Page 7 of Provocation
When he lets me go, I immediately scramble back, feeling my feet hit the floor. My knees threaten to give out and my chest heaves as I whirl around to face him, wiping my cheeks and clearing my eyes. I see he has a black wooden cane with a silver handle in his hand. He looks at where my eyes go and smirks.
‘Banderville ladies don’t drink without permission,’ he says, stepping forward and taking my chin in an iron grip so that I have to look at him. ‘There will be some other rules to follow, too. Breaking them leads to harsh punishment, my little pet.’
He leans forward so that his mouth is at my ear. ‘Or you might know it better ascorrection.’
My mouth drops open as my eyes widen.
He knows about The Heath.
‘How?’ I whisper, pulling away from him.
His eyes linger on my chest for a moment before he answers.
‘Let’s just say this marriage deal has been in the works for a while.’
He’s seen film of me at The Heath. I knew there were cameras, but I never thought…
I feel sick.
I turn and stumble from the room, my stomach twisting as I run down the hallway to the nearest bathroom. Thankfully, he lets me go. The places where he hit me are burning, but that’s a secondary concern for the moment. As soon as I’m inside, I throw up the vile dinner that John plannedjust for meuntil my stomach is blessedly empty.
When I’m sure there’s no more to come up, I turn toward the mirror and will myself to calm down as I wash my mouth out with water and fix my face. Good thing Lu gave me waterproofmascara, I think errantly. Except for my red-rimmed eyes, it doesn’t look like I was just bawling while being bent over a couch and caned by a controlling, psychotic oligarch.
I won’t be marrying Joe, I promise myself. I’m not going to be a part of his horrible family.
I pull my dress up and wince at the bruises that are already blooming on my legs and ass. They’re thick and crisscross each other. Shame envelopes me. Why didn’t I fight back harder? Why did I turn my back on him in the first place? I know better than that. Don’t I?
My eyes narrow as my emotions morph. I hear Mav and Blake’s voices in my head telling me that I shouldn’t be ashamed, that I did nothing wrong. That’s what I know they’d say, and they’d be right. There’s only one thing to feel toward Joe Banderville right now and that’s rage.
That sonofabitch!
My hands clench into fists as I let the dress fall, and I vow that if he ever lays a hand on me again, I’m going to kill him like I killed Mike Larson, only this time, I’ll be smart and not get caught.
I leave the bathroom and stop short as I come face to face with John Novelle himself.
‘Is everything all right, Marguerite?’ he asks with his usual falseness, his eyes trying to penetrate deep into my soul.
‘Of course,’ I say, struggling to hide my anger.
It’s better that he continues to underestimate me. It gives me more of a chance of outsmarting him.
‘I was just powdering my nose.’
I hope it’s not obvious that I was just throwing up my dinner either, but if there’s a smell of half-digested seafood and lemon souffle coming from my person, he doesn’t seem to notice.
‘I got a call from the medical center at Richmond U this week. Apparently, you need some pills?’
‘Yes,’ I say, trying not to make it obvious that I’m clenching my teeth. ‘I get migraines.’
His eyeroll makes me want to launch myself at his wrinkled throat, but I resist.
‘They sell painkillers over the counter for headaches here in the States,’ he says as if I’m an idiot.
I try to discern the point he’s attempting to make without much luck. Even if normal painkillers would do the job, does he think I was allowed to just roam around the English countryside going into chemists…pharmaciesfor pills?
‘Yes,’ I say sweetly, ‘but my headaches are actually Hemiplegic migraines. Over the counter medicines don’t do anything for them. They were well documented at The Heath, but they only sent me here with a few of the pills they prescribed me.’
‘I see.’ His eyes pierce mine and I make myself stare back for as long as he holds my gaze, even though I want to move my eyes away more than anything.
