Cruel Control by Candace Wondrak

Chapter Two – Juliet

I woke with a start, gasping for breath as I jerked awake. My vision was slow to come back to me, and every time I blinked, things grew clearer. My hands were tied behind my back with what felt like plastic zip-ties, and as I glanced down, I saw I still wore my fuzzy unicorn pajamas.

Well, that was a good thing, at least. My clothes were intact. I hoped that meant he didn’t touch me or anything while I was unconscious.

I tried to wriggle from the zip-ties, looking around. Beneath me, I felt a steady hum, and I soon realized why that was. I was in the backseat of a car. I saw the guy’s brown head up front, and I scooted to the side, gazing out of the window, wondering if I should try to open the door and fling myself out.

Out of a moving car. Yeah, that couldn’t be too fun, but it was better than being kidnapped, wasn’t it? I did not recognize the road we were on, but at least it wasn’t a highway. I might survive a fall—

“I know what you’re thinking,” his voice cut through my thoughts, like a freaking mind-reader. “The doors have child locks on, so you won’t be able to get out. But by all means, feel free to—”

I turned around, fumbling with my tied-up hands until I grabbed the door handle and pulled on it. Locked, just as he’d said.

“—try,” he finished dryly, eyeing me up in the rearview mirror. “Look, I’m sorry about what I had to do, but you were being impossible.” His voice sounded genuine, but I was nothing to him, so I had no idea why he’d bother to try to apologize for kidnapping me.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked, breathless. “How do you know me? Who are you?”

“You’ll see,” he said. “And I told you already, I can’t tell you why I’m doing this. Just know it’s not me, okay? I wouldn’t… I don’t get off on scaring girls and taking them from their beds.”

I pointedly ignored the getting off part, shooting back, “I’m not scared.” Okay, that might’ve been a lie, but at least it was a lie he chose to ignore. That, or it would just be a waste of breath to try to correct me on it. “You know my name. I think it’s only fair I know yours.” I was just trying to get something out of him. Anything.

He sighed. “Fine, I don’t see the harm in that. My name is Jaxon.” Jaxon? Who the heck’s name was Jaxon? I huffed, and my displeasure must’ve been evident, for he added, “What? Got a problem with my name?”

“I have a problem with all of you, actually,” I stated, causing him to laugh. He seemed like such a carefree guy, considering the fact he’d broken into my house and crept into my room, all to kidnap me. “How long were you in my house?”

“Hours,” he replied. “You were dreaming, I think. I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“So, you… you watched me sleep?” I sounded aghast, angrier that he’d been a creep more than the fact he’d kidnapped me. “That’s not right. You don’t watch people sleep, unless you’re a centuries-old vampire.” Oops. I probably shouldn’t have that last part out loud.

Jaxon was quiet for a few moments, and then he whispered something that made my gut harden in the worst way, “No, we’re much worse than that, I’m afraid.” His eyes once again locked on mine in the mirror. “This shit you’re in, it might not be your shit, but you were the easiest to get to. I know it’s not worth much, but I’m sorry for what we’re going to do to you.”

Oh, my God. What did that mean? What did any of that mean? I literally had no idea what to think, and I found myself saying, “Are you going to kill me?” I didn’t want to die. I never left the house, not really, not unless it was with Daddy. This… this might be my last and only vacation from that place.

Why? Why me? Was it because of Daddy?

There was still so much in life I wanted to experience. I knew I was innocent and sheltered compared to people my age, people who’d been out in the world, going to school with their peers and having friends. Boyfriends. Sex.

No, I really shouldn’t be thinking about that last thing. Not right now.

“It’s not up to me,” Jaxon answered me, pulling me from my thoughts. “Everything is up to him.” He got quiet after that, offering me no more explanations, even though I tried to ask. He was silent during the rest of the drive, and I leaned back on the leather seat, staring down at my lap.

This sucked. This sucked something major. Wherever he was, I hoped Daddy was okay.

I sought to get my heart under control, to stop my thoughts from running wild. I didn’t know where we were going, I didn’t know why I’d been taken, but I hoped, at least, before I was taken from this world, I would get some answers. It was the least they could do, right? Tell me the truth before killing me. I didn’t think I was asking for too much there, you know? Like, at least let me know why they were doing this.

