Page 143 of House of Cards

The thought creates a hollowness in my chest that I’ve done everything in my power not to feel again.

It’s not about losing a valuable asset.

It’s about losingher.

Zoey…and everything that makes her the way she is. Her fight, her drive, her stubborn will to survive.

I shove the feeling away, grit my teeth.

I can’t afford weakness. Not in my world.

“Try to rein it in,” I growl.

She flinches when I fold the belt in half and snap it closed.

“There’s something I need from you first.”

Smith

Zoey’s hazel eyes are more brown than green, dark with barely suppressed panic. Hands in fists. Bruised jaw locked. Like she’s facing down a rabid dog and doesn’t know whether to fight for her life or freeze.

Resist, or submit.

I can’t blame her. I’ve been nothing but mercurial since the night she took flight from that blackjack table. Even now that I’ve decided to get rid of her, I’m reluctant to let go.

Why am I so driven to know how this torrid affair ends when it’s already over?

I take my keycard out of my damp suit jacket and hold it out to her.

“Take it.”

Her tongue darts out to wet her lips. “What?” she croaks, blinking like she’s waking from a dream.

I flick the card. Left, right, taunting her. “It’s all yours.”

Her eyes flicker from my hand, to the door, to the balcony as she calculates exits and options. Her shoulders slump when she realizes what I already know.

She doesn’t have any.

But that doesn’t stop her eyes narrowing, her lips tightening. She’s terrified, but defiant as ever.

Good. I want every nerve in her body electrified with fear and adrenaline. It’ll make her fight me that much harder.

“What—” She cuts off with a hard swallow. “What do you want from me?”

“I want you gone. But you’re not going anywhere without this.”

Whatever spell she was under breaks the instant I step closer. She staggers back, gasping when her calves crash into the bottom of the bed. I suppose she wasn’t expecting it to be that close behind her.

She darts forward, snatching the keycard from my fingers, eyes flashing wide like she was expecting me to lunge at her.

“Good girl.”

Her lip curls into an angry sneer. “Fucking asshole.”

She lunges, trying to dart past me to get to the door. I pivot smoothly, catching her arm, and use her own momentum to fling her onto the bed. She bounces once on the mattress before scrambling to her knees.

“That’s it,” I encourage her, my voice dropping to a low rumble. “Show me what you’ve got.”