Page 85 of Caging Liberty
Maybe she’ll have a few hours of peace.
21
Angel
Idrum my fingers on Sawyer’s desk while staring at the monitor showing the playroom. The cameras in there are infrared, so I can see better on the monitor than I could from actually being in there. But also, I’m avoiding being around Lib while she dances for other men.
My eyes travel to the cage she’s perched in, the compulsion too strong. She’s much better at avoiding me than I am at avoiding her.
Lib hasn’t spoken to me in four days. Ever since Naomi returned from Jasper’s house, things have been different. I’m at the manor nearly all day while Sawyer is gone, and she’s managed to see me less than when I’m working from home.
It worried me at first, hearing, “yes sir,” and, “no sir,” watching her excuse herself any time I walked into a room, getting a brush off every time I tried to ask what was wrong. I thought for sure she’d somehow found out things about me that pushed her away for good, but I don’t think it’s that anymore. She isn’t showing any anger or fear toward me. It’s only avoidance.
So it’s Naomi. It has to be. Does Lib feel guilty for some reason? Is she refusing to speak to me because I make her life the slightest bit more comfortable than the others?
I should’ve never allowed Jasper to take the girl.
A knock sounds on the door, and I pull my eyes from the screen in time to see Jasper entering the office.
Speak of the devil.
I go back to the screen, ignoring the smirk that raises one side of his lips.
“Not partaking in the fun?” he asks, shutting the door behind him before coming to sit in a chair in front of the desk.
I lean back in my chair and shake my head, forcing my hardened gaze to him. “I don’t much care for the playroom.”
He nods knowingly. “You’re more into Chaffer’s parties, aren’t you?”
He’s lived on the island for a few weeks. How could he already know what I’m into?
Oh, right, this is Jasper.
“Yes.”
His smirk lifts. “Me too. Sawyer’s tastes are too over the top.”
“Mmm.” I slowly nod. “And yet you’ve been in the playroom almost every night since you arrived on the island.”
He shrugs. “I don’t have a slave yet. Once I do, I’m sure I’ll join you at Chaffer’s.” His lip twitches. “You haven’t been lately, though, have you?”
“Work,” I deadpan.
“Right.”
We stare at each other, letting the silent challenge hang in the air, clinging to my skin like moisture. There’s so much depravity in his eyes, it could make a grown man squirm, and if I’m being honest, sometimes I have a difficult time looking.
I wasn’t quite honest with Lib about who Jasper is. He’s a friend … in a way. I’ve known him since college. Our senior year, Sawyer, Jasper, and I even rented a house together. But Jasper doesn’t get close enough to be anyone’s genuine friend, and even if he let someone in on whatever’s happening in that fucked-up mind of his, no one would be brave enough to look.
What Jasper is to me is a tool. Now and back then. His depravity has proven useful in certain circumstances.
“Speaking of slaves,” he says, leaning back and interlacing his fingers behind his neck. “I think I’ve found the one I want.”
“Is that so?”
A smirk plays on his lips. “Uh huh. I was planning on buying her the other night, but Sawyer says you’ve already claimed her. How does that work exactly?”
My fingers curl into taut fists. “What do you mean?”