The houses we drove past started to grow in size and the general property space they were on. Everything started to get bigger, and I found my eyebrows creasing when I saw us drive by a sign on the side of the road that said Welcome to Midpark.

Wait a minute. Midpark? Was our destination in Midpark?

I couldn’t say why, but my heart fell at the possibility. I remembered that night, two years ago, when Daddy had brought me with him to a party here. He’d been surrounded by rich people, talking with them, laughing—and they’d claimed he’d helped them take care of their problems. I had asked him what they’d meant, but Daddy had been short with me after I’d wandered off.

All I’d wanted was one night. Just one night where I could pretend I was someone else. A different girl, a girl who would vanish the moment the clock struck twelve. Cinderella trying to find her prince. But all I’d found that night were questions—questions and a man who was the very opposite of a prince, much like Jaxon was.

I swallowed, staring at my empty lap, at my stupid pajamas. I’d been so foolish. There were no princes in Midpark. There would be no happy ending for me. This was it. This was the end for me, and I didn’t even know why that was.

It took us another thirty minutes to reach our destination. The roads got busier once we got further into Midpark, the morning rush hour, and it seemed wherever we were going was on the other side of the city.

I tried not to stare, but my curiosity got the better of me when we pulled off the road before a tall, spiked gate. Jaxon hit something on the visor, and the gate was slow to open. We pulled through, and I saw cameras everywhere, watching everything. The gate closed behind us, and I saw the high stone fence that seemed to travel both ways, enveloping what had to be the entire property.

Talk about security. Even Daddy, who was super paranoid about everything, didn’t have anything close to this.

And then I saw it. The house. Although, it wasn’t a house, not really. It wasn’t even a mansion. It was more like a frigging castle, multiple stories tall with huge windows and beautiful stonework. It was definitely the biggest place I’d ever seen, and I could not fight the unease rising up in my belly.

This would not be good. I knew it. I’d known it ever since waking up and finding Jaxon in my room, but the truth was only hammered in further as we pulled up to the front door. The other house in Midpark, the one Daddy had brought me to that night, was nothing compared to this. This house blew any other out of the water.

Jaxon parked the car, turned her off, and got out. He walked around the vehicle, stopping at my door, yanking it open. He bent down, glancing inside at me, and I was frozen, unable to move. Not a single part of me wanted to go inside that house, because I knew, deep down, once I did, I would never get out. Escaping a fortress like this, with how much security it had, would be near impossible.

“Come on,” Jaxon whispered, shooting me a pleading look. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be, Juliet.” He spoke my name so softly, almost tenderly, and I met his green eyes, wishing I could blink and make this all disappear.

When I moved not a single muscle, he reached inside the car, a gloved hand wrapping around my upper arm before lugging me out, forcing me out of the vehicle and onto my own two feet. Once I was steady, once my bare feet hit the concrete below, I gazed up at the impressive house, feeling uneasy on my own two feet.

Jaxon said nothing else, pulling me up the front steps, to the grandiose front door. Inside we went, and I was brought inside a house that looked more like a museum than anything. Seriously, everything in that other house was put to shame compared to this, even its decorations. This was not a normal house, not a normal rich person mansion.

This… whoever had the money to live here, to pay for this and all the bills that came along with it, they had to have some kind of money. More than money. More money than they could possibly know what to do with. The kind of wealth I could not even dream of or fathom.

I was taken to what must be an office, forced to sit in a leather chair that faced a wide, mahogany desk. The room had no windows, a single light hanging above. Wood paneling on the walls, but not the cheap kind you saw in older homes that hadn’t been touched in years. The whole place screamed rich and snobby, and for them to be able to kidnap me without fearing the police coming after them… it had to mean something.

Or they just didn’t care. With how much money they certainly had, they could easily hire the best lawyers in the United States to defend them, and they’d get off without any jail time for killing me, I bet.

