Page 6 of Dangerous Deviance
Lucky? What was he going to do with me?
A god? What an arrogant sonofa—
They’ll kill you, the voice said,just like they would kill her.
I balled my fists.
“I’m not—”
His hand curled around my fingers, crushing my knuckles, twisting them in pain, and he leaned in close to me. The smell of smoke and old leather surrounded me. Like he spent his days between walls with men who had far too much power, far too much money, and if I closed my eyes too much, I would fall deep within the rabbit hole, until I couldn’t see the sky anymore.
“If it were up to my brother, you’d be in a cage right now. But you’re not,” he said in a low voice. “You were gifted to me. Like an offering to a god,” he said. The man was obsessed, idealized himself in a way that made me sick. “Don’t forget, Iwantto be nice to you.” His eyes stared deep into my soul, and it felt like his fingers were wrapping around my heart, squeezing it until the muscle palpitated in my chest, making my breath catch in my throat.He wants to be nice to you because he’s filled with cruelty, the voice said.He wants what he can’t have.You can’t fight him, not yet. It will end badly for you.
Unless I played by his rules. Let him play god.
“Don’t make me the bad guy, princess.”
The bad guy? Princess?
He is the bad guy, the voice said.He captured you. And he would do the same thing to her.
He tilted his head back, glancing behind us, and the woman with mahogany hair came forward again. “This is Maddie. She’s going to take care of you for a while.”
“Take care of me?” I asked.
“All right. Out of here. My turn,” Maddie said. Wil got off of the bed and whispered in her ear. “Of course,” she said. Then she sat on the bed next to me, placing a plastic grocery bag full of clothes on the comforter. She leafed through it. “Tell me your size and I’ll bring you better stuff tomorrow. These will do for now. They’ll either be too big for you or just about right,” she said. She glanced at my body, then turned back to the bag. “I think my hips are bigger. Do you work out?”
Work out? Why was she asking me about exercising when I had been ripped from my life and dropped into this one? A life where I didn’t even know where I was. All I had was my name.
I couldn’t figure out what to say. I could hardly remember anything, and that was terrifying.
I was a walking joke.
“Hey,” Maddie said, stroking my arm. I stilled, waiting to see what she did, trying to calculate how far away the nearest weapon was. A pen on the desk. A letter opener. A pair of scissors. I could break a glass and use the shards to stun her. Run away as fast as I could. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “You’re okay. You’realive.” Because death was my only other option. She stared at me, her eyes softening, realizing how deep the fear ran inside of me. “What’s your name?”
Don’t think for a second that you can trust her. You can’t trust anyone.
But I wanted to. I needed to hold onto something to pull myself out. And she hadn’t tried to hurt me yet.
Maybe she would know how to help me.
“Ellie,” I whispered.
“Ellie,” Maddie said. “That’s a pretty name. Is it short for anything?”
No. Don’t tell her. It’s too much. Too much.
She put a hand on my arm and I froze again. “My name is Maddie. I’m here to help you.”
“Who are you?” I asked.
“The housemaid,” she smiled. I glanced her over; jeans were tight over her thick thighs, a loose purple top on her busty chest. Makeup decorated her face, subtle but complimenting her. She didn’t look like a housemaid to me. “Wil hired me, but I work with all of them. Mostly just Wil and Derek though. Axe on occasion.” She shrugged. “Their parents once or twice too.”
Too many names. Wil? Derek? Axe? Who the hell were they?
Ask her, the voice said.Ask her who they are. She knows more than she’s letting on.
“Who are they?” I asked.
