Page 96 of Papers Don't Lie

My skin prickles at the familiarity of the language I’ve come to hate. The first time he visited me was when Dad punishedme because I couldn’t speak French with a perfect accent. Since then, Carter has communicated with me that way.

I gulp, squinting my eyes at him that fill with tears from how hard he’s gripping me.

“Fuck. You,” I spit out, and a hint of surprise flashes over his face before I’m thrown on the floor and grabbed by my hair. I clench my jaw but don’t utter a word or a sound.

His face inches closer to mine. “Unless you want to go further with that threat, I’d shut up if I were you,” he says, his breath falling over my face. Carter fists my hair tighter in his hand. “You have gained quite the mouth. It seems it was a mistake to give you that much freedom."

“Freedom?" I manage to croak out a laugh. “You could give me everything in the world, and I’d still feel caged as long as I’m in your presence. You disgust me, Carter. Don’t you see?”

Carter’s lips twitch, and he sets my hair free, but only after he yanks me deeper onto the floor. I grunt, watching him from the corner of my eye. He wipes the corner of his mouth with a finger, nodding his head a few times.

“You don’t even know me, and you talk as if you do,” he says. “If you were mine, you would’ve gotten everything you wished for.Ifyou gave us a chance…" His tone increases. “But you didn’t, and that means I have to constantly remind you who is in charge." Carter moves his hand to his chin. “What did your father used to do when you were a bad girl?"

I open my mouth, shaking my head at the thought. He doesn’t have a basement here, but the idea still frightens the shit out of me.

A smile covers his lips. “Right.” He nods before he grabs me by my hair again and drags me to the bathroom. I kick him with my hands, and I try to set myself free, but he doesn’t budge. I only end up hurting myself even more by the time he closes the door after us.

He opens the glass door to the shower and throws me there, kneeling in front of me. I grunt in pain, my elbow smashing to the floor tiles.

“This only will make me hate you more," I tell him, my voice shaking as I drag my legs to my chest.

“I already told you how I feel about hate, my precious, and if it’s all that you’ll give me, then I’m going to feed on it. I’ll make you hate me until you forget about that fucker, or if I change my mind, he’ll be dead with a flick of my fingers.”

“No.” I shake my head, the idea making me nauseous. “I’ll be good.”

The words anger him even more because he gets to his feet and closes the door, glancing down at me. “I’ll come to get you tomorrow night. Until then, you don’t get out of that shower, or you’ll end up spending the rest of your life there.” He turns away, and I get to my feet, not daring to open the door.

My fingers shake as I place them on the glass wall, looking at his back. “Carter, no." He doesn’t look at me. “Carter!" I say when he gets out. “Carter, please,” I beg when I hear the lock twisting. “Please,” I croak out when the lights switch off and I’m surrounded by darkness. “No…”

I drop to the floor, sliding down the wall as a pool of tears gathers in my eyes. I take a deep breath, shaking as I’m back into that basement, shaking from the cold cutting at my skin. It’s dark, and everything I hear is the laughter of my sisters running around the house, and when I hear steps coming, I think that for a second, Dad is coming back to take me out.

But no. It’s only my mind playing tricks on me.

I’m still caged, but this time, Carter is the enemy.

“Are you done?I want to get back to the house," I ask when he orders a third dessert.

I’m still shaken about spending an entire night locked in the bathroom, and it takes all of my power to not vomit what I just ate. When he came to get me, he drove me to his house while I hugged my legs to my chest in the backseat, looking out of the window with sweat dripping from my hair as if I just got out of the shower. He made his housemaid wash me and prepare me for tonight.

A dinner.

My fingers shake as I intertwine them under the table, the eyebags under my eyes feeling heavy.

He’s acting so… normal. As if he didn’t just show me what I remember as being bad in my childhood is far worse now, sucking any amount of power I thought I had in me before.

I know he’s doing all of this just to piss me off and to prove he’s in charge here, but I’ve had enough of it. He ate like a brute and now won’t stop with the excuses to stay at the restaurant we arrived at three hours ago.

Carter raises a napkin to his mouth and wipes the corners before he thanks the waiter for his hospitality. The man leaves, and Carter’s eyes finally look my way.

“And I want to stay here. Is that a problem?” He drops his back on the chair, lifting a brow at me.

“What are you trying to prove? You proved your point when you locked me in the bathroom.” I talk through my teeth, even though I’d like more than anything to scream at him.

He looks at the large windows next to us, almost as if he’s looking for something. I follow his eyes, but the moment I do, his hand lands on mine, squeezing it.

“Nothing, my precious." He smiles, wrinkles gathering around the corner of his evil eyes. “I’m sorry about last night, but I had to make sure you understood who you belong to and who’s in charge, and by the way you’re shaking, it worked. As long as you remember that the more you fight me, the worse it will be for you, we’ll be good.”

I look at his palm on mine, my lips twitching in disgust. He notices right away and raises a brow in challenge.