I squirmed on the seat, wishing my hands were undone, but Jaxon made no moves to cut me free. No one else was in the office yet, just me and Jaxon, and I threw a look over my shoulder, wordlessly pleading with him, begging him to take me out of here. It wasn’t too late to turn around, to make all this go away. Take me back home, let me crawl back into bed, and we could pretend none of this happened.

Sounded like a good plan, didn’t it? I thought so.

Jaxon and I met eyes, and I whispered, “Please…” That one word was all I could get out.

He shook his head once. “I’m sorry, Juliet. I can’t.” To his credit, it did sound like he didn’t want to bring me here, but what good did feelings do? He still stole me away, kidnapped me, bound my wrists behind my back and brought me here.

And I didn’t know why, which felt like the worst part.

Footsteps echoed behind me, and I dared not look to see whose they were. My back snapped rod straight, and I wished my wrists were not tied with zip-ties. I wished I had some way to defend myself, if someone attacked me. Something better than a stupid Harry Potter book. For the first time ever, that book had let me down. Or maybe Jaxon’s skull was just super thick.

“Leave us,” a strong, commanding voice spoke from behind me. A man’s voice, low and deep, the kind of voice that crawled over your skin and suffocated you when you weren’t looking. Vaguely familiar, and yet a stranger to me all the same.

Jaxon said nothing, and before I knew it, I was alone with the new man. I heard the door to the office close, and I gulped, my heart beating so fast in my chest it might just pop out and run away. Wouldn’t that be something? I wished I could follow its lead.

Strong, warm hands grabbed my arms, and it took me a moment to realize what the man was doing. He hooked a finger around the zip-tie, and I resisted the urge to squirm away. It was a second later before the sound of metal flicking out filled my ears, and another before my wrists were finally free.

I brought my wrists to my lap, rubbing them, the skin around my wrists sore and glaringly red from being so unceremoniously tied up.

“I take this to mean you did not come peacefully,” he spoke, his words not a question but a statement of my past actions. He was tall, ridiculously tall, and he wore a black suit that was fitted to his towering figure. His mere presence made every inch of me want to crawl and hide, find someplace where I could shield myself from him.

Though I did not want to look at the man, I found my eyes gravitating toward him as he walked with a slow, measured pace to the desk, rounding its corners before sitting in the high-backed leather chair facing me.

My breath caught, all words failing me right then.

His eyes, such a dark brown they were nearly black, studied me. You could not tell where the pupil ended and the color of the iris began. His jaw was square, a thin coating of black stubble lining it. His hair was just as I remembered, though a small bit of it fell over his forehead. He leaned forward, resting his hands on the desk, flashing the watch he wore on his left wrist. He said nothing, but his silence was everything. He must’ve put the knife he used away.

His expression gave nothing away, but just because he did not sneer or smile did not mean he didn’t radiate the same intensity I remembered. Even more so now, since I was on his turf and there were no masks to be seen.

It took everything in me to say a single word, and that was his name, as weighted and as powerful as it was: “Markus.”

He blinked slowly, holding my stare as he spoke, “Good. You remember me.” He did not sound too particularly thrilled with my knowledge, my remembrance of him, but I dared to think this man was hardly ever happy or thrilled, like, ever.

I wanted to ask him how in the world he thought I could ever forget him, that I’d dreamed of that night so often these last two years, but I couldn’t. I was rendered speechless under the power of his stare, nailed to the seat I sat on.

His dark, scrutinizing gaze took in what I wore, and I mentally cursed myself for not changing out of these silly pajamas. He said a single word, “Interesting.” And he said no more, leaving me to wrestle with the heat creeping up my neck and the blush appearing on my cheeks.

This was the man Jaxon had brought me here to meet? Why? Just because I’d met him two years ago did not make me feel any better. This man… he was dangerous. I might’ve lived a sheltered life, but even I could recognize the unrepentant menace flowing out of every pore on that man’s body.

And it was an impressive body, too—not that I was paying any attention to it.

“Well?” he spoke again, stirring me out of my inappropriate thoughts. “I imagine you are full of questions, such as why you’re here.” When I made no moves to speak, his lips thinned, his stare narrowing somewhat. He did not look amused. “Cat got your tongue, Juliet?” The way he said my name reminded me of that night two years ago.

