Page 84
Story: Princes of Chaos
For safety.
Release.
I gesture to the spot on the couch, and I see her confusion at me allowing her to sit first.
“Down here?” she confirms, pointing to the cushion.
“Yes.”
Ultimately, she does as she’s instructed, lowering herself to the seat. She flinches when the cold leather hits her bare thighs. My gaze drops down to where her nipples tighten and peak, pushing at that torn, flimsy dress.
“That was just insane,” she says as I turn my back to her, leaning over the desktop to flip through the screens. “I’ve heard of night terrors, but nothing like that.”
The first video I pull up is of the hallway, where Lex continues to roam up and down the corridor. Admittedly, I’ve been a bit skeptical of the whole sleep-raping thing. Wicker has a flair for the dramatic. How hard could it be to push a sleeping guy off you?
Only, I glance over at Verity, seeing the red welting around her neck, and concede that maybe Wicker had a point. I shoot Danner a quick message, hoping he can get my brother back to bed before any additional havoc ensues.
Opening another screen, it reveals the dungeon downstairs. The camera angles in on Bruce, rolled up on a cot with his back turned to the camera. Lex went in while we were at practice and checked on the brands. It’s been two days, and I still can’t get the scent of burning flesh out of my mind—or the little mindfuck that he dropped. My father is from West End? Bullshit. It was a hail Mary for sure, but the simple fact he came after me like that? Brought up my past, knows my history? Well, that’s something to consider.
For the third, and largest part of the screen, I pull up a recording from earlier tonight. It’s a small group of well-dressed people down in the drawing room, invited for a night of music and networking. In the top corner, the camera catches the bottom curve of a cello, the bow slowly swaying back and forth. I press the volume, and the timbre of a rich music fills the room.
“Wicker,” Effie croons in my brother’s voice.
Verity gasps, her gaze jolting toward the cage as if she’s just now noticing it. “What the–” Her mouth parts in shock. “You have a bird?”
Effie preens her wing. “Dirty bird.”
“Pretty bird,” I correct her. “Effie, show Verity how pretty you are.”
She turns on her perch, head bobbing and tilting. “Motherfucking bird.” Lex’s voice. “Suck my balls.” Wicker’s voice.
I roll my eyes. “Show herpretty, Effie.”
Effie pauses before raising her beak to trill out a happy melody to complement the cello. Afterward, she says in a parody of my own voice, “Pretty bird.”
I nod. “That’s right. Good girl.”
“Oh my god.” Verity looks enraptured, her fingertips dragging over her throat. “Oh mygod, it sounds just like… all of you.”
I reach over for the sheet, announcing, “Time for bed, Effie.”
Predictably, she doesn’t take this well. “Suck my balls,” she snaps as I reach into the cage to fire up the tablet. “Suck, suck, suck–” She goes silent when the screen flares to life, that South Side sky cam, her new obsession. She makes another trill, extends her wings, and then, “Pretty bird.”
“Good girl.” Covering the cage, I say, “It’s an hour until midnight.”
Midnight—when Verity’s day off rolls over and she belongs to me again. It smarts to have her like this, in drips and drabs. It’ll delay my progress. Some marks do better with routine isolation. Bruce, for instance. The longer we leave him alone, the more unsettled he feels. Verity isn’t like that. I knew the first time we chatted, almost two years ago, that she was the type of mark who required constant attention. Did my best to give it to her, too.
I’m not one to always follow the rules, but when I drop down into my desk chair, spinning to face her, the distance between us makes my commitment to not breaking this one clear.
At least not officially.
I gesture at the tear in her gown, the rip revealing the smooth skin just below her collarbone. Red scratches mar her flesh. “He almost got you, didn’t he?”
Swallowing, she reaches up to touch the skin. “Yes. If my handmaiden hadn’t been there...”
It’s a good thing that girl had her wits about her. I know Lex likes to roam, but I didn’t actually expect him to get that physical. Aside from a few fights on the ice, it’s never really been Lex’s style. If he’d gotten to her—fucked her on a designated day off—father would have been livid.
“Lex has always been into tits,” I say, as a way of dismissing his aggression. I lift my chin. “Let’s see them.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213