Page 61 of Reckoning

“It’s up to her.” Koen says and then his eyes fix on me. I bite my lip, trying to keep some sort of composure but it’s obvious I was listening. “She’s awake.” Koen says. “The decision is hers but either way, I’ll let you know.”

He hangs up before my brother can reply and I watch as he takes each slow, measured step towards me. God even the way he moves, he’s like some sort of animal stalking his prey, except I’m not afraid, on the contrary, I want to be devoured. I want to be consumed by him. I want him to feast on me, to ravage my very soul.

“Little Devil.” He murmurs in a tone that sounds so close to affection. He sits on the edge of the bed, slowly, as if he doesn’t want to scare me. When anyone else acts like that it pisses me off, but Koen, with him it’s disarming, like he’s trying to lure me in, lull me into a false sense of security.

I gulp. Is that his pet name for me? I can’t tell if I like it or not.

“Where am I?” I ask.

“My house but specifically, you’re in my bed.”

My cheeks heat. I don’t even know why because I knew that fact already, but the way he says it, it shouldn’t make me feel what I do.

“What happened to my clothes?” I continue.

“You were covered in blood.” He states. “Your clothes were ruined.”

“So you what, stripped me?” I half snarl. Though it’s not like he hasn’t already done far worse. He’s touched me, technically assaulted me, not that I’d say that out loud. Is it assault if you give permission after the event?

He tilts his head, shaking it. “No, Sofia, I had the maid clean and dress you. I thought it was more respectful that way.”

I don’t know how to reply to that. My mind seems to short-circuit. He wants to act respectful now but the other day he was anything but.

I curl my legs up, pulling the covers more. This feels too intimate, it feels too dangerous to be here in this room. I don’t know why but my bedroom felt safer, I felt more in control. Here, I feel like a captive again. I feel more like a prisoner. And the fact that I’m not panicking, yeah that scares me even more.

“I won’t hurt you.” He says watching me carefully. “But if you want to go home I can make that happen.”

“No.”

The word is out my mouth before I can think. I don’t want to go home. I just need a moment to think, to collect myself. My eyes dart about the space, taking in the faint outline of objects, furniture, a chair in the corner, a picture frame. They all seem so mundane, so perfectly normal and yet out of place forhisbedroom.

“What happened to those men?” I ask, forcing myself to look back at the man barely inches from me.

“They’re dead.” He states.

“All of them?”

He nods. And that one gesture seems to change everything.

It feels like some great weight is lifted. It feels like the pressure that’s been wrapped around my heart is suddenly gone. They’re dead? They’re fucking dead?

I smile, letting out a half gasp of something akin to joy.

Koen frowns like he didn’t expect that reaction. “You killed two of them.” He says.

“Two?” I repeat. I killed two of the bastards? I meet his gaze and I harden mine because he’s not smiling. He’s not happy at all. “Do you want me to apologise, is that it? Because they deserved it. In fact they deserved a lot more than just a knife in their chest.”

“Yes, they did.” He says back. “But you put yourself at risk to achieve it.”

I scoff like that’s not the case when we both know, if he hadn’t shown up, I’d no doubt be the one lying in a gutter right now.

“Sofia…”

The way he says my name makes me shiver to the point it’s hard to ignore.

“What?” I half whisper shutting my eyes to hide the embarrassment. Thank god it’s dark because I’m certain my cheeks are flushing.

“Promise me you won’t do that again.”