with you. No matter what I’ve revealed.”
“ ‘All that you’ve revealed ,’ ” I nearly spit, “is how much you covet control. Of how unchanging you really are.”
I turn away.
“No,” Jeremy walks around the table and grabs my arm in a vice, tearing me back.
“Let go!”
“I will not ,” he snarls. “You will not turn your back on me again, Lilly, or so help me God…”
“Or what?” I fire back at him. “You’ll put me in the dark?”
His hand moves so fast I have no time to react. All I know is that one minute I’m standing, the next I’m crumpled on the floor. The whole left half of my face is numb. I taste blood.
“Get up,” Jeremy snaps. He picks me up and all but throws me toward the upturned chair. “Sit down. I warned you before, Lilly. You will not make such vile accusations of me again.”
I’m shaking, trembling as I right the chair and sit on it.
I hate you , is all I can think. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.
I glower at him from behind swollen eyes. The pain is radiating from my face down to the rest of my body. It mixes with adrenaline, with the flawed fight-or-flight response that has me frozen in place. Frozen in indecision.
“And now we’re going to talk,” he tells me. He drags another chair close to mine and settles down onto it, hands on its back. “And it’s all going to come out, Lilly. All of it. The whole truth. Because if you try to deceive me again…” he flexes his fist and looks at it, “even I don’t want to imagine what might happen.”
And he’s back , I think bitterly. Stonehart is here in the flesh.
It took barely a single provocation on my part.
“Now,” he says, leaning close to me. I can feel his breath on my cheek and I hate him all the more for it. “I’m going to do you the courtesy of explaining things from my perspective. So you might see things as I see them, and judge not me, but yourself , in my eyes.
“Because you, dear Lilly, are entirely at fault for everything that has befallen you.
“It starts with your attitude toward me. I know that you foster poisonous thoughts. It is only natural. I am the monster who ripped you from your life. Am I not? I am the one who imprisoned your father, who unleashed Conner on your mother, who kept track of you for so many years until things finally fell to their natural conclusion.
“But that conclusion was only a beginning. Wasn’t it? Your entrance into my life changed things. Things I never imagined it would. And this…” He touches my swollen cheek, almost tenderly now, as I stare straight ahead, avoiding his eyes. “…this is the unfortunate consequence of what you make me do.
“You fire me up, Lilly,” he hisses, his voice low and hoarse. “You build such passion in me, such an addiction, that I can never look away. That’s where we are now, my dear. And,” he clutches the roots of my hair in a tight fist to force my ear to his lips. “I’m afraid the only escape you have is the glorious prospect of death.”
“You’re going to kill me,” I say flatly, refusing to let even a shred of emotion enter my voice.
“Gah!” he spits, and twists away. I gasp as the pain at the back of my head evaporates.
“No, I’m not going to kill you, Lilly. Who do you think I am?” He’s pacing one side of the room now. I see his flashing shape from the peripherals of my vision.
“Then what?” I lift my chin. “Drug me over and over until I’m nothing more than a living corpse? Something warm for you to stick your dick into?”
“ Don’t ,” he warns.
“Don’t what?” I stand and turn to face him. “Don’t tell you what I think? I thought this whole debacle began because of honesty. Well, how’s this as honesty for you?” I point at my cheek. “I am going into work tomorrow, and I’m wearing this as a badge of honor. If anybody asks, I’ll tell them the truth. I’ll say that you did it. What happens next, I don’t know, but it will be your shit to deal
“ ‘All that you’ve revealed ,’ ” I nearly spit, “is how much you covet control. Of how unchanging you really are.”
I turn away.
“No,” Jeremy walks around the table and grabs my arm in a vice, tearing me back.
“Let go!”
“I will not ,” he snarls. “You will not turn your back on me again, Lilly, or so help me God…”
“Or what?” I fire back at him. “You’ll put me in the dark?”
His hand moves so fast I have no time to react. All I know is that one minute I’m standing, the next I’m crumpled on the floor. The whole left half of my face is numb. I taste blood.
“Get up,” Jeremy snaps. He picks me up and all but throws me toward the upturned chair. “Sit down. I warned you before, Lilly. You will not make such vile accusations of me again.”
I’m shaking, trembling as I right the chair and sit on it.
I hate you , is all I can think. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.
I glower at him from behind swollen eyes. The pain is radiating from my face down to the rest of my body. It mixes with adrenaline, with the flawed fight-or-flight response that has me frozen in place. Frozen in indecision.
“And now we’re going to talk,” he tells me. He drags another chair close to mine and settles down onto it, hands on its back. “And it’s all going to come out, Lilly. All of it. The whole truth. Because if you try to deceive me again…” he flexes his fist and looks at it, “even I don’t want to imagine what might happen.”
And he’s back , I think bitterly. Stonehart is here in the flesh.
It took barely a single provocation on my part.
“Now,” he says, leaning close to me. I can feel his breath on my cheek and I hate him all the more for it. “I’m going to do you the courtesy of explaining things from my perspective. So you might see things as I see them, and judge not me, but yourself , in my eyes.
“Because you, dear Lilly, are entirely at fault for everything that has befallen you.
“It starts with your attitude toward me. I know that you foster poisonous thoughts. It is only natural. I am the monster who ripped you from your life. Am I not? I am the one who imprisoned your father, who unleashed Conner on your mother, who kept track of you for so many years until things finally fell to their natural conclusion.
“But that conclusion was only a beginning. Wasn’t it? Your entrance into my life changed things. Things I never imagined it would. And this…” He touches my swollen cheek, almost tenderly now, as I stare straight ahead, avoiding his eyes. “…this is the unfortunate consequence of what you make me do.
“You fire me up, Lilly,” he hisses, his voice low and hoarse. “You build such passion in me, such an addiction, that I can never look away. That’s where we are now, my dear. And,” he clutches the roots of my hair in a tight fist to force my ear to his lips. “I’m afraid the only escape you have is the glorious prospect of death.”
“You’re going to kill me,” I say flatly, refusing to let even a shred of emotion enter my voice.
“Gah!” he spits, and twists away. I gasp as the pain at the back of my head evaporates.
“No, I’m not going to kill you, Lilly. Who do you think I am?” He’s pacing one side of the room now. I see his flashing shape from the peripherals of my vision.
“Then what?” I lift my chin. “Drug me over and over until I’m nothing more than a living corpse? Something warm for you to stick your dick into?”
“ Don’t ,” he warns.
“Don’t what?” I stand and turn to face him. “Don’t tell you what I think? I thought this whole debacle began because of honesty. Well, how’s this as honesty for you?” I point at my cheek. “I am going into work tomorrow, and I’m wearing this as a badge of honor. If anybody asks, I’ll tell them the truth. I’ll say that you did it. What happens next, I don’t know, but it will be your shit to deal
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