Page 102 of Provocation
‘Go on,’ he says, tone deceptively soft. ‘Look inside.’
I glance back at Marcus to see that he’s still in the same spot, and I step forward, opening the lid of the box slowly.
A little grey box with black straps and a tiny light that glows red when it’s— I gasp as I recognize it, skittering backward without thinking, but Marcus is waiting. His hands take hold of my upper arms tightly, not letting me go as Joe calmly stands.
I’m plunged headlong into a specific moment at The Heath, one of many. I’d bent down to fix my sock that was rucked up in my shoe and one of the blanks had noticed I wasn’t sitting up straight. The resulting zap jolted me forward, making my hit my face on one of the chairs in front of me. I’d had a black eye for days.
I have a hundred stories like that.
Joe takes the GED out of its satin-lined home.
‘What was the nickname for these at The Heath?’ he asks casually, fingering the thick black straps.
I don’t answer and try not to make it apparent that terror has won over the anger that I was feeling.
‘Stingers,’ Marcus laughs nastily.
‘Oh, that’s right,’ Joe chuckles. ‘Ingenious device. This one’s a bit different from the one you used to wear on your leg. Thestinghas a little more kick.’
His small smile is terrifying. He wants to put it on me. He wants me to give him a reason to hurt me.
‘You have a choice,’ he says, coming to stand before me with the GED hanging from his fingers.
I try to hide my shaking, my splayed out hands.
‘You can strap this to your leg right now, and we’ll see how much you can take, or, you agree to lose the dress.’
I blink at him, trying to understand. ‘Pardon?’
‘The stinger goes on, or the dress comes off. Your choice, Marguerite. But, no matter what you decide, it is your decision so long as you make one. You’ll definitely remember to keep your chats with LiLi to a list of preapproved topics after this. Now, choose, or I’ll choose for you.’
‘The dress,’ I say, my eyes not leaving the device in his hand until he steps back and puts it in the box out of sight. I breathe out in relief.
‘Go on.’
My shaking hand goes to the zip on the side, but I can’t grip the tiny tab.
Joe sits on the desk again, looking amused.
‘As promised, you can do the honors, brother.’
Marcus lets out a low laugh. ‘Finally.’
He rips the zip down and pulls the dress off my shoulders to my waist. I cringe as my top half is bared to them both, butbefore anything else can happen, we hear Lizzie’s voice in the hall.
‘Sure, mom. They’re in the library. I’ll just grab them for you.’
I’ve never heard anything better in my life, I decide, as the brothers’ eyes meet and, with a snarl, Marcus pulls my dress back up just as Lizzie barges into the room.
‘Oh!’ She stops short. ‘Marcus. Joe. Apologies. I didn’t know you were in here.’
She looks around them at me and her eyes move over me so quickly that I know the men don’t notice.
‘Higgins says the car is ready to take you home, Marguerite,’ she says. ‘You better get going. You have that Shakespeare play to catch up on for class next week, right?’
‘Right,’ I say faintly.
And I suddenly realize that Elizabeth planned to interrupt. She just saved me from her brothers.
