Page 213 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two

“Why?” he repeats.

“Yes,” Skai says. “Why do you want them? What are you going to d-do to them?” She shifts her weight from side to side, rocking as she asks the question, almost as if she’s trying to gather courage from the ground to face her father.

“Well, Laura,” he says in the same tone one might use to describe how rain is made to a child. “I have big plans for them. The boy and girl are atjustthe right age for some friends of mine. Especially that little girl. With those eyes? She’ll be delicious for the right buyer.”

I almost throw up on myself, working the ropes harder, faster, because I need to get my hands wrapped around this nigga’s throat more than I need my next breath.

Why the fuck did Axel and Riale have to run offnow?

Skai blinks several times, smiling then frowning rapidly as she processes his words.

“Oh,” she says. “I see. You’ll let other people…other men….”

Lakeland snaps his fingers in front of her face several times.

“Keep up, sweetie. I’m a businessman and there’s money to be made.”

Skai keeps blinking, almost as if she’s short-circuiting.

“Okay,” she says, her voice reed thin. “I’ll go find them, then.”

Lakeland gives her a fake smile.

“You do that,” he says.

Skai leaves the art barn, but not before giving a long look at the back of Lakeland’s head.

Then her eyes meet mine. There’s nothing in her expression; it’s like she blanks out so she doesn’t have to see me.

Determination has me freeing the rope around my chest, and now I have to make a decision: free my legs slowly so I remain undetected for as long as possible, or do it freely and tackle Lakeland before he has the chance to do anything else?

“I swear, finding people who can follow orders is the hardest fucking thing on the planet,” Lakeland snaps.

Keep him talking, Storm.

“What, like Zane?” I grate out, giving him a hard look. “How much did it piss you off that your golden boy couldn’t get the job done?”

Lakeland looks pensive for a moment.

“Ah,” he says, sighing. “I did like having him around for a while, but he was always such a whiny bitch.”

Lakeland shakes his head.

“Oh well. Sometimes the trash takes itself out, I guess.” He claps once, the sound like a crack of lightning in the space.

Shae jerks at the sound, and my heart falls to my feet when Lakeland grabs the leash around her wrists. She sways with the action, moving like a puppet.

“You’re gonna be sweet, though. I might keep you,” he says, bending over to inhale Shae’s scent. “I like my girls obedient. You’ll behave, won’t you?”

I’m gonna slice his nose off his face.

“I’ve always wanted a sex slave. I dunno, fills my overseer fantasy,” Lakeland continues, and when he licks the side of Shae’s face, I make the decision.

I reach down for my right leg. At that exact moment, Shae snaps to, headbutting Lakeland right in the face. She stands as if her unsteadiness were all an act, and I’m sure it was.

Of course she waited. That’s Shae. Silent until she strikes.

“Son of a bitch!” Lakeland screams, grabbing his face. He’s distracted long enough for me to free myself, lunging from the chair just as Shae lurches away.