Out of all of the people there I could’ve had a little rendezvous in the garden with, it had to be this man. The man who, at the time, had claimed he was the reason I was there, that he’d told Daddy to bring me. I’d asked Daddy why he brought me, though I’d always danced around bringing up Markus’s name, but he’d been short with me for weeks after the party, never wanting to talk about it, always bringing up the fact that I’d left his side after I’d promised him I wouldn’t.

“Why am I here?” I finally found my voice, though it trembled, not nearly strong enough to be underneath Markus Scott’s gaze.

He hardly blinked as he stared at me, and I rubbed my feet together on the floor. My toes felt very cold all of a sudden. “So, you don’t know, then?” He cocked his head, his stare hardening. He must be the king of intense looks.

And also the king of this castle, if I had to guess. Probably the most powerful man I’d ever meet, and I’d been so clueless to it that first night.

I licked my lips, so very thirsty. “I don’t know why I was kidnapped, no.” I might’ve taken on an air of defiance, so go me, but my spirit faded when a faint ghost of a smirk crossed Markus’s face.

He leaned forward a bit. “Are you getting an attitude with me?” When I stayed silent, he said, “Let me inform you of where you are. This might look like a home to you, but to you, Juliet, it’s a prison. You are here to stay, and while you are here, you will do anything and everything I tell you to. Do you know why?”

Everything in me felt hot, my heart beating too fast. It took me entirely too long to say the word, “Why?” Mostly because I was afraid of the answer, of what it would mean. This place… I did not want to be stuck here, under Markus’s thumb. It seemed like a very unsafe place to be.

“Because, until further notice, I own you. You can thank dear Daddy for that.” He mocked me, somehow knowing that’s what I called him, and he did so with a hard glare on his face.

He owned me? No, no, he didn’t. I was my own person, and no one owned me… although, if that was the case, why did I not fight Daddy on things more? Why didn’t I tell him that I was eighteen years old, able to make my own decisions when it came to life? Why didn’t I tell Daddy I wanted to go to college, that I would not take no for an answer, that it was either let me go to school or I would move out?

I knew the answer. I knew why. The world was a scary place, and in it lived so many frightening people, people who would hurt you without even blinking—men like Markus. Like Jaxon. Like everyone in this house, probably.

The world was a dark place, and being locked away was the only way I could stay safe.

But this man… this man was not Daddy. This man would hurt me in more ways than I knew possible. I didn’t trust him. He terrified me. His mere presence sent chills up my spine. I didn’t like him at all, and I could not—would not—stay in this house like a prisoner.

I jumped to my feet, said not a single word, and darted out of the office, running as fast as my legs would allow. I knew where to turn, knew how to get back to the front door… once I got outside, don’t ask me how I would make it over the fence, but if I had to climb, I would.

My heart pounded in my ears, and I raced through the front vestibule, slamming my body onto the front door as I tried to open it. My fingers curled around the knob, but before I could get a good hold of it and open it, hands appeared on my hips, and I was heaved off my feet, tossed onto a shoulder like a petulant child.

“No,” I hissed, hitting the man’s back. “Put me down. Let me go—” His hand found its way to my butt, keeping me steady, and I knew it was Jaxon. He’d been standing just outside the office like a bodyguard.

“Afraid I can’t do that,” Jaxon said. “And, just so you know, you should try your hardest not to make him mad. If Markus ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”

I rolled my eyes at that. I was brought back to the office, deposited in the same chair I’d vacated so recently, and I shot Jaxon a look, but he was too busy looking at Markus, as if Markus held his life in his hands or something.

Hey, maybe he did. Maybe he worked for him or something.

“Thank you, Jaxon,” Markus said, slow to stand. He ran a hand down his front, slow to unbutton his suit jacket as he moved around his desk, toward me. “Leave us, please.” Not once did he ever break eye contact with me, and I had the feeling I was in trouble.

Jaxon nodded, gave me a quick, almost sympathetic look, and then he was gone, leaving me with the monster of a man himself.

Markus circled my chair, much like he’d done that night—only that night I’d foolishly felt like we were more on the same level. Here and now? It was obvious who had the superior position all around, and it certainly wasn’t me.

