only tightens.

I give up. “Do you think I care what you’re going to do?”

“Youshould.” Letting go, he grabs my wrist and tugs me over to a different door. I pull against him, not knowing what to think as he shoves me inside a small room with just enough space for a double bed. There are no blankets or pillows, only a mattress covered with a black sheet.

Black candles light up the room, and as shadows flicker across the stone walls, everything inside of me screams that it’s time to run.

“Sit,” he orders, flinging me toward the bed. I cry out, my stomach colliding with the mattress. He’s never been so rough with me, and my insides hurt at his malice. He stands at the mouth of the door, thunder in his eyes, like when he killed that man at the restaurant. “Revenge sounds too sudden. You fucked me over, so it would only be fair to fuck with you.”

“You know how bad Nick was getting. He was going to kill Nicole if I told the truth. That he was—”

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