Shaking, I shared a look with Donovan only to have Troy grab me by the chin and jerk my head back toward his.
“In this room, I’m your master.”
I cried harder, unable to even see the metal X, as I stepped out of my heels and got on the mechanism.
He hadn’t tied me up yet, but I knew he would.
Tears continuously slid down my cheeks and onto the ground below me.
How many women had been in here? How many against their will?
I squeezed my eyes shut in preparation and waited for the worst, knowing it wouldn’t end here. Silently praying that Donovan would save me.
My villain.
My captor.
Turned hero.
Donovan
She was shaking so hard the table was moving.
I did this to her.
I dangled her in front of the one man with enough money and power to take her. This was on me. He was testing my limits, and if I intervened, he’d know with absolute certainty that she wasn’t just my pet—she was so much more than that. Troy circled the X and then stopped in front of a cabinet. He jerked open the doors and made a sound of relief.
“I thought I’d forgotten to put it back after the last time I was in here.”
He pulled out the cat o’ nine tails and caressed it like it was his child, and suddenly I was back in that room.
Hurting my mother.
My father holding my hands, yelling, forcing, breaking me into a million pieces.
I couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t move.
He knew I couldn’t bear to look, let alone with him using it on my pet. No, not just my pet. Rage took over as he showed it to her, dangling it in front of me.
“What do you think, Donovan? Nine or twelve hits across this beautiful skin.”
His fingertips danced down her spine, gripping her ass in a squeeze that would leave marks later.
He liked marking.
He liked the tears.
The screams, the blood, and the sadistic bastard didn’t just do it to get off. He did it because he liked the power. He wasn’t a true dominant who cared about their submissive, about their pets, and by the looks of it, he’d only gotten worse.
Juliet continued to shake as Troy reached for the first rope.
“I won’t tie you up, but you have to promise not to move. However, you may scream as loud you’d like. Nobody will hear you anyway. Nobody will come. Nobody will care. You’re no longer a human. You’re property, a pet.” He jerked on her leash. “I’m sure you’ve lied to yourself, imagining someone rescuing you, there is no rescue, and there is no need for it. We set you free, and one day, your heart will simply stop beating because of it.” He grinned, lowering his voice. “Now, say thank you, Master, for being so benevolent.”
“T-thank.” She burst into tears, her body rocking against the table. “F-for…” He lifted the whip and snapped it across her right thigh.
It was a light hit.
But it still pulled back skin, causing her to bleed.
Ordering, “Say it, pet!”
He raised the whip again and struck her much harder, this time on her inner thigh.
She screamed out in pain, loud enough to make me wince. Reminding me of my mother when my father made her take her last breath. There was no time for me to hesitate, no time to realize that my actions would have consequences. I moved on pure instinct.
She wasn’t his to hurt.
Mine.
“Juliet, don’t you fucking dare!” I seethed, running at Troy and shoving him up against the wall. My fists went flying until his face was nothing but a bloody mess. “You want blood? Now there’s your fucking blood!” He stumbled to the floor. I didn’t look back. I grabbed Juliet in my arms. “We’re going home.”
She crumpled into my chest, and I hauled ass out of the room, leaving the piece of shit on the ground in a pool of his own blood.
I walked down that hall with so much anger in my body and no place to release it unless I released it onto her, and with her bleeding and sobbing in my arms, all I could do was walk.
I couldn’t speak.
I could barely breathe.
We rounded a corner and nearly ran into Elaina, Troy’s wife.
I shook my head. “Clean him up. Room thirteen. I’m sure it’s not the first time.”
Her eyes filled with worry, nodding. “And not the last.”
This was the first I heard of it. “How often?”
Her eyes darted from Juliet’s body in my arms to the hallway.
“I’m not at liberty to say.”
“Elaina.” I clenched my jaw. “Make sure he knows I’m going to fucking destroy him.”
Her eyebrow shot up. “Because of a little blood?”
“Because he touched what is mine!”
I shouldn’t have even tried talking. I left her there, shaken and confused by my outburst.
Valet had parked my car out front. They usually did when I was in the estate or entertaining.
“Keys,” I hissed.
The valet fumbled through the keys and finally found my key fob.
“Thank you as always, Mr—”
“Shut the fuck up.”
I opened the passenger door and gently sat Juliet in. She wouldn’t meet my eyes as I buckled her seat belt. I ran to my side, hit the gas, and we were off.
But we weren’t going to her old room.
No.
She wasn’t safe there.
Never again.
Her sniffles filled the car. I drove through the streets of Seattle until I hit the dead end that led to my driveway up on the hill.
While waiting for the gates to open, she must have seen a chance to escape and started pulling at the door.
“Stop,” I ordered. “Now.”
I tugged her against me. The blood from her thigh was soaking through her dress, and she was shaking, clearly going into shock. I held her there, trying to give her the only comfort I could. The wrought iron gates opened, leading to my mile-long driveway.
A forest surrounded my opulent mansion.
She’d easily get lost and probably pass out from the shock she was in.
Sleeping with the villain was safer.
Wasn’t it?
The lights from the main house finally showed as I pulled off the driveway and in front of the garage that housed my car collection.
I parked and went to Juliet’s door to help her out.
Her eyes bulged, looking at her surroundings.
Waterfalls surrounded the garage on all sides, flowers, trees; it was my own personal Eden.
It was built for my mom.
She gave me heaven in her music, so I gave her heaven in my home and gardens.
At Juliet’s soft gasp, I continued carrying her in my arms. There was no letting her go. This was where she needed to be. I was the only man who could offer what she needed in that instant. She might have been mad at me, and I deserved it. I would make it better. I would heal her if it was the last thing I ever did. I would make it right. I needed to, for her and for me.
I shouldn’t have let Troy manipulate me as if I was nothing more than a child, a little boy, the one he had taken under his wing. He’d made me the man I was supposed to be. I couldn’t believe how foolish I’d been to fall into his fucking trap.
I knew better.
I was smarter.
Wiser.
Always a step ahead of him.
I let him take her, and the motherfucker even tried to get her to call him Master. He had pushed me to the brink, and I’d allowed it. Despite beating his face in, I still felt weak and at his mercy. He knew now without reasonable doubt what I’d do for Juliet, and that was a power he’d eventually hold over my head.