“Tell me,” he spoke, and the moment after he said those two words, I felt his hands grip my shoulders. Tighter than was comfortable, a warning that I was to not run off again. He stood just behind me, his frame tall, and I stared straight ahead, at his vacated chair. His hands squeezed my bony shoulders as he whispered, “Do you think this is a joke? Do you take me as someone you can run away from?” The fingers curled around my shoulders harder, and I fought the grimace that rose its way up.

I did not answer him, because I knew nothing I said would be what he wanted to hear. Of course I didn’t want to stay in this place; I still had no idea what the heck was going on here or why Jaxon had dragged me from my house. Being kidnapped wasn’t exactly on my list of things to ever do.

“Let me make myself abundantly clear,” Markus growled out, one of his hands leaving my shoulder… to curl around my neck. My breath caught when he held onto the front of my throat, fingers squeezing just enough to make me know he meant business. “You cannot run from me, Juliet. Try as you might, there is no escaping this labyrinth. This house is full of monsters that will make your skin crawl. They are your guardians now.”

The more he spoke, the harder he held onto my neck, to the point where I could no longer breathe. Tight, stifling, choking. I thought about reaching up to try to peel his fingers off me, but a part of me knew it would be useless, so I refrained.

Markus loosened his grip on my neck after that, thankfully, and I coughed, inhaling to refill my burning lungs. He still held onto my left shoulder as he moved to stand beside the chair. His other hand went to my jaw, fingers below my chin, forcing me to look up at him, to meet those dark eyes and get lost in their intensity.

“Make no mistake,” he said, “they will all take great pleasure in hurting you. Whether or not they do… well, that’s up for you to decide. And your father. If you play by the rules, I will protect you. If you refuse—” Markus was slow to kneel, the fingers beneath my chin curling upward on my jaw, gripping me so hard I had to close my eyes, fingers digging into the flesh on my cheeks.

This had to be a nightmare. It had to be. This couldn’t be real. None of this was happening. I would wake up in a few moments, in my bed, safe and sound, and find that Daddy had come home in the middle of the night and not wanted to wake me.

“—I will be the thing that keeps you up at night. I will break you, bit by bit, and I won’t care enough to ever try to put you back together,” Markus finished, practically scowling. My eyelids had lifted just a bit, just enough to behold that vicious look, and I knew it had to be his permanent expression.

A devil. This man was the devil. He had to be. There was no other explanation for how terrifying he was.

“Do you understand?” he asked.

All I could do was nod. I would do or say anything for this meeting to end. I wanted to slink out of this chair and never see this man again. I could not believe he’d been in my dreams the last two years. I’d known it back then, but it was abundantly clear now: Markus Scott was no prince.

“Good,” Markus said, releasing his hold on me. He returned to his chair, eyeing me up as if I was an unknown entity. “I do not take bringing you into this house lightly. I do not often let strangers into our home and our place of business. But desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“How…” My voice broke, and I bit down, staring at my lap instead of at his dark, pitch-black eyes. “How do you know my dad?”

“He works for me, of course.”

That came as news to me, and I snapped my head up, my eyebrows coming together. Daddy never told me who he worked for, and I would never accuse the man across from me of lying, but… it still didn’t make sense to me.

I asked, “What did he do?” What did Daddy do to make this man kidnap me?

Markus stared. He stared for a good long while, not saying a single word, and when he finally spoke, his answer did not make things clearer for me. “I run a tight ship here. We cater to those with more money than they know how to handle. Sometimes we make exceptions, and when that happens, I do not send my own to do those jobs. We… contract things out, occasionally. Your father is one of such men.”

That still made absolutely no sense to me. “What does that even mean?”

The corners of his lips quirked, but the man did not smile. “You do not want the truth. Take it from me. The truth would break a pathetic little girl like you.” His words were acidic and harsh, thrown at me like knives, and even though his hands were nowhere near me, I still flinched.

A pathetic little girl. I supposed that’s what I was, even if I didn’t want to be.

“Jaxon,” Markus called out, speaking louder so the guy who’d kidnapped me, the one standing just outside in the hall, could hear.

