Page 55 of Monster's Edge

She leads the way to the house with Georgetta following. Ian keeps his hand on my forearm as I move with him. The two of us are entangled in this weird sort of wonderful dance where I never know what’s going to happen and I’m constantly scared as hell. It reminds me of my first recital, honestly. That day was a rainy, cold day where everything that could possibly have gone wrong did, but I still had to go dance.

And I did.

I pulled on my big girl panties, put on a brave face, and I danced my heart out.

That’s what I’m going to have to do now.

I’m going to have to be brave, and I’m going to have to dance for Ian. Only, this dance doesn’t have moves that I’ve spent hours perfecting. This dance is dangerous and difficult and a single wrong move could make everything around me come tumbling down.

I don’t know if I’m ready for this dance.

I also know that I don’t have a choice.

We reach the house. None of us says a word as we step inside. There’s a little shelf just inside the front door. Ian slips off his shoes and places them on the shelf. Georgetta follows suit. I just stare at both of them. Is this for real?

“Your shoes,” Ian says. It’s a command and a reminder all rolled into one. My shoes? He seriously wants me to take them off?

I’ve lost so much today that even the idea of taking off my shoes for him feels heavy and difficult. I don’t particularly want to do this, but I also know that I don’t have much of a choice. Ian is going to make me do whatever he wants, and apparently, what he wants is to not have skid marks on his perfectly polished marble floors.

“Rose,” he says again. This time, there’s more ice in his tone, and I start moving quickly to pull my shoes off. I don’t want him flicking my nipples or spanking my ass in front of Georgetta, and I know that he’d do both of those things and worse. Ian is the type of person who doesn’t even think twice about stuff like that. He just does what he wants.

As soon as my shoes are on the shelf – which still blows my mind considering how big this house is – the three of us head down a hall. I glance over my shoulder to see the woman who walked us inside. She’s still standing by the door and she’s still wearing her shoes.

“Who is that?” I ask quietly. My voice is no louder than a whisper.

I don’t particularly expect Ian to answer me, but to my complete surprise, he does.

“That’s Elizabeth. She’s one of my security people.”

“But she’s a woman.”

The faint hint of a smile teases his lips as he looks over me. His pace hasn’t slowed. He’s not being gentle with me at all today.

“Women can be security members, Rose.”

Georgetta is silent. She’s probably completely exhausted after all of this, and I don’t really blame her. What we’ve been through is traumatic. It’s also the kind of situation I can’t see ending well.

What exactly is going to happen next?

She can’t go back to my dad’s. He saw her helping me escape. He saw. He knows that the two of us were escaping together. If she eventhinksabout going back to him, he’ll kill her. All of her belongings are gone now. They’ve probably already been burned or trashed. Hell, maybe he’s sold them. It’s been a few hours now.

Maybe he’s gotten rid of my things, too.

We stop walking in front of a large wooden door. Ian turns to Georgetta.

“This is your room,” he tells her. “Go inside. Someone will come get you for dinner.”

“Thank you,” Georgetta says, and she places her hand on the knob. Before she turns it, though, she glances back over at me. “You’re going to be okay, Rose. We both are.”

I nod. She doesn’t hug me, but that’s okay. Georgetta only hugs me in secret. My dad warned her a long time ago that she’s not supposed to hug me because it’s not appropriate or something like that. Really, he just didn’t want anyone offering me physical affection because I’m supposed to be as cold and heartless as he is.

Still, as a kid, she always managed to steal hugs and snuggles. Sometimes she would tuck me into bed and lie with me for hours just reading me stories and playing with my hair. In many ways, she was like the big sister I never had. She never replaced my dead mother, and I never really thought of her as a mother, but I always appreciated her love.

“I’ll see you soon,” I promise her. I don’t know if it’s true. Ian doesn’t say a word as Georgetta goes into her bedroom and closes the door. There’s a lock on the outside knob, but he doesn’t lock her in. I glance over at him, silently asking why.

“She’s not going to leave,” he tells me simply. Then he adds, “she’s not a prisoner.”

I don’t know if that’s true, though. He’s taken us to his house. Maybe he’s going to save us, but it’s Ian we’re talking about. There’s nothinggoodor noble about this man. Everything he does is cold and calculated. Each move he makes is carefully planned because it has to be. That’s the type of person he is.

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