Page 103 of Cain

He prowls closer to me, a predator poised to pounce, causing chills all over my skin.

“Tell me, ružicko,” he whispers near my ear. “Why that outfit?” His fingers trace my shoulder, then lower down my arm.

“You don’t like it?”

“You wore it for a reason,” he growls.

“Is it working?”

“Are you asking me if I want to tear you apart in every way possible, or if I’m fool enough to take the bait?”

“What?” How did he know?

He pulls back with a sinister smirk on his lips and walks up to his desk again. He sits on his chair, resting his elbows on the heavy ebony surface. “I’m listening, little rose. What is this all about?”

I exhale sharply. “I want to go out.”

“No,” he growls. As expected.

“Not alone.” I walk closer. “We’ll be together. You’ll take me anywhere you want. I just want to go outside.”

His eyes fix on me. “I said no,” he repeats calmly, opening some documents to read.

Oh, you kretén! You won’t ignore me like I’m nothing!

I try not to let my annoyance show.Let’s try this again.I stroll closer to his desk and notice an old Rubik’s Cube at the edge of it.

“You know how to solve this?” I ask, taking it in my hand.

His eyes follow it, but he doesn’t react. As always, he’s calm. “I don’t.”

“Seriously?” He doesn’t reply but returns his eyes to the papers. I need to keep pushing. “It looks old.”

“My mother gave it to me,” he says without looking back at me.

His mother … that must mean it’s important to him, yet he doesn’t try to take it away from me, as if he trusts me with something so precious.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t know,” I stutter.

He sets the documents on the desk and intertwines his fingers together, raising his eyes to meet mine.

“You don’t have to apologize,” he says quietly. “If I didn’t want you to hold it, I wouldn’t have let you.”

“So, what’s the story behind it?” I don’t ask because of what I want to do. I ask because I genuinely want to know.

“Like I said, my mother gave it to me. It’s the only thing I have left from her. Well, at least the only thing I can hold in my hands.”

My eyes drop. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“You apologize too much,” he says quietly.

My gaze snaps back up to him. “What?”

“Why did they fuck you up so bad?”

My heart races. “W-What do you mean?”

“Your parents. What have they done to you?”