“How can it only be contempt you feel for me when all I feel is you coming on my hand? I barely touched you…”
“No.” I shook my head against his claim. He watched me quietly until the shaking subsided. Whatever just happened left me feeling weak. When he shoved away from me to sit upright, I quickly pulled my jeans back over my hips, feeling embarrassment flood my senses. I couldn’t meet his eyes but I knew he was watching me from the other end of couch.
“Now…back to business.” His blank face and callous attitude over my first sexual experience had me choking back my ever-present tears. It was a common occurrence around him. He rolled his eyes and he pulled out his phone. “As I said when you came in—you seem to have a hard time hearing me.” He began dialing on his phone and then a video feed of an older man with long blond hair pulled back in a ponytail appeared on his screen. “You got her?”
“In my sight as we speak.”
“Good. Someone needs to see.” He crooked his finger and patted his lap with a satisfied look on his face. I reluctantly slid over but when I refused to sit in his lap he hauled me over. I wrestled with him until he placed a restraining hand around my neck and whispered low, “Move again and I’ll spank your ass.”
“You got a feisty piece there, don’t you?” the guy commented lustfully. A black look crossed over Keiran’s face as he turned back to the camera. The guy suddenly looked nervous and cleared his throat while apologizing.
The screen suddenly switched and I was looking at the glossy background of a bar. I could see the name of a well-known, five-star hotel chain plastered on the wall and then something or rather someone, caught my attention.
My aunt. Sitting at the bar with her agent.
I knew immediately what Keiran was showing me—what he was telling me. Without saying anything, Keiran ended the call and the video feed of my aunt disappeared.
“One phone call and she disappears. There are a lot of places a person can disappear. I should know. I did.”
“What do you think I’m going to do?” I cried with anger and emotion filling my voice. I was yelling by the time I spoke the last word. Fear for my aunt overshadowed my need for self-preservation.
“I don’t know. You surprise me at every turn and I have to say, I did not think you had it in you to fight me. Planting those drugs in my locker? Brilliant. The execution was sloppy as hell though, but not to worry…I’ll show you how to get back at someone properly. So here’s what you’re going to do.”
*
I walked into school with my head low, watching the tile floor and my feet as they quickly carried me to English. My phone rung for the umpteenth time since I left my house this morning and I closed my eyes to quell the pain. Don’t answer it, Lake. Just ignore it. You can do this.
I quickly stored my extra books in my locker and hurried for English. I couldn’t be late. Being late meant something else would be taken away from me and though I didn’t think there wasn’t anything left, I couldn’t risk it. He would know exactly where to strike. He always did.
I made it to the classroom with less than a minute to spare and was careful not to make eye contact with my tormentor. He was sitting in his normal seat and I headed for the one assigned to me. The one he told me to sit in. I kept my head down, staring at the table and ignoring the silence. The class was completely empty and school wouldn’t start for another half hour.
“Take your hair down,” he ordered from a few rows behind me. I slowly unwound my hair from its bun on top of my head and let my hair tumble down my back.
“What happened this morning?”
I tried to hold back the tears that immediately threatened to spill over. “I told her.”
“What did you tell her?”
“To stay away from me.”
“And?”
“Not to contact me.”
“And has she?”
“Please, she doesn’t understand–”