Jaxon pushed inside the office, glancing at me for a split second before gazing at Markus.

“Show her around a bit, take her to her room. If she escapes, I will hold you personally responsible.” There was a threat in his words, one even I recognized, and as he finished speaking, I glanced to Jaxon.

How could you willingly work for someone like that? And live in the same house? I didn’t understand any of it. If I were him, I’d be running in the opposite direction. It’s what I wanted to do now, but I had no choice. No choice at all.

Jaxon nodded, and before I could get up on my own, he grabbed my arm and dragged me along. Out of the office, away from Markus Scott. The last thing I saw as I was pulled along was Markus’s face.

It was still a face that would haunt my dreams.

When we were out of his office, when we were alone in the hall, Jaxon released his grip on me, and I dramatically shrugged him off, shooting him a glare. Or, well, the worst glare I could, considering I wasn’t very good at it. I didn’t really do bad moods or anything like that.

“What is that guy’s problem?” I asked, and Jaxon hushed me. He glanced over his shoulder, making sure Markus was still in his office and not coming out anytime soon. Couldn’t speak ill of the scary man while he was near, clearly.

“If I were you, I would do everything he says,” Jaxon warned. “Take everything he said to heart.”

Considering he wasn’t even in the room when Markus was going on and on, I didn’t know how he could tell me that. I folded my arms over my chest, feeling bold considering how small and insignificant I’d felt when Markus had his hand wrapped around my neck.

Jaxon could tell I wasn’t happy, and he let out a sigh, saying, “Come on. We can talk in your room.” He turned and started walking away, and even though the last thing I wanted to do was follow him, follow him I did, because at this point, I had no other choice.

Oh, I’d try to escape, yeah. Duh. But to try it again now would be stupid. I needed to do it while not under someone’s watchful eye. I’d never climbed a fence or a stone wall before, but as long as I moved fast, I should be able to beat any security.

And then… then I had no idea what I’d do or where I’d go. But one thing at a time.

The place was massive. It looked gigantic outside, but inside, it felt even bigger, if it was possible. I was not used to a house this large, not even close, and I knew I’d get lost in it often. Who in the world needed a house this big? It sounded as if they worked here too, and if that was the case… what did they do here?

And, beyond that, what did Daddy do for them?

Jaxon brought me to a room on the second floor, and he held open the door for me, letting me walk inside, first. My mouth fell as I gazed around. The room was exactly the kind of bedroom you’d imagine when you pictured a room for a castle. Handcrafted wooden furniture, an excessive amount of space, and a bed that had to be king-sized.

My eyes were still on the bed when I heard the door close behind me, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Staring at the bed was probably not the best idea; I didn’t know any of these people, and the last thing I wanted to do was give them any ideas.

“Please tell me this isn’t real,” I spoke once I met Jaxon’s green eyes.

“I’m afraid it is,” he said, hands shoved roughly in his pockets. He eyed me up. “What exactly did Markus tell you?”

Swallowing, I thought back to the man and everything he’d said. “I’m here because of my dad. He works for you guys or something? A contractor? What does that even mean?”

Jaxon appeared like he wanted to explain, but all he ended up saying was, “There are things you’re better off not knowing.”

“What does that mean? Why will no one tell me what the heck is going on?” My voice rose an octave; I couldn’t help but shout. I wanted to scream. These guys… they were so extremely unhelpful, and nothing they said put me at ease. I supposed nothing would, unless they miraculously decided to let me go.

And I did not see that happening.

“Markus is in charge of the family,” Jaxon explained. “He does not take agents going rogue lightly. We do what we do, we do what we’re told, and if we don’t, there are consequences. The same thing can be said of you, of me, of anyone in this house. He is the king here, not any of us. It might not look like it, but we’re all trapped here too, Juliet.”

“Then why don’t you run? Why don’t you leave?”

“Because, sometimes family is all you have.”

And then it hit me, what he kept saying: family. I blinked at him, trying to find the words to say, but all that came from me was a weak, unsure, “Family? Are you related to him? Is this some kind of family business?”

