Her punishments were adding up each time she opened her lips. Too bad I wouldn’t taste them for a while yet. Not until she was broken beyond all repair and begged me to take her.
“Not quite. But that’s all you need to know for now. What I need to know is whether you agree to my terms. As you see, Judge Montagnet has agreed to suspend your father’s sentence for the year’s time you agree to be mine. If at any time you breach this contract, Montagnet will immediately sentence your father and have him taken to the prison of my choosing. I rather like Dunwoody—no air conditioning and a widespread rodent infestation.” I waited a beat, just to let the idea of rats crawling over her father while he slept sink into her mind. Then I continued, “So, as I’ve said from the start, it’s up to you. The choice is yours.”
I handed her back the contract. She took it, though I still wasn’t sure if she’d rip it to pieces before my eyes. Her anger was unpredictable, wild. I wanted to taste it, take it in and relish it.
“Choice? You call this a choice?” She pushed her hair behind her ear in a violent movement.
“That’s exactly what it is. Don’t sign. Let your father meet his fate. Or do sign, and give him a total reprieve.” I relaxed back into my seat, though I kept my gaze on her.
She chewed her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. She didn’t seem to notice. I wanted to run my thumb across her mouth and sample the flavor.
She stared past me, back into the warm light cascading through the front door of her house. “I can’t decide on this right now. I need to get out of here. Away from you.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible, Stella. I’m an early riser and, what with how late it already is, I’ll need to be getting back home. So, you either stay here and I’ll see you at the sentencing, or you come with me now and put the whole unpleasantness of the court system behind you and your father.”
I smiled.
She cringed. Perfection.
I couldn’t let her out of the car, not now that she was so close to signing. I could tell she was standing at the edge of the precipice, looking over the side and pondering the jump. Would the fall kill her? Perhaps.
She dropped her gaze to her lap. “How can you do this? You’re supposed to uphold the law.”
My hand itched to slap her for such a foolish question. For the pure naïve idiocy of it. But she wasn’t mine yet.
“Public offices like mine are just a remnant of the noblesse oblige. It means nothing to me or my family. We couldn’t care less if people like you rape and murder each other, or get hooked on drugs, or hurt their own kind. Enough questions. What’s it going to be, Stella?”
“People like me?” Her eyes, shimmering with tears, found mine again.
My anger had reached its zenith. Her futile display of emotion wasn’t going to change my plans. Nothing would. “For fuck’s sake, Stella, sign it!”
She recoiled at my words and turned to open the car door.
Shit. I forced myself to remain still. I wanted to grab her by the hair and drag her to me. I didn’t. I let her finally find and pull the handle before she ran away and back into the house. The door slammed behind her, smothering the yellow light and leaving everything dark.
Chapter Four
Stella
I dashed past the library, narrowly avoiding Dylan as he came out into the hall.
“What—”
I ignored him and took the stairs two at time until I came to my room. I heard his heavy steps behind me but I slammed my door and clicked the lock over. I leaned back against the solid wood, my heart beating so loud that I thought my ears would burst from the pressure.
A hard knock at the door.
“Dylan, go away.” It was more of a plea than a command.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to talk.”
“Let me in.” He twisted the handle, the metal parts clicking and scraping but not giving way.
“No. Just go. Please, Dylan.”
“Who was that guy? Do I need to do something?”
Yes, you need to kill Sinclair Vinemont. “No. Just go.”
The floorboards creaked, as if Dylan was walking in a circle outside my door.
“Dylan, please, just go back to your mom’s house. I need to rest. The sentencing tomorrow…”
The creaks stopped and a thump sounded, his hand hitting the door. “I’m sorry, Stella. About earlier. I just thought it would help is all. I didn’t mean to cock things up even worse.”
“You didn’t. Really. I just, I just need to rest is all.”
Another, lighter thump. “Okay. You’re right. I’ll go. See you in the morning. I’ll be there for you.”