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Scheme swallowed tightly, her fists clenching at her side as anger began to churn inside her. She had been here before, she thought with a sense of building shame. Chaz had done this to her. He had informed her that an associate would be joining them in their bed, teased her, dared her, then shared her.
She couldn’t even remember his name. She fought the memory of the act. It hadn’t been horribly unpleasant, but the hollow shame that followed her afterward still haunted her.
“We don’t need any time alone. ” She stared back at the exit, feeling betrayed on a level that made no sense to her.
Tanner had made no commitments to her. Quite the contrary. They wouldn’t matter if he had. There was no doubt he was her father’s spy. Why else would he believe she would agree to this?
And why did it hurt? As though some part of her had hoped he wasn’t that spy. Some too-stupid-to-live part of her that even her father hadn’t been able to kill. The part that dreamed of a white knight when she slept, that continued to believe that somewhere there was hope.
She blinked back her tears. She would not cry in front of this man. This Breed.
“Unfortunately, we do need time together,” he said softly, moving toward her as she sidled to the edge of the couch.
“For what reason?” she snapped back, not bothering to tamp down the anger or the fear.
She had been strong for so long, far longer than she had imagined she would survive when she first began working with Jonas. She had survived far longer than she could have ever guessed.
Cabal sighed again, tilting his head to watch her inch around the couch. Yeah, so, he could jump and take her at any moment; that didn’t mean she had to make it easy for him.
“We need to talk, Scheme. ” His voice hardened. “Jonas has been waging quite a battle to find you this week. Why?”
She fought to breathe, but the fear was pounding in her head, through her bloodstream. And she wanted Tanner back. If one of them had to kill her, why couldn’t it be Tanner? Surely he would do it without hurting her.
“Tanner!” She screamed his name as a dry sob tore from her throat.
“Tanner left,” he drawled. “Come on, let’s do this the easy way. ” Now where had she heard that before?
“The easy way?” she snapped, her breathing rough, panic edging through her.
She was so stupid. Stupid. She was actually shocked that Tanner had walked away and left her to die by another’s hand. She should have ceased to be shocked by anything years before.
“Why the hell should I make this easy for either of you?” she hissed, glaring back at him as he watched her with calculated interest.
“Why is Jonas sweating over your disappearance, Scheme?” he asked her again. “Could it be that you’re the spy enabling him to track Tallant’s movements so accurately? Is that why your father sent an assassin after you?”
“Why do you care?” she asked, edging back farther, knowing she would run out of room soon. “Afraid of something, Breed?”
His lips quirked.
“You know, I remember seeing you in person once, years ago. ” His eyes narrowed on her. “You were standing with your assassin boyfriend, the breeze carrying the scent of you to me. You were pregnant. ”
“Don’t. ” She shook her head. She couldn’t bear this.
“Does Tanner know you had a child aborted, Scheme?”
She shook her head desperately. “I didn’t,” she moaned. “I wouldn’t. ”
“Then where is the child?”
“You son of a bitch. ” Her control was shredded. She wouldn’t be tortured like this. “Do you think you’re torturing me?” she sneered. “You don’t know what torture is. Go ahead and kill me, Cabal. Stop fucking with me. ”
His eyes widened. “You think I’m going to kill you?” he asked in amusement. “Not unless you can expire from orgasm. ”
“You think you’re going to fuck me first?” she sneered back at him. “Does rape fall into your list of talents? Because that’s the only way you’ll have me. ”
He stopped, no more than a few feet from her as the wall stopped her backward retreat.
“Tanner didn’t mate you,” he said then. “That leaves me, sweetheart. Might as well get used to it. ”
