The Unfortunates(41)

“Dress.”

I drag an inhale through my nose, a failing attempt to seem confident, and slip the thick twists of blue fabric off my shoulders. It pools at my waist and exposes my chest to Kade. He doesn’t do a double take, he doesn’t even look at them. Instead, he acts as if they don’t exist and begins rubbing the warm cloth against my chest, unaffected by my bare flesh. Drops of water run down my skin as he pushes ever so slightly. I look past his head, focused on the painting of a forest. The greens swirl so beautifully with the brown and I’m lost in the painting, until the cloth leaves my chest and the water cools, hardening my nipples. He dips the cloth in the water and brings it back to my chest. I watch this time, as he circles the faint berry marks on my skin.

“Why are you rubbing it off?” I ask. “I thought you liked it.”

His lips twitch—a subtle movement I almost miss. As soon as it happens, it disappears, hidden under a frown.

“Your skin needs to be flawless,” he says. “Because there’s something I need you to do for me.”

My entire body tightens, and if he noticed, he chooses to ignore it. I won’t panic, not yet. It could be something as simple as wearing another revealing dress. I stay silent and watch his face as he scrubs my skin harder, starting on the beginning of his last name now. In his wake, he leaves violent looking red marks that still spell out his name.

“Are you ill?” he asks, clearing off the ‘s’ and ‘a’ letters.

“No, why?”

“I tell you I need you to do something for me and you remain silent. Not your usual behaviour.”

I shrug. “Do I really have a choice?”

“Everyone has a choice. It’s just in your case, the wrong one will get you killed.”

I know, deep down, that I’m too stubborn to let a Fortunate kill me. I’d fight them down to my last breath. Despite my silent thoughts, there’s a depressing, deflated feeling floating around my stomach… the feeling of loss.

“It makes you happy? Sharing me with others?” It’s a question I never planned on asking, but around others, he seems territorial of me and I can’t help but wonder if he’s even capable of sharing me.

“I don’t like sharing my things, but this is business.”

Business. The relationship between my Fortunate and me is strictly business… that has to be a first, surely. At the end of the day, I can go into this willingly. I can squeeze my eyes shut and open my legs and wait for it to be over, or I can fight it. If I fight, I’ll suffer punishments worse than I ever imagined. If I’m useless to Kade, he’ll get rid of me… he’ll put me in the ‘black house’ (whatever that is) or worse, he could give me to Vince. Despite it all, I want to please Kade. I want him to be proud of me and I want to know what it feels like.

“If you do this for me, I’ll promise you something in return.”

I frown. “You want to strike a deal with me?”

I find it strange he would offer me something in return when I don’t have choice but to do it anyway.

“I’m not totally selfish. What I’m asking will be difficult, especially for someone like you.” He pauses, his beautiful brows furrowing. “If you do this for me, I’ll give you a way out of this life as an Unfortunate.”

Bullshit. “There is no way out.”

He nods, finishing off on the ‘o’ of his last name. “There isn’t, not literally. I mean, I’ll keep you. I’ll make sure you don’t get passed down to Vince or to anyone else. Once I take over my father, you can live with me in the city. Of course, you’d have to do things I ask when we’re in public, but when we’re home, you’d be free to do whatever you want.”

Why? Why would he do this for me? My chest tightens as hope tries to force its way in. If there’s a soul killer more potent than a Fortunate in this world, it’s hope. He is my Fortunate, but I can’t trust him. I can feel that he’s different… I can feel it in my stomach that he’s not like the rest of them, but I’m smart enough not to trust him wholeheartedly. He quirks an eyebrow and the movement slams into my chest, shortening my breath.

“I offer you the deal of a lifetime and you look terrified.”

“How do I know I can trust you?” I keep my eyes on his as he pinches the tip of my hair between his fingers and toys with it.

“You don’t and you can’t.”

I look deep into his oily irises, searching for something, anything, that’ll tell me if he’s telling the truth. I don’t see the truth, but I do see something else, something… wicked. In his beautiful, pitch back irises, I see the slightest sliver of honey flare.