Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 75783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75783 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
I shake my head, not fully understanding what he means. When I don’t answer, he waits a moment, raising his eyebrows to silently urge me to continue.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say just before he lets go of the back of the chair, and it falls to the ground. I shriek as it crashes against the marble floor. My head slams against the back of the chair, and it’s immediately pounding.
Before I can even register what just happened, the two guards lift me and the chair up with ease. Malik is sitting on the stool in front of me again, manspreading as he rests his elbows on his knees.
“The more I have to ask, the more difficult your punishments will be,” Malik warns, his eyes dark and narrow as they stay glued to my face. “Consider that one a test. Now, I want you to tell me who took what belonged to me.”
I just shake my head again and try to search my aching brain for any semblance of an idea of what he’s talking about. Maybe this has something to do with one of the business dealings with Dawson? But I still don’t know what those are. All I know is that Malik is into some shady stuff, and I suppose that means Dawson is too. Did somebody steal from him, and he thinks I know about it?
“If you’ll explain more, maybe I can—” I begin before I’m interrupted by a harsh slap across my face. My head whips to the side, and the sting on my cheek is all I can focus on. It practically knocks me into a daze.
I feel my skin burning from the humiliation and anger, and I strain my muscles against the rope in an attempt to break free. If this is just the beginning, I don’t want to see whatever else he has planned.
“Who took what belonged to me?” Malik asks again, demanding an answer to a question I don’t understand. I’m about to tell him that again, but before I can say anything, his hand is in my hair as he grabs a fistful and forces me to look at him.
I let out a cry and try to look away from him. Seeing the blind fury in his eyes is enough to make every hair on my body stand on end. It’s horrifying.
“I don’t know what you mean!” I shout back. He tugs my hair hard enough that I worry he’ll rip it from the scalp. The chair leans in the direction he’s pulling, and he takes advantage of the opportunity to shove me to the ground again. This time, I land on my side and feel a radiating pain in my shoulder.
He backs away as the guards lift me up once again, and he paces the ground in front of me while a twisted smile grows on his face.
“You really don’t know what I’m talking about?” Malik asks, knowing what my answer is already. “You don’t know about the deal Henry made at all. How he promised you to me?”
I sit in silence, letting his words wash over me. My mom has always had a sixth sense for picking men who put me in danger. Apparently, Henry is no different.
“Promised me to you?” My voice is small and meek when I squeak out my question. Malik just nods, the amusement clear on his face. Dawson was right; he is crueler than I ever could have imagined.
“Your stepfather and I have been looking for an avenue to get into business together for a while. Until he met you, he didn’t have anything to offer me,” Malik says as he looks me up and down. He licks his lips, and my skin crawls at the obscene gesture. I can only imagine what Malik was promised. “He thought you were pure, but I guess he didn’t take into consideration that you would be a whore like your mother.”
I don’t know if he expects me to be upset by him talking about my mom, but it doesn’t faze me. What catches my attention is how he expected me to be pure. They thought I was a virgin.
It all clicks into place, and the knot in my stomach seems to grow tenfold. Henry and my mother were in this together, and she told him that I hadn’t ever dated anyone. After that, they must have made the conclusion that I would be the perfect bargaining chip to get whatever it is they want from Malik. He wanted a young virgin to defile, and they thought I was the perfect choice.
My own mother must have given him information about me. She and I have had a complicated relationship, but this feels like a knife in the heart.
Everything would have gone according to plan if it hadn’t been for Dawson. They never considered he would be attracted to me. They never thought I would lose my virginity to him in the weeks I was supposed to spend in his custody.