Page 14 of Dubious (Darkly Ever After)
“Well, damn, baby,” River says. “Isn’t that the hottest thing I’ve ever heard?” He points directly at his crotch. “Look how hard that made me. Huh, words have never done it for me like that before. Might as well have had your mouth around my dick.”
There goes my hope of thinking River might be logical and sane for longer than two minutes.
“She’s not getting involved,” I say through clenched teeth.
“She’s already fucking involved, Alaric. Besides, if you want the girl, she needs to know who you really are. Like, sure, bring her the fucking roses and the chocolates and all that shit, but let her in. We both know you’re not gonna satiate your needs by fucking her missionary. You might think you can, but that shit ain’t gonna last long.” River laughs. “Besides, if memory serves me right, she liked it a little rough, too.” I glare at him as he smirks and turns his head to Ella. “Isn’t that right, baby? You knew what you were getting into and couldn’t get enough.”
Ella glances at River. Her cheeks flush, and something akin to desire flashes in her eyes. She shakes her head and focuses on me. “I’m not leaving, Alaric, so what’s the plan?”
I jump off the floor, turning between the two of them. River, with a smug look I wanna punch off his face. Ella, with her gigantic eyes and defiant stare. I know I’m not winning this argument because as much as I want Ella to run from us, River and Asher will ensure she stays put.
I storm toward her, forcing her back to slam against the wall. I focus on her, wanting to be sure she hears me. “You want to know what the plan is?” I spit out the words like poison. I want them to wound her, to fester in her veins.
Ella nods.
I slam my hands against the wall beside her head, trying to intimidate her out of her defiant stupidity. “You’re gonna have to be a little whore, Ella. You willing to do that?”
“W-What?” Ella stammers.
“How do you think we’ve been useful to Celeste all our lives? We weren’t always her henchmen. We were scared little kids she used to garner power. She pimped us out, Ella, for whatever she needed. Turns out she wants to sell you to the highest bidder. Are you ready to be a whore? Because that’s what she’ll demand of you, and do you know what she’ll want from us?”
Ella’s eyes water and she shakes her head.
“She’ll want us to break you. That’s right, little girl. She’ll make us fuck you up in unimaginable ways.”
Ella swallows. A lingering hope inside me wants her to slap me and run. But that glimmer is decimated as she glares at me, conviction blatant in her warm eyes. I’ve seen that look before; pure fucking determination. “I’ll do whatever is necessary. Let’s take that bitch down.”
ChapterSeven
River
“You have her under control?” Celeste asks as she rolls sheer nylons up her legs.
“Yes, she’s neutralized for now. Bitch knows if she steps out of line, I’ll walk her like a dog.”
Celeste laughs as she approaches me, wrapping her arms around my neck and attempting to kiss me. I remove her arms and step back, wracked by a shiver of disgust. I’m gonna have to bleach my skin later.
My fingers twitch with the urge to wrap around her scrawny neck and watch the light leave her eyes. “We don’t do that anymore, Celeste.”
Celeste flinches as if I’ve slapped her. Wish I fucking had. Bitch deserves it.
Celeste adjusts her reaction quickly, moves to her dresser, and spritzes herself. The putrid stench of her perfume penetrates the air like poisonous gas. “She better be prepared for David. If she embraces me, I’ll have to take extreme measures.”
The fuck she will. If Celeste has any idiotic notions about laying a hand on Ella, I’ll kill her. Nothing will stop me from putting the bitch down like a rabid dog. “She’ll be ready. Don’t you worry about it.”
Celeste turns to me and smiles. It’s fuckin’ weird that the bitch looks uglier than usual. When someone smiles, their face lights up, but with Celeste, a smile is impending doom lurking on the horizon.
“Good. I expect to see your handiwork at dinner tonight.”
Celeste gestures toward a dress bag on her bed. “Ensure she gets that. I expect her to wear it to the ball. David explicitly told me it’s his favorite color.”
I nod and grit my teeth before I say something to fuck everything up. Lifting the garment bag, I sling it over my shoulder and storm out before she says another damn word.
My heart races, and I attempt to calm its frantic beat as I walk down the excruciatingly long corridor to Ella’s room. Fuck, I hate this house. When we get out of here, I want to move into some place smaller, newer. The only good thing about this house is that it’s nestled in the forest, away from the world outside. That part I like. Maybe we could get a house in a forest far from here. It would be nice to be surrounded by nature instead of the carnage of human indecency. The only three people I want to see for the rest of my life are Alaric, Asher, and Ella.
I don’t knock on Ella’s door, barging in without warning. I don’t want any barriers or rules with her, but to achieve that, she’ll have to trust us, and that shit takes time.
She sits on one of the wingback chairs nestled in the room's corner, her eyes cast down as her hands glide over her bare legs. I’d do anything to remove her anxiety. I want to see her happy, but that won’t happen until we get rid of that decrepit bitch.