Page 6 of Worth

“Now, Lauren,” Damien warns, still fixated on his paper.

“Can I take her for a walk, Daddy?”

I feel myself shrinking inwardly, hoping without any hope at all that he will decline.

“Of course,” he answers and holds out my leash to her. She snatches it up with a grin and tugs me to my feet before I can get to them on my own.

Lauren leads me into the yard and around to the side of the house, where there is a clear view of the grounds. Horses graze on perfect pastures and other Skins bustle about, tending to landscape or animals and totally ignoring us. She drops my leash, and it bounces against my frilly skirt. I clench my hands into fists as I feel her move closer, fighting my instinct to knock her the fuck out and bracing myself for whatever pain she’s going to inflict today. But the pain doesn’t come. Instead, she circles me like a predator.

“That used to be my dress, you know.”

My eyes shoot to hers as she comes around the side of me. “No. I didn’t know that.”

Lauren stops, crossing her arms, still studying the dress. “It’s kind of creepy that Daddy wants you to wear it.”

No disagreements there. Especially when I know what I do about Damien’s proclivities.

“I don’t like you wearing it.”

I lift a brow, watching her while she watches me, neither of us moving. “I don’t like wearing it.”

Snorting, Lauren steps closer. I’m taller by an inch, so she has to look up at me, her brown eyes glimmering with hate. I don’t notice that she has a hold of the dress until a rip tears through our silence. Like the sound is what she needed to be unleashed, Lauren grabs fistfuls of my dress, brutally yanking.

“Stop,” I snarl, trying to shove her back. But she has the advantage, swinging me around by the grip on my clothes, making me trip over my own feet.

There’s another sharp ripping noise and I can feel the breeze ghosting over my left breast, where the strap has given way. Her cruel laugh makes me want to grab hold of her throat, to squeeze my hands around it until she’s gasping and pleading for air; until her eyes lose their shine of life.

But I don’t. I can’t—not yet, at least. I’ll get my chance one day—Ihaveto—but today is not that day. It’ll work in my favor if I chose to not react right now; Damien will reprimand her, not me. I close my eyes, letting bloody visions play behind my lids, while she continues to rip and tear the dress.

Lauren huffs when she realizes I’m not rising to her bait, then picks up my leash again and jerks me forward. I stumble, but she doesn’t slow down, rounding the other side of the house with stomping footsteps.

She doesn’t have time to hand the leash back to Damien before he’s on his feet. “What have you done?” he bellows, his fingers biting into my arm as he jerks me toward him. I keep my eyes lowered as he shoves me back at his daughter. “Goddammit, Lauren!”

“Elizabeth is very clumsy, Daddy,” Lauren stammers, and I’m surprised at the small tremble in her voice. “She fell down.”

My fingernails dig into my palms as Damien’s hands graze over all the exposed skin my dress is no longer covering. As it is, the dress is barely hanging onto me at all. I peek up under my lashes, curious about how he’ll handle this. The few times Lauren has been reprimanded in front of me, he has never been this forceful.

When his palm connects with her cheek with a solidcrack, I lurch backwards. Lauren’s eyes are huge and watery as she gapes at him, her fingers touching the bright red mark on her cheek.

Holy fuck. Didn’t see that one coming.

“The next time you try to break something of mine,” Damien says in a cold voice, “I will return the favor.”

Lauren is still frozen in place as Damien sweeps me under his arm, ushering me into the house and into my room under the stairs. I don’t miss the hatred that has fury darkening across Lauren’s face, feeling brazen as I fix my gaze on her in passing.

Fuck. That will not bode well for me.

After another grope of my exposed tit, Damien removes the cuff from my wrist. “I’ll see you tonight,” he promises, mentioning nothing about Lauren.

The door closes, the sound of the lock grating on my ears, sealing me back into my prison.

But all I hear is the cackle in my head as I replay Damien slapping the shit out of Lauren, again and again.

Chapter 2

The time between Fridays seems to stretch on forever, locked in my quiet room with nothing to do but focus on training my body for the fight I will one day win.

I won’t just win. I willdecimateDamien, and anyone else who dares to cross my path.

---