Page 26 of Shai

I steeled myself, waiting for his fist to connect with my face, or for the

shouted order to his men to ring out. Neither thing happened. Instead, he continued to stare at me with that familiar cool gaze, his brown eyes seeming to probe deep inside my soul. He held the bottle up, the shiny surface catching the light. “How were you planning on giving it to me?”

I shook my head mutely. He might have caught me red-handed, but

there was no way I was stupid enough to admit to an intention to use it on him. That was a surefire way to crack his calm composure and unleash the anger that had to be lurking beneath the surface.

Shai’s tone was conversational as he continued. “The thing is, and what

a lot of people don’t realize, is that if you give this to someone in their food or drink, it will have absolutely no effect at all. Venom needs to be in the bloodstream to work.” He gave the bottle a little shake. “Therefore, unless you have a syringe handy, it’s useless to you.” He inclined a head toward the cupboard. “You needed the blue bottles. Ask me what’s in the blue bottles.”

The words were thick on my tongue but I somehow managed to force

them out. “What’s in the blue bottles?”

Shai gave a smile. “That’s where I keep the cyanide. Now, that does

work if it’s ingested. Food is best. It has a strong taste that most liquids don’t quite manage to hide, so you run the risk of your intended target taking one sip and realizing something is wrong. Spicy food is best. The taste is virtually undetectable, then.”

He turned away, carrying the bottle back over to the cupboard and

placing it back inside before closing it and locking it, the key going back in his pocket. “Meet me in the dining room at eight p.m. There will be clothes delivered to your room later this afternoon. It would please me very much if you would wear them. Don’t be late, and don’t make me have to come and find you.”

“You’re not mad about the…?” I waved a hand in the direction of the

cupboard to illustrate my point.

“I never get mad.”

He didn’t need to finish the sentence, the words “I get even” kept

ringing in my head even though he hadn’t said them as I hurried out of the room before he changed his mind.

Elijah

I RAN my hand along the sleeve of the suit, the fabric silky-soft beneath my fingertips. “There will be clothes delivered to your room later this afternoon. It would please me very much if you would wear them.” I’d still been reeling too much from Shai’s discovery of the stolen bottle at that point to take notice of his words.

I’d retreated to my room to lick my wounds, the knock at the door

coming mid-afternoon. One of Shai’s men had been standing outside. He’d silently handed over several packages, including a suit bag. There hadn’t seemed to be anything to do except open them. It hadn’t been just any suit inside, it had been an Armani suit, the likes of which I’d never expected to get anywhere near, never mind be expected to wear.

It was a gorgeous suit. Yet, the thought of wearing it made me feel sick.

I wasn’t a doll for Shai to kit out in whatever he fancied. If I wore this, what would be next—a gimp mask? Some other perverted piece of kit that pandered to his twisted fantasies?

I’d spent the last hour vacillating between giving in and wearing the

suit, or turning up in jeans and a T-shirt and seeing what he’d do. But then, he hadn’t actually demanded I wear it, he’d just said it would please him if I did. If I didn’t wear it, was I cutting off my nose to spite my face? Probably.

I let out a sigh. I was no closer to making a decision, and I was driving

myself crazy. I should at least try it on. If it was too big, then the decision would be made for me. I doubted it would please Shai if I turned up looking like a boy dressed in his father’s suit.

I continued to tussle with the dilemma as I showered and shaved, my hand stilling mid-shave. Why was I shaving again when I’d already shaved that morning? One of the parcels had contained underwear and I dutifully put them on. Next came the crisp white shirt, and then finally the suit. It fit so well; it could have been custom-made. It looked good as well. I looked like some high-powered businessman rather than the petty crook I was. Shai had thought of everything—a choice of ties, socks, shoes. He’d even sent cologne, the rich spicy scent smelling ridiculously expensive.

The man in the mirror once I’d finished dressing was a complete stranger, only the look of caution in his eyes fitting the way I felt inside— my guts a heaving mass of the snakes that Shai loved so much. With only fifteen minutes to go until the time Shai had dictated, I was running out of time to change out of the suit. I couldn’t seem to convince myself to take it off, though. Didn’t I deserve one night where I got to dress like someone who was something? Besides, after Shai catching me red-handed, shouldn’t I be trying to keep him happy? Well, up to a point. There was definitely a line to be drawn in the sand. But I could put on a suit and make polite conversation. Maybe I could even pretend I liked him. There was everything to be gained from keeping him sweet and everything to lose if I didn’t.

I stood like that for another five minutes, breathing deeply in an effort to calm myself, and then I straightened my cuffs and left the room. The dining room was a huge downstairs room that I hadn’t seen used in my time there so far. A few curious stares followed me as I made my way to it, the suit rendering me visible for the first time in days.