“You all right?” he asks in a gruff voice.
“I … I think so,” I lie.
He closes the space between us, and I shoot to my feet, not willing to be at a disadvantage with him. Reaching out, he snags my chin in his fingers and turns my head, first to the left, then the right, examining me intently.
“What are you looking for?” I ask, dumbfounded.
“Checking for evidence,” he says, as if that’s a very normal thing to look for on someone’s face. “Don’t want to give people any more reason to believe you’re guilty, do we?”
I suppose he has a point, but still, his touch is unnerving. Swatting his hand away, I tilt my chin up and meet his steady gaze. “Now what?” I ask.
A slow grin spreads across his face.
“Now, you do exactly as I say.”
I don’t like his tone of voice. Or how elated he looks.
“What’s that mean?” I murmur.
“It means, I’ve done this big, terrible thing for you.” He steps toward me, and I take a step back to avoid him, the back of my knees hitting the bed. “I want something in return.”
That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, but I don’t say that out loud.
Instead, I retort, “Well that sucks for you, because I have nothing of value to pay you back with.”
Except for the Jacoby fortune.
Which Nora wants to use to destroy his family.
“Oh, I disagree.” He pushes me so I fall back on his mattress, then he crawls up over me to pin my arms above my head. “Because I really do own you now, little masochist.”
TO BE CONTINUED…