Thirty-Two
Dominic
I knew she’d defy me. Silently, I stared her down as she stood in front of me in her little, black dress, her blonde waves hanging to nearly her waist. Her eyes were red, which I was sure had something to do with Levin.
He’d been bitching enough lately about having to follow her.
So much that I’d almost told him to fuck off about it and leave it to me and Vincent.
“Knees.” I pointed to the floor in front of me.
Her lips drew into a tight line before she folded to her knees before me like a good girl.
“Why aren’t you in red?”
“Because, respectfully, fuck you,” she said softly, her eyes downcast. “ Your majesty .”
Vincent let out a soft laugh from the edge of my bed. Levin remained wordless.
I drummed my fingers on the arm of my leather chair as I surveyed her. I’d have gutted anyone else who spoke to me like that, but Bianca had a way of making my lips quirk upward. I didn’t hate that. “You’re upset. Why? You’ve been given what you asked for. Are you not protected? Safe?”
“Safety is a matter of opinion,” she answered, still staring at the floor.
“Whose?” I reached for my whiskey and swallowed down the contents of the glass, waiting for her answer. I was buzzed from drinking so much that afternoon and not really in the mood for much of anything.
“Yours. Am I dead? No. Has Hail hurt me anymore? Not yet. But I’m not safe from any of you, the guys who said they’d protect me.
You talk mean to me, hurt me, humiliate me.
It gets worse when you’re pissed off at me.
Levin tried to kill me. It’s no secret that he hates me.
Vincent sees me as some…toy to be played with for his amusement.
” She clenched her hands into fists a few times before blowing out a breath.
“I know I don’t mean anything to any of you.
And that’s fine. I get it, but I’m a person .
I don’t want to be treated like something you stepped in just because of my last name.
I didn’t get a choice in that. I’m Bianca Walker, not Bianca D’Angelou.
I asked for your help. But it’s like I fell out of a hornet’s nest into a pit of vipers. ”
“But you’re safe.” I surveyed her for a moment then leaned forward. “Look at me when I speak to you.”
She slowly lifted her head so her blue eyes were on me. I swallowed as the jolt in my chest sent an electric current throughout my body.
“Good girls get rewards. You haven’t been a good girl,” I said gently, reaching forward to cradle her face. “You don’t come into my life as anything. You earn your place at my side. Is that what you want? To be the girl at my side?”
“I want my life to matter.”
“You want to live?” I studied her, watching as her eyes glistened.
She nodded.
“Speak,” I said softly.
“Yes.”
“You fucked someone else.” I knew in my gut she had. I still didn’t have a name. I needed his fucking name. I needed to take out whoever he was. I’d sent the court out to do some digging, but nothing had come back as of yet.
She visibly swallowed as she stared back at me.
“Tell me who it was, and I promise everything will be OK.”
She licked her lips. “I-I can’t.”
“Why?” I snarled, the rage building in me again.
“I-I. . .”
“She likes him. Hell, probably loves him,” Levin called out softly from across the room.
I turned to him for a moment, my insides churning into a hot mess, before looking back to her.
“Is that true?”
“He’s… not like you—”
“Like me ?” I squeezed her face.
Her hands landed on my thighs as her chest heaved, fear flashing in her glistening eyes. “What the fuck do you find wrong with me, wasp?”
When she didn’t answer me, I shook her face.
“You’re a fucking asshole,” she gasped out.
“And he’s a fucking fairy godmother, granting your pussy wishes?”
“It’s not like that.”
My fingers tightened against her soft skin, knowing I was squeezing too hard but not giving a large amount of shit over the fact. “Then what is it like?”
“He doesn’t hurt me,” she gasped.
I released her and sank back in my seat. Vincent and Levin were both quiet while I surveyed her through narrowed eyes.
“Hurting you isn’t what I want,” I finally said. “In fact, I wanted to give you better than what you had.”
Her eyes widened, her throat bobbing as she swallowed.
I blew out a breath and raked my fingers through my hair. “Tell me what you want. Name your terms.”
She licked her lips. “I want the humiliation to stop. I don’t want to be forced to my knees whenever you demand something from me. I want to be treated with respect and not hurt. I-I want you to not be with other girls—”
“But you can be with other men?” I raised a brow at her, trying to maintain my cool.
Her fucking someone else wasn’t something I’d get over anytime soon even though she wasn’t technically my girl.
She shook her head. “I’m really not. It was a one-time thing. There’s no way it would ever work out between us.”
“And if it could?” I leaned forward, studying her.
“It couldn’t,” she said helplessly. “It’s a nice fantasy, but I’m who I am. I need to accept that and move on.”
I sat back and rubbed my chin. “If you behave, if you listen, I’ll agree to your new terms, but if you see whoever it was again, I really will kill both of you.
I’ll make you watch while I cut his throat, and then I’ll fuck you with the bloody blade.
And if I find out who it was, he’s a dead man still. ”
“I don’t want him to be hurt.”
“Then I guess you’d best hope I never learn his name, huh, wasp?” I said dangerously. “And you’d better hope you uphold your end of the bargain.”
“Fine.” She glared at me. “But you can’t beat me with your belt anymore either.”
I nodded. “Unfortunately, I cannot agree to that.”
She looked alarmed as her mouth fell open. “Why?”
I cocked my head at her. “Because I think you secretly like a little pain with your pleasure. And I happen to enjoy listening to you scream. Had it been any other time, I would’ve buried myself inside you afterward.
Instead, I put my fist through a wall. We were both punished that day, don’t you think? ”
She took a moment to answer but finally let out a grunt of acknowledgement.
“Promise no more public humiliations?”
“Cross my heart, wasp, as long as you swear you’ll be a better charge.”
“Agreed.” She held her hand out to me.
I eased forward on the edge of my seat and took her delicate hand in mine. I hauled her between my legs.
Leaning in, I whispered in her ear, “Don’t make me regret this. I never negotiate. Promise me.”
“I promise, Dominic,” she answered, her hand moving to rest over my heart.
I locked gazes with my friends behind her. Vincent nodded at me. Levin simply stared back, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.
That was all I needed to see. We had a truce. I hoped it lasted.
“Let’s put this mess behind us and relax tonight, OK?” I pulled away and released her.
I thought she’d move away from me. When she didn’t, I thumbed her bottom lip, enjoying how her lips parted for me.
“Levin, lock my door.”
Her eyes widened, but I shifted away from her, sinking back into the leather chair.
We all needed a night away from the bullshit. I hoped we got it. I hoped. . . well, I hoped for a lot of fucking things, but deep down inside, I hoped Bianca could forgive me for the monster I was.
Because I was only going to get worse if she went back on her word.
One cannot blame a monster for doing monster things, and I was the scariest monster of all.