Page 29 of Cruel Betrayal

But if I’m going out with Ezra tonight, I might have a chance to escape. It could be the moment I need to get away from him. Which means trying to play him again.

He pays too much attention to me, though. That much is clear from the stalking. He knows my behavior. He’ll be able to tell when I’m lying to him.

Which means that I have to survive on half-truths.

I catch sight of the black silk dress hanging from the closet doorknob. There’s no hanger I could use to pick the lock around my ankle.

With a deep sigh, I get up, going into the attached bathroom and splashing some cold water on my face. At least he gave me somewhere to get cleaned up.

I open the cabinets beneath the sink, eyeing the pipes.

If the bolts around them are loose enough, I might be able to get one of them off. It wouldn’t be much, but one good hit would allow me to try and run.

But since there is no traffic noise outside, it seems I’m nowhere near civilization, which means there would be the matter of getting car keys. And he doesn’t seem dumb enough to keep them on him, which means I’d have to search.

And of course the house could have an alarm.

I bite my lip and shut the doors.

Knocking him out isn’t a good option with these many variables. As much as I hate it, it looks like the best option is still playing along with him and hoping that everything turns out okay. I haveto keep going forward, doing what I can, and trying to get him to trust me.

Stupid fucker.

I’m going to talk to Aiden. I want to be the one to slit this bastard’s throat.

Among other things.

Maybe if I had toyed with him more when I was in the shower, I would’ve made more progress with him by now. I could have had him begging on his knees. Maybe. He did like the pictures and videos I used to send. He keeps bringing them up, which means there must be something about him I can exploit.

I sigh and step back out into the bedroom, looking at the dress. There’s a note folded in half over the neckline.

Love,

You’re going to need to wear this tonight. If I were you, I would put it on and make sure to be on your best behavior. You’re going to be in a room full of your enemies, and we would hate for them to get the wrong idea about you.

If you think this is in any way optional, just know that behaving properly tonight may come with benefits.

I rip the note into tiny pieces and toss it on the floor.

Maybe behaving is going to get what I want, but if he’s going to drag me into a room filled with Rinaldos, then I’m as good as dead. Either that or I’m going to spend the night wishing I was dead instead of playing pretend on his arm.

Linking my hands behind my head, I pace back and forth, letting out slow and steady breaths.

This isn’t what I wanted. Being here is never what I wanted.

I was supposed to live a normal life. I was supposed to go to school, andthenget involved with the family once I was ready. I was supposed to be able to convince Aiden to stop a war that we have no business being in anymore.

Of course, the men are never going to listen to me. What the fuck do I know, after all?

“This is insane.” My hands drop to my sides, the shackle cutting into the top of my foot making me ache.

I was supposed to be living my own life and yet, here I am, going from one cage to another.

I’ll be damned if I put that dress on.

I could make him put it on me. It would push him off guard.

He’s already proven that he can’t keep focus when I’m naked.