at her.
She quickly scrambled up and ran, pausing once in the doorway to stare at me with wide eyes, before disappearing out of the room.
It was useless, but I wrestled in my hold as Mr. du Lac got to his feet, coming to me. A trickle of blood fell from his dark hairline. There was no room in my chest for fear, it was filled with too much vicious hate.
How many women had Arthur du Lac assaulted?
Arthur reached for me—
“Dad?”
He stopped at his son’s voice.
Behind him, West had come into the room. He looked between me and his father, gaze traveling to the hold the guards had on me, the blood trickling from his father’s forehead. I waited for West to dole out some kind of sick punishment.
West’s eyes lingered on me, before landing on his father. “Mom needs you downstairs.”
“Of course,” he replied, still staring at me.
Arthur eyed me up and down, the same look in his eyes as the night he’d assaulted me in Asheville, but there was something else in there now too.
Darker.
Like he’d won.
Then, with a pat on his son’s shoulder, he left.
West gave the two brutes behind me a look, and they dropped me. I fell forward as one of them said behind me, “She bolted, sir.”
I could feel their annoyance.
West was unamused. “Is the small woman too much for both of you to handle? Do you need a third, or maybe a forth? Why not ten?”
“You’ll need at least two, but I want you to have ten.”
“Ten,” I gasped. “I’m not some princess.”
“That was my low number.”
I swallowed a gasp at the sudden, sharp pain any memory of Grayson seemed to elicit. I held my stomach, riding the wave. When I came out of it, the guards were gone, and West was watching me intently.
I blinked, feeling caught. “What?”
“What did I say about being alone with my parents?”
“Believe me,” I gritted. “It wasn’t really a choice.”
His eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”
“Nothing,” I hissed.
West grabbed my elbow, twisting my body and forcing my glare. “What did you do, Story?”
I yanked my elbow free. “Nothing.” I rubbed my neck, hot. “Why was your dad even here?”
He stared at me, but I refused to give him an inch.
“You have an hour to get ready.” He looked over my shoulder, and the guards grabbed me, dragging me back to my room.