Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 148238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 741(@200wpm)___ 593(@250wpm)___ 494(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 741(@200wpm)___ 593(@250wpm)___ 494(@300wpm)
When I didn’t reply, he murmured, “You’re like yin and yang. Half stunning, half deformed. Tell me. I want to know how you became like this.”
I locked my spine, revolting against his touch but unable to pull away. Kill moved closer. His breathing labored and bulk as terrifying as any punishment. Was he there to make sure I didn’t get away, or fighting the urge to tear me from this asshole’s hands?
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” I hissed. “Let. Me. Go.”
Mr. Steel’s eyes narrowed. “I see discipline will be in order.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “That’s perfectly fine. I enjoy a bit of punishment to get my point across.”
“You’ll never touch me.”
His fingers tightened, proving that in actual fact he already was. He cocked an eyebrow, daring me to deny it.
“Fuck you.” It seemed I liked that phrase currently.
Mr. Steel stiffened, then… he laughed. “I love your temper. It will make things extremely interesting.”
“It’s not a temper—just disgust. Stop touching me.”
Amazingly, Mr. Steel obeyed. His voice was well-smoothed silk as he said, “I did as you asked. Now you give me what I asked. Tell me what happened.”
I breathed hard. “No. The story is private.”
Even I don’t know the full tale. And every damn day I dived into the cesspool that’d become my memories only to drown in them. In fact, I wanted all my memories deleted. Every single encounter and kiss and Libra eraser recall, I wanted it all gone so I never had to see Kill’s traitorous face again.
Mr. Steel smiled coldly. “Privacy is a thing of the past. You need to understand that—otherwise your new life will be immensely uncomfortable.”
Kill stepped forward, his presence burning my back. Wherever he moved, his body called to mine. My flesh to his. Magnets. Worse than magnets—kismet alignment.
Yet he doesn’t feel it.
Or chooses the life of misery by ignoring it.
Bastard. Asshole. Weak!
Did he not feel what happened when he hugged me in the car? I couldn’t describe it. The way he held me hadn’t been erotic or sexual. It’d been warm and comforting knowingness.
I’d been home.
His body, his heart, his screwed-up head—it was home to me, and he’d just cast me adrift without a backward glance.
“You’ll never know anything about me. Privacy or not,” I growled, locking eyes with the man who’d thrown away all morality and justice to purchase me.
Mr. Steel’s face went red. “You—”
“She’s amnesiac. She’s broken in that respect. Her only flaw, I can assure you,” Kill jumped in, his voice strained and empty.
Mr. Steel took a moment to absorb the verdict of my broken brain. He tilted his head. “Is she normally this difficult?” He glowered in my direction.
Difficult?
They weren’t the ones being fucking sold! All of this was Kill’s fault. He was the difficult one by being a jackass and unbelievably stubborn.
My back stiffened and I threw pure hatred at the man who should be saving me from this nightmare, not shoving me headfirst. “I hate you, Arthur Killian. I gave you everything. I’m yours from before and now, yet you throw me away as if I’m trash.”
Mr. Steel looked at both of us, a smile plastered on his face. “Shit. It’s like watching a theatre production. You weren’t meant to fuck up the girl, Killian. That’s the new master’s job. Don’t you know the rules of trafficking?”
Kill stood locked to the carpet, not saying a word. His gaze tangled with mine, hiding so much but not hiding enough. I saw the fine edge of panic, the uncertainty—the second-guessing of right and wrong.
Mr. Steel continued, “Rules. Use the women. Take what you want from them. But don’t ever give them anything in return.”
“He didn’t,” I snarled. I couldn’t help myself. “Don’t worry about that. He took everything and gave nothing. I’d say he was a professional at selling women into slavery.”
Kill’s mouth parted, agony slicing over his face.
Good. I wanted him to hurt.
Mr. Steel laughed loudly. “Shit, I’m liking you more and more every second. And in response to your previous statement about her being broken, Mr. Killian—I don’t believe that’s true.” His smile stretched as he looked me up and down. “I wouldn’t say broken. I would merely say clouded. She knows there’s nothing in her past that will help her future.” The smile turned frigid. “Smart, really.”
He repulsed me.
He was evil.
He would die before he ruined me.
My questions from before were answered. What did he hide beneath that glittering veneer?
Darkness.
Oozing filth that I would never be free of. It would stick to me like black oil, even now smearing all over me. But I would willingly wade into his oil and use his darkness to slaughter him.
Mr. Steel lashed out, his fingers imprisoning my hipbones again. “I see what you’re thinking. Might as well forget those dangerous thoughts.” He dragged me closer, breathing hot on my neck. “They’ll only bring you endless pain, lovely.”