KAIRA.
He finally took a slow drink.
Relief rushed through me, I nearly showed it.
I forced my face blank and looked back at the unread page in front of me.
“When?” Halston snapped into the phone.
“Which one?” He paused.
“How bad?”
He slammed the cup back onto the saucer, his voice changed to something deadlier, it seems like the response he got infuriated him more.
I looked up through my lashes.
He didn’t even look at me as he turned and strode out of the hall, barking orders at the guards in the foyer.
His right-hand man, Oliver Grant, entered the room from the hallway, already sensing trouble.
“One of the warehouses is under attack.” He informed him.
His right-hand man’s expression hardened instantly.
“Which one?”
“Dockside.
Take men and go first.
I’ll be there shortly.”
Oliver nodded and left without wasting any time.
Halston turned and headed for the stairs.
I stood up, went to the window, I watched as Oliver and a dozen armed men scrambled toward the black SUVs outside.
The front door slammed.
The house went silent.
I quietly followed Halston to his room, tiptoeing.
I got there just in time to see him stumble.
His hand missed the edge of the dresser and he hit the floor, hard.
For one second, I just stood there, the untouchable Halston Redd on the ground, helpless.
I stepped inside and turned the heavy lock.
Halston’s head turned toward me.
Even in his paralyzed state, his eyes were terrifying.
“What…
did you…
do?” The words were barely a whisper, dragged out of a throat that was already beginning to seize, his arm twitched an inch before falling limp.
“Don’t worry,” I said sweetly.
I walked toward him, the hem of my dress brushing against the carpet. The source of this chapter is g.com.
“It’ll wear off in fifteen minutes.
But fifteen minutes is a very long time in a room with an enemy, don’t you think.” I shook my head as I circled him.
“I never thought I could see a monster unable to bare its teeth.” I jested.
“I swear I’ll kill…” he tried to move but his body refused him.
“Save it.” I didn’t let him finish.
“Pride indeed is the downfall of a man.
You should be begging for mercy not threatening.”
I knelt beside him, close enough to see the muscle ticking in his jaw.
I reached for his waist, unbuckling his leather belt and pulling it through the loops of his trousers.
“What are you doing?” he hissed, his eyes darkening.
“Be patient.” I responded as I doubled the leather belt over my hand.
His gaze followed my every move.
I stood up, reached for a tie on his dresser and stuffed it into his mouth, gagging him so he couldn’t even groan.
Then, with a strength I didn’t know I possessed, I rolled him onto his stomach.
I brought the belt down across his back, and swung it.
The crack of the leather against his back was the most beautiful sound I had heard since I arrived at this estate.
He stiffened, his muffled grunt vibrating through the floor.
I didn’t stop.
I swung again.
And again.
And again.
I watched the fabric of his expensive white shirt tear.
I watched the leather leave welts across his skin.
I looked down at him, expecting rage, maybe even hatred but saw none of it.
He wasn’t begging, he wasn’t even flinching anymore.
He was just watching me with an expression that made my skin crawl.
He was amused.
Even through the pain, even through the humiliation, there was a dark, twisted spark of interest in his gaze.
It was almost as if he liked being struck or perhaps he liked the fact that I was retaliating.
It was glaring in his eyes, some sick part of him admired it.
With five minutes left on the clock, I stopped.
I leaned down, my lips inches from his ear.
“Now,” I whispered, the leather belt falling from my hand.
“We’re even.”
I unlocked the door and walked out, disappearing into the hallway before life returned to his limbs.
**********
At dinner, Halston sat at the head of the table, perfectly dressed, perfectly calm, cutting into his steak.
He didn’t speak and he didn’t look at me either.
Even Oliver, who had returned from the warehouse after expecting him, kept glancing between us, sensing something happened.
I couldn’t eat.
Every time his knife cut through the steak, I flinched.
Somehow, his silence was more terrifying than when he was barking threats.
I pushed food around my plate and watched him, while he took a sip of his wine.
Tension sat at the table with us.
Finally, Oliver cleared his throat slightly.
“The warehouse issue is handled.”
Halston nodded, “Good.” He took a glass of water and drank.
Was that it?
Was that all he had to say?
My mind queried, restlessly.
This time, I was more curious about him than he ever has been about me.
*********
I laid on the bed, unable to sleep.
After dinner, I quickly locked my room door and propped a chair under the handle.
I stayed still, staring at the ceiling until exhaustion eventually dragged me under.
I don’t know how long I slept before I felt it.
That feeling when someone is watching you, when you know you are not alone.
My eyes opened instantly.
I saw the chair I had propped under the handle slid aside like it was made of paper.
Halston stood still in the doorway, his shadow against the dim light of the hall, tall and imposing, watching me.
Moonlight touched part of his face, enough for me to see him.
I sat up so fast the sheets tangled around my legs, my throat felt dry.
“If you’re here to kill me,” I said, voice rough with sleep, “at least have the decency not to do it in a creepy and dramatic way.”
“Get dressed,” he commanded in a way that brooked no argument.
“You’re coming with me.”