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I sit in the office of the compound and watch the security footage on my phone. I left her there to simmer in her thoughts. I want to drive her crazy. It’s only been an hour. Within the hour, she yelled for help, cried, and now she is silent.

Psychological torture is my favorite form of punishment, especially before slicing someone open. They become weak and vulnerable. They will do anything to be set free. That is the catch. No one is ever set free.

After I am finished with Evelyn, she won’t be free. She will be mine. Forever.

I decide it’s time to fuel the fire in her once more. I like to see her when she is pissed off. It’s fucking hot.

I grab the marriage contract that Lacey brought me yesterday and storm out of the office. This should do the fucking trick.

I enter the space, eluding darkness. She looks at me, imploring me to see reason. Instead, I walk up to her and lift her chin gently, rubbing my thumb across her plump lips.

“This is for you.”

I hold the marriage contract in front of her face. The front of the file reads:

Voss Marriage Contract

She looks at me like I have lost my fucking mind— and I have. I flip to the next page, and her eyes scan the page, and I see her eyes swell with tears. The second page has a bunch of legal bullshit, but it’s the bottom of the page that she stares at.

The part that shows that I am to be wed to Lacey Harper in a few months. Lacey fucking signed it yesterday in front of me. Bitch.

“W-what is this?” Her voice is barely audible.

“You see. My father wants me to marry this whore.”

I walk over and lean against the wall across from her.

“The one you saw me with yesterday.”

Her tears roll down her cheeks. She is fucking perfect.

“Then why am I here….. why Dante!”

Her hoarse voice makes me smile. She’s fucking pissed.

“I have a better idea. That’s fucking why.”

I pull out a lighter from my pocket and let the paper burn in my hand. I let it fall to the ground between us. I storm back out of the room.

She can sit in fear for a while longer. I go back to the office to grab everything I need to make sure she is fucking mine.

21

Evelyn

What the fuck is happening to me?You let him win. You should have run.

The room smells like musk and death. The look in his eyes haunts me. The black, coal-colored look resembles a bottomless pit. A pit that I fell into, and now I’m trapped.

He left me in here alone and then came back with a stupid fucking marriage contract. He is supposed to marry her. Pain grips my chest at the thought.

My ribs ache from being thrown around, and my arms and legs are still taped together. He is never going to let me go. But why?Because he wants you. He doesn’t want her. He burned the contract for you.

He wants to play this sick, twisted game, but I can’t. I’m fucking weak. When he touches me, my body betrays me. His possessiveness and ruthlessness make me feel alive.You crave his touch. You still want him.

The sound of his boots slapping against the floor startles me out of my thoughts. I hear metal clanking onto a surface, and my skin pricks with fear. The sound of a cart rolling behind me makes my heartbeat race.

Hepushes the cart in front of me, as I stare into the eyes of the Devil. He walks behind me, tightening the ropes securing me in place. I glance down at the tray and begin trembling.