A muscle in Jaxon’s jaw tightened. “Yes, we’re all family here. Some of us aren’t by blood, but that doesn’t change anything. This family, the Scotts—” He took a step toward me, and I was motionless, frozen in place. “—they’re not like any other family out there. What they do, what they’re capable of… you couldn’t even dream of it.”

Well, that sounded ominous, didn’t it? Ominous and hopeless and just great for my overall plan to somehow escape. Yeah, let’s just say I wasn’t feeling too gung-ho about it currently, not as I listened to Jaxon.

A breath left me, and I closed my eyes. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t do anything to deserve this. I don’t even know what my dad does.” When I opened my eyes again, I found Jaxon had taken yet another step closer, and the way he gazed at me… it wasn’t how he looked at Markus. The expression was different, softer, and it almost looked as if he felt bad for kidnapping me.

“Look,” Jaxon whispered, “this doesn’t have to be a death sentence. Even if your father doesn’t come around, if you can prove to him you can make yourself useful, he’ll keep you around. Markus is not the type of person who hurts someone just because he can. Everything he does, everything he says—it’s all to make a point.”

If that was supposed to make me feel better, it totally didn’t. I didn’t want to make myself useful to Markus, because I didn’t want to be here.

My eyes fell to the carpet, my bare feet on its softness. My head bent, and I whispered out the truth, the only truth there was: “I just want to go home.”

“I know,” Jaxon spoke, “but you can’t.”

I wanted to throw myself on that bed, bury my face in the pillow, and let the emotions welling inside of me out. I wasn’t one to cry just to cry, but this situation certainly felt like it merited some tears, at least.

Warm, strong hands gripped my upper arms, not roughly as they had before, but gingerly, softly, and the sudden touch caused my gaze to rise to meet his. His face was less than a foot away from mine, and I felt my heart speed up of its own accord. His green eyes bore into me, sympathy written across every feature, and in that moment, Jaxon didn’t seem bad.

On the contrary, it struck me just then how cute and attractive he really was.

Or maybe that was just because I’d never really been around a cute guy my age before. I didn’t have good people skills, obviously. I could thank Daddy for that, just like I could thank him for all of this, too.

Oh, Daddy. What have you done?

“I know it sucks, and I’m not saying it’s going to be easy,” he whispered. “It’s not. It’s going to be hard. But if you keep your head down and listen to what Markus says, you’ll be okay.” Dimples appeared on his cheeks as he added, “And I’ll be okay, since your good behavior will reflect on me.” His hands dropped off my arms, and I felt a ghostly sensation where they’d been, my skin missing the comforting contact.

I had the feeling comfort here would be in short supply.

“If I’m a prisoner here, why aren’t you keeping me locked up?” I didn’t know why I blurted that out, and my question caused him to grin harder.

“Would you like to be locked up? That could be arranged, if you’re into it—”

When I realized what he was going on about, heat flooded my cheeks, and I turned away from him to hide it. That was… that was so not what I meant. Oh, God.

“Are you blushing? That’s cute.” I glared at him at that, but all he did was shrug and say, “Look, I’m going to level with you, it’s not every day I get to guard a pretty girl. It might surprise you, but I don’t spend much time around the opposite sex, at least, none who aren’t in the family, anyway. Having you here might not be so bad.” Jaxon flashed me a smile, and if he thought that smile would make me feel better, he was wrong. Dead wrong.

Did he just… did he just call me pretty? Was he flirting or something? I couldn’t tell. I’d watched a lot of shows and a lot of movies, but being on the receiving end of such a smile and words like that made me unsure.

“Now, let me go find you something else to wear,” Jaxon added, eyeing me up again… and once again causing heat to flare behind my cheeks. “Walking around here dressed in that, you’ll definitely attract the wrong kind of attention.” He took a step away from me, giving me another smile as he said, “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

He turned and headed to the door, and I watched him freeze the moment he had one foot out. Jaxon tossed a look back to me, repeating, “I mean it. Stay here, okay?”

I gave him a nod, which seemed to satisfy him, and he left.

But of course I wasn’t going to stay here. If they really wanted me to act like a prisoner, they’d have to lock me up, because as long as I had my freewill, I would fight. This place and its devils would not break me.