Page 84 of Retribution

There’s nothing else but a table with a chair facing the bed. Are those straps on the bedposts?

Weird.

I try to ignore my internal warning bells. I’m here now and there’s nowhere to go.

Mr. In-charge is leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. He’s still watching me. After this morning, I don’t really want to be in a bedroom with a strange man, to be honest, but it is what it is. Hopefully his boss will come soon, and I’ll be able to convince him that I’m an asset who shouldn’t be locked in a bed cage.

I sit on the chair and fold my arms, putting my head down onthe table, looking at the bed. The sheets are black. Satin. I scrunch up my nose at them.

‘Why does the bed have a cage under it?’ I ask with interest.

‘It’s something Mr. Sauvage is into.’

‘Oh… Does he need to lock himself in? Like a werewolf? Does he sleepwalk?’

‘What?’ He shakes his head at me again. ‘No. It’s for his…partners. He likes them…contained.’

I stare at him blankly, not sure what to ask next because I don’t really understand. ‘Business partners?’

Mr. In-charge puts his head in his hands. ‘Sexual partners.’

I stare at him. ‘Are you having me on?’

‘What?’

‘Are you…messing with me?’ I amend, realizing I just said something the way that Douglas, the oldest Blank, would have said it at The Heath.

‘No.’

‘In case his sexual partners sleepwalk?’ I ask, mostly trying to entertain myself to keep the fear at bay.

He opens and closes his mouth, and then looks away, no longer engaging with me.

‘But…there’s no pillows,’ I continue. ‘No blanket. That can’t be comfy to sleep in.’

‘I don’t think it’s supposed to be comfortable.’

I frown at him and then look at the bed again, trying to work out why someone would want that. Maybe it’s like when Shade spanks me. It’s not comfortable, but I still like it. And there were definitely some pieces of furniture I didn’t quite understand in the Dark Lounge.

‘Why are we in here?’ I ask.

‘Because this was where I was told to bring you.’

I look at the bed again and decide to ask the question out loud to see what he says.

‘Is Sauvage going to put me in that cage under his bed?’

Mr. In-charge doesn’t answer for a moment. He just watches me.

‘Do you want to be?’ he asks finally.

‘No.’

He lets out a long breath through his nose. ‘He won’t. We’re in here because he likes his captives afraid, and downstairs didn’t work. He thought this might.’

I nod. ‘Thanks for telling me,’ I yawn, all at once feeling like I’ve run a marathon.

I guess I was going to crash at some point. Maybe it’s because there’s a bed in here. My brain doesn’t seem to realize that this bedroom isn’t much safer than the one in the Novelle house.