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Chapter Five
Anna
The knock at my door shocks me awake, pulling me from dreams of Cyrus and his magical tongue, magical fingers, magical…
Just magical everything.
The space feels so empty without him here, and I have a sudden moment of loss and longing, just wanting to feel his arm around me before the knock comes again, harder this time.
“Anna, open up. Why do you have the chain on the door. We need to talk.” My father. The sun’s barely even up. That doesn’t bode well. He’s not an earlier riser by nature.
Too many of his business dealings lurk in the dark hours of the night and avoid the bright light of day.
I pull myself from under the bedding on a groan, grabbing my robe from the back of the chair where I left it wrapping it tightly around me to cover both myself but also Cyrus’s marks.
Marks where his fingers gripped me. Marks where his teeth pinched my flesh as he told me I belonged to him. The marks he told me I would wear every day from now on.
“Anna!” The door rattles against the chain.
“Geez, I’m coming. Give me a second!” I shout as I shuffle from the bedroom to the front door.
I push it shut, working the chain from the little brass slide, then re-open it an inch but I’m thrown back as my father barrels through, stomping inside with a scowl. “Is he here?”
“Who? I don’t know—”
“You do know, Anna. And I know. He came to talk to me about you, so cut the bullshit and tell me if Cyrus is here.”
He looks wild, scared even. I barely recognize him, but he doesn’t even seem to notice me beyond his manic questions.
“I know you’ve been spending time with him. Have you opened your legs for him? Please don’t tell me you’ve let that man defile my—”
“What the hell, Dad?” I squeeze my forehead wishing this had at least happened after coffee.
“Never mind.” He shakes his head. “I don’t want to know. If you’ve…” He slams his fist into the wall, making me shriek. “If you’ve done that then it’s better I don’t know. Just hope your new husband doesn’t notice. It’s not like he’s demanded that you’re a virgin anyway. Probably just assumed that you were, since you’re my daughter. Well, that’s just as well.”
I’ve never known my father to be out of control. And as I think about that, I’ve never really been either.
I knew I was supposed to marry this man I’ve never met. I wasn’t happy about it but I guess I felt if I didn’t think it was real, it never would be.
Cyrus has changed everything.
Ugh. What a mess.
I never even wanted to get involved with anyone in my father’s world. This man, as far as I’ve been told, he’s just an accountant. I didn’t want to marry him, but if I had to marry someone at least maybe he wasn’t quite as bad as some of the others...
This thing with Cyrus… Every bone in my body is telling me that I don’t want it. All the danger, all the things from my past, he’s a part of all that and there’s no reason to think he’s even capable of change, even if he wanted to. But then how does he have this draw for me? Why do I want him so much?
Why does the thought of never seeing him again fill me with such existential dread?
“I forbid you to ever see him again. You hear me, Anna? Never. Again.”
I straighten my shoulders, grinding my teeth together. “Oh, you forbid me? Well, maybe I’m an adult and I can make my own goddamn decisions.”
“Anna. I’m your father and—”
“Then maybe you ought to start acting like one, instead of a salesman trying to get the best price for a piece of meat!”
My father’s eyes snap wide, his brow draws tight and I take a step back. I know he’s dangerous. I know who he is. I know he’s hurt people in his life or had them hurt.
