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I don’t know what drives me to speak, but I open my mouth all the same. “Sir, I know it was wrong. But I love?—”

The strike comes in an instant. Antony motions to one of the men, and they step forward, backhanding me across the face hard enough that my lip splits open and I see stars. The one who hit me is wearing reinforced gloves, I know that. My jaw feels fucking cracked.

“Love?” Antony spits out the word. “You think you could fuckinglovemy daughter? You think I raised her, educated her, fashioned her into what she is so that I could hand her over to her fucking bodyguard? Tonothing?”

I swallow hard, wiping the blood away from my lip.Whatever else happens, I think, feeling my head spin a little from the force of the blow,I’ll die on my fucking feet if I can.

“I would die for her, sir,” I say out loud, each word clear as blood drips down my chin, and Antony smiles a vicious smile.

“That can be arranged.”

He motions for the men to move forward, and I see zip ties in one of their hands. It occurs to me for a wild moment that I could try to fight—that I could try to overpower these three men, break free, and go find Estella. We could run away together, flee?—

And then what?Even if I overpowered these men, the estate is crawling with men loyal to Antony. I can’t even be sure that Brick and the others that I know well wouldn’t stop me. Brick warned me about exactly this, after all. About the fall that comes with reaching higher than my place in life.

I feel the men twist my arms behind my back, and I bite back a groan of pain as I feel my shoulder twist in a way that it shouldn’t. Whatever else happens, I’m going to go as long as I fucking can without letting these men, or Antony, hear a single sound of pain from me. I don’t want to give him the fucking satisfaction.

“Take him to the old stable,” Antony directs. “The one at the back of the property. I’ll be there shortly.”

The three men start to drag me away, and as I twist around, I see a light go on in one of the upper floors of the mansion. I can’t be sure that it’s Estella; I’m not sure if it’s her room. But I look up at the window all the same, wondering if she’s watching, seeing me be dragged off to face my punishment for touching her. For daring to let myself admit how I felt, what I wanted, for just a few stolen moments.

I’m sorry,I mouth up toward the window, though I’m sure she can’t see it, even if she is there. The man holding my arm drags me forward then, and I stumble, nearly falling as I’m hauled into the night.

Away from Estella, and into the darkness that awaits.

—

The old stable at the far edge of the property smells like dirt and old, musty hay. My nose and eyes water as soon as I’m hauled inside, but I have bigger problems than that now. As far as I knew, this old building hadn’t been used in years, but when I see old blood crusted on straw scattered around a post in the center of the aisle, I have a feeling that Antony has had his own purpose for this place.

A purpose that I’m about to discover.

The hair stands on the back of my neck as I’m dragged up to the post, and I fight the urge to sneeze. The air is thick with dust motes, the tickling of it against my nose almost as torturous as whatever pain Antony might have in store for me. The entire space is creepy as fuck, as the other two men light up battery-powered lanterns that cast long shadows through the space. Itfeels like the kind of place you’d drag someone off to in order to torture them, which is no real consolation for me.

Hanging on one wall, I can see chains, whips, and a variety of implements that I don’t really want to think about the purpose of. I lick my bloodied lip as one of the men gets a length of chain and starts to bind me to the post, dragging my hands up above my head as the other one starts to cut my shirt off.

“If you want me to strip, you just have to ask me politely, gentlemen,” I manage to quip as a hunting knife scores through my shirt. “Maybe offer me a drink first?—”

The man cutting through my shirt backhands me again, hard, though not quite with the same force as the first. “Shut the fuck up,” he growls, stripping the ragged fabric away until I’m bare from the waist up. “Are we taking the rest off?”

The other man, the one locking the chains above my head, shrugs. “Guess it depends on if the boss wants him to die with his balls attached or without ‘em.”

Shit. I hadn’t really considered that. When I imagined dying over all of this, it was a quick bullet to the head. A clean, dignified way to die for love. My cock, which had been more than interested in everything that’s came before this, shrivels against my balls as I consider what might come next.

And I still come to the same conclusion—that except for the fact that it means leaving Estella without protection, it was all fucking worth it.

I’d suffer anything if it meant getting to touch her again. I just don’t want her to suffer, too.

“Take the rest off.” Antony’s voice cuts through the barn, and the men both shrug.

“Well, there’s your answer,” one of them mutters. “Sure thing, boss,” he says, louder, and the two men start to strip me from the waist down, until I’m naked against the post. A windblows through the barn, chillier than it should be for summer, and I clench my jaw to keep from shivering.

Antony moves to stand in my line of sight, his gaze sweeping over me dispassionately as he slides his suit jacket off. He hands it to one of the men, who lays it carefully over a stall door as Antony rolls up the sleeves of his crisp, dark red button-down. “I didn’t choose the color expecting to spill blood tonight,” he says, seeing my gaze flick to his shirt. “But providence, I suppose.”

He looks me over once more. “I wondered what my daughter saw in you. Superficial attraction, perhaps. She’s young and innocent. I didn’t think you would be a temptation to her, but it seems that you’ve sullied her.” Antony’s jaw clenches. “Infected her pure, innocent mind with your filthy desires.” He nods to the two men. “Get his wrists higher,” he orders. “Make sure he feels it.”

I’m not sure what he means until a moment later, when one of the men tugs at the chain connected to my wrists. Something slides upward, and I feel my body stretched to follow it, until my feet are barely touching the stable floor. My body weight pulls uncomfortably at my shoulders, and I can tell that before very long, this is going to hurt badly.

Antony walks to the other wall, perusing the items there for a moment before selecting a thick leather strap. He folds it slowly, looking at me before turning his gaze to the three men. “Guard the doors,” he says calmly. “If anyone comes up here, don’t allow them in.”