Page 37 of Bound by Vengeance
She lay back on the bed and draped her armsover the pillows once more. “I’m the diva, the fashionista, thewild child, the selfish one. I’m the one who demands only the best,thinks only of herself, and spendslavishly.”
“Is that what they expect of you, or is itwhat you expect of yourself?”
She considered this before answering.“Them.” But she wasn’t sure that was true anymore, wasn’t sure itever had been.
Nathan frowned as he glanced over the suiteagain. Then, understanding dawned. “Before the warehouse, you caredabout these things, but not so much since.”
“I grew up a lot while in chains.”
“But you think your family will worry aboutyou if you don’t give them the Vicky they’ve always known.”
“They’re already too worried about me. I’vebarely had any freedom from them since being freed.”
“So, if they see carefree, extravagant Vickyagain, they’ll back off.”
“My older siblings and parents all havelives, mates, and families. My younger siblings shouldn’t have toknow what I went through, and I don’t think they do. My actionslanded me in captivity, and my family risked their lives to get meout. I won’t have them worrying about me any more than they alreadydo,” she said.
“That doesn’t sound like a selfish woman tome.”
“You didn’t know me, or what I was like,before the warehouse.”
“I may not have known you before yourimprisonment, but Sister, Duncan, and those children did, and theyall care for you. I don’t think any of them would like the womanyou’re portraying yourself to have been. I’m not saying that out ofall your siblings you weren’t the crazy one or the moreself-centered one, I’m saying I think you remember yourself in aworse light than what is true,” Nathan said.
Vicky considered the girl she was before,and she’d truly been agirlbefore those chains. That girlwas obsessed with hair, makeup, the latest fashions, one daytraveling to Paris, and, as she grew older, partying anddistracting herself with some men. That girl had been a naïveidiot, but she’d never been purposely malicious.
“Perhaps I do remember myself worse than Iwas,” she admitted. “However, my family would shit themselves ifthey saw me in anything but the best hotel.”
He chuckled as he sat on the end of the bedto put on his boots. “And how do you afford such a place?”
“Investments. My family is big on that. Whenwe turned eighteen, my dad gave Abby and me a small stipend toinvest. He informed us he had no intention of supporting our assesfor eternity. He may have said that, but everyone keeps returninghome and building houses on my parents’ property. It’s like our ownstronghold.”
“There’s safety in numbers.”
“True, and we’re all extremely close. Butanyway, I’ve always been good with numbers. I hated school and onlyliked college for the parties before I quit, but I like math, andI’m an avid stock market watcher. You’ll be surprised to learn avery wealthy woman just made you come harder than you ever havebefore,” she told him with a wink.
He grinned at her. “And how do you know youdid that?”
“Because you sure made me come harder thanany other man ever has.”
The reminder that other men had experiencedthe exquisite release she could bring caused his hand to clench onthe boot, and he snarled.
CHAPTER 18
“Nathan?” she inquired. He wouldn’t attackher, but he looked ready to commit murder as his boot twisted inhis grasp.
He inhaled a calming breath as he tried toregain control over the uncustomary, volatile sway of his emotions.“While whatever this is between us is going on, you willnotbe with other men.”
He practically saw her hackles rise.
“Do you think to command or cage me,Nathan?” she inquired in a deceptively sweet tone. “Because I’vebeen caged once; it won’t happen again.”
“No,” he said. “I think to be the only onewho knows your body while you’re sharing it with me.”
She could tell him he’d forever ruined herfor all other men, and it wouldn’t be some corny line; it would bethe horrible truth. The idea of being with another man had repulsedher since she first saw him, but she’d be damned if she revealedthat to him.
Kadence had explained how hunters workedwhen it came to love and marriage. One day, he would be assignedhis virginal bride, who’d been raised to be the perfect wife andmother, and Nathan would marry her.
He would do what he had to for his people.She couldn’t blame him for it, but she would protect herself asmuch as possible from him until then. He would never know how muchpower he had over her and how much he affected the outcome of herlife.
