CHAPTER SIXTEEN

REAPER

Taking her hand, I pull her into the kitchen with me and lift her onto the granite countertop. The need to have her right beside me at all times is strong, and instead of dissipating, it only grows. While I prefer her naked at all times, I have to admit to myself that she looks gorgeous, sitting in my house wearing my t-shirt. Her long blonde hair is a mess, and those blue eyes I’ll never get enough of watching me, like at any moment I might attack her. Initially, I wanted to end her life, but now I want to protect her from any danger. I’ll still cause her pain, but nobody gets to make her cry but me.

“Are you going to punish me?”

I ignore for the moment that she avoided my questions about her family, and answer her.

“No.”

She breathes a sigh of relief before she asks, “You won’t let me go, so does that mean you’ll chain me up again?”

I shake my head as I begin grabbing food from the refrigerator.

“Bella, I don’t know what to do with you. I’m nice, and give you enough length, so you can use the restroom and move around the room, and you run the first opportunity you have. Maybe my brother has it right. Perhaps you need to be in a cage, so there’s no possibility of escape.”

Heating the oil in the skillet, I add the beef strips, as she begs me.

“No. Please, Nico. I won’t run. I promise. I’ll behave.”

Do I believe her? Not a fucking chance, but I also don’t want to chain her up, or cage her. The chains didn’t keep her here, anyway. They only slowed her down.

Taking the onions and green peppers to the counter, I slice them, while standing beside her .

“If you try to run again, I’ll have no choice but to resort to drastic measures. Assuming you can actually behave yourself, I’ll let you have some freedom.”

“Thank you,” she breathes.

“Can I help?”

Glancing at her, I ask, “Can I trust you with a knife?”

She nods as she hops off the counter.

“I’m not going to do anything, Nico. Certainly not tonight, because, honestly, I’m exhausted.”

Walking across the kitchen to the sink, she washes her hands, as she looks at the matching stainless steel appliances.

“This place must have cost you a fortune.”

“Mmmhmm,” I hum. It most definitely did, but it was worth every penny.

She comes back over and cuts the onions, while I stir the meat. I don’t trust her completely, so I glance at her frequently, to make sure I don’t end up with the knife in my back.

“So your family,” I ask.

I smirk at her when she rolls her eyes at me.

“I was an only child, and grew up with a single mother. We aren’t close. It’s complicated. As a kid, my mother’s bedroom had a revolving door. There were drugs and a lot of partying. Then she met my step dad, and turned into a religious nut. Everything I do is never good enough. When I was fourteen, she had my brother. The golden child who does everything right, while I do everything wrong in her eyes. I spent years trying to earn her approval, but eventually I stopped seeking the unachievable.”

Her words cause the tingle in my neck to come back, but I know it’s not her, it’s her mother. Bella has awoken something inside me, that makes me want to kill everyone who has ever hurt her. Sure, I’ll kill without a reason, but this infuriates me. I need to do a background check on this mother of hers .

“I’m sorry. One of my biggest pet peeves is shitty parents. People like that shouldn’t be alive.”

Her eyes widen in response.

“I can’t confide in you, if I have to fear you killing people, Nico.”

Holding my hands up, I say, “I won’t kill her.”

It’s a lie, but she relaxes. If I end her mother’s life, I’ll have to be more creative, and make it look like an accident.

Grabbing the vegetables, I pour them into the pan with the meat, and cook them.

She stands beside me, glancing at the food with excitement.

“That smells really good. I’m starving.”

I grin and don’t say anything, but I always work up an appetite with killing. I wonder if she’ll be the same. Bella probably thinks tonight was a one-time thing, and that she won’t kill another person. She’s wrong. I saw her while she choked the life out of that fucker, and I felt how wet she was. Bella doesn’t want to get aroused from taking a life, but she did. Eventually, she’s going to need to face it, because the urge will not go away.

I grab the plate of food, and she follows me out to the dining room. Turning to her, I chuckle as I watch her glance around the room. She stares at the coat of arms for our family name hanging on the wall, before she takes a seat at the table. It’s a large glass table with a gunmetal gray border around it. She runs her fingers around the smooth finish, as if she’s inspecting it, before she takes her seat.

Setting the plate in the middle of the table, I narrow my gaze at her.

“If I go get us drinks, are you going to do anything stupid?”

She shakes her head no.

Sighing audibly, I say, “I don’t want to treat you like a child.”

Rolling her eyes at me, she complains.

“No, you want to treat me like a prisoner.”

I run a hand through my hair and order her to stay put. It’s not that I want to treat her as a prisoner. There never would’ve been shackles on her wrists had I not deemed it necessary. I will keep her, whether she likes it or not. However, I’d prefer her to like it or at least accept it.

I walk back into the dining room with two glasses, as well as a bottle of wine, and I’m relieved to find her sitting there like I told her to.

She tilts her head, with a sassy smirk on her beautiful lips.

“See. Still here, Nico. I should get a reward.”

I chuckle as I pour us both a glass of red wine.

“And what kind of reward do you think you deserve for simply staying put?”

After I sit across from her, I take a sip of wine while I wait for her to answer my question.

She stares at me sweetly, but I can see she’s nervous. She grabs her fingers with her other hand, pulling like she’s afraid to tell me what she wants.

“Umm-”

Reaching across the table, I take her hand, and rub her trembling fingers.

“You can tell me what you want, baby. There’s no guarantee you’ll get it, but I’m not going to hurt you for saying what you want.”

She glances down at the table and takes a deep breath.

“I’d like these shackles to be removed.”

Shaking my head no, I say, “Sorry, but that’s not going to happen.”

I can’t explain why, because I don’t think she’d react well to being tracked, but I’m unwilling to risk her getting away, when I might not be able to find her.

She makes herself a fajita while I do the same, and we begin to eat. I know she’s upset, because she hasn’t looked at me once since I refused her request.

“Bella. Look at me. ”

Swallowing her food, she lifts her gaze to mine and for the first time ever, that pained expression bothers me, even though I know it shouldn’t.

“I’m sorry you’re unhappy.”

“Are you though?”

I nod slowly.

“If I say it, I mean it. I’m not a good man, but I am an honest one.”