“Why of course?”
I swallowed down the food. “I shouldn’t be getting off from torture.”
“Was it truly torture?”
I scowled at him. “There were handcuffs and I was dangling from a hook. There were chains and sharp shit in the room. And there was a drain in the ground for my blood.”
His wicked grin deepened. “Would you rather the blood stay on the floor?”
“I would rather have not seen that room at all.”
“Then you shouldn’t have stolen my money.”
“That wasn’t your money.”
He shrugged. “Potatoe. Potahto. What does it matter?”
I nudged my egg with the tip of my fork and then looked back at him. “Are you going to cut me again?”
He licked his lips. “Most definitely.”
A shudder of fear and desire overtook me. “Why?”
His eyelids drooped. His gaze heated. “Why do I want to cut you again?”
“Yes.”
“Because it felt so damn good. It turned me on more than ever before. My dick grew so unbearably hard, I couldn’t wait to take it out and show it to you.”
Desire rose above my fear.
My mind. My body. It’s not okay.
Sighing, I pushed my plate away. “Why do you want to cut me or anybody at all?”
“I don’t know the answer to that question.” Cain frowned. “Why are you so suicidal?”
“What?” I raised my brows. “I’m not suicidal.”
He held one finger up. “First, you saw three maniacs robbing strip clubs with guns and you thought it was a good idea to rob those maniacs with guns.”
“You three didn’t seem too crazy to me. It seemed like a smart idea at the time.”
He put up another finger. “Second, when I choked you in your hotel room, you welcomed death as if you deserved it.”
“I was protecting my friend.”
“More than yourself. Where’s the self-preservation?”
“Where’s the loyalty?”
“If the person is not blood, then there’s no loyalty.”
“Sometimes blood relatives aren’t loyal at all. Then what?” I scowled. “Then you form your own family where blood doesn’t move between you, but loyalty does. Actions too. That’s real love.”
“Bullshit. You’re putting her life over yours tells me that her life and body is more important to you than your life and body.” He put another finger up. “Meanwhile, you don’t want to die. That was proven from your decision to live.”
“Of course I want to live.”
“But you want to die too.”
“I don’t.”
“You do. Why?”
I put all my attention on my food.
“Long ago, people would come to me to confess their sins.”
And now you cut their confessions out of them.
I glanced in the direction of his torture room.
“You can tell me anything, Phoenix.”
I shook my head. “Why should I?”
“It would feel good to release yourself of burdens.”
“And you can use what I say against me.”
He moved his gaze down my body. “Why would I, when I can use everything else against you?”
I trembled from the truth of it. “Why would you care?”
“I want to know the woman who will be sleeping in my bed for these next nights.”
“Why?”
“Because no woman has ever slept in it.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Why would I lie?” He leaned his head to the side. “To make you feel special?”
I turned my view to the bed. “Why hasn’t any other woman been there?”
“I don’t like people in here during the day, and I damn sure don’t like them in here overnight.”
I moved my view back to him. “Why not?”
He let out a long sigh.
Not a fan of mental poking and prodding either? Huh?
Cain returned to eating.
I frowned. “If you want me to open up, then you will have to open up too.”
He spoke in a high-pitched voice, “Why?”
I blinked. “Is that an imitation of me?”
“It is. You ask too many questions.”
“You do too.”
“But I’m the one with the knives.”
That triggered a quiver of fear.
I shook it away. “That doesn’t mean I have to tell you anything, if you won’t tell me anything.”
“Is that what it means?”
“Yes. Like you, I want to know who is lying next to me.” I picked up my fork, feeling a bit powerful. However, I didn’t know why I experienced any sense of control. Maybe, I just needed an illusion to hold on to.
“I tell you something. You tell me something.” He put his fork down and leaned back in his chair. “Is that the rules of the game?”
“It is.”
“You’re not going to like the answers that I give you. Some of it might twist your stomach.”
“No more than it has already twisted.”
Smirking, he picked up the remote control and shut off the music. “Then let’s begin.”
Chapter 16
Trauma Bond
Phoenix
S
ilence filled the space.
He’s really going to give me answers?
I set my fork down too, no longer having an appetite.
My psychotic captor intrigued me. He could have been demented and cruel. He could have beaten and raped me. Yet, even when he tortured me he did so with care. He fed and washed me afterward. He played soothing music and answered all my questions about it.