Page 76 of Pas de Trois
Chapter 18
Ezra
I shake my head as I jolt awake—the side of my head that was perched on my fist slipped off when I drifted to sleep. My elbow was on the armrest propping me up, but now that I’m conscious again, I slam my arms down on the rests, pushing myself back in the seat and straightening my spine.
I’m determined to stay awake.
I want to be aware when Renata returns from the board meeting. I want to see her face, study her body language, get a sense for whether things went better for her than they did for Anya. If she comes back happy, then I’ll know things didn’t go well for my blue-eyed girl.
So, I hope she comes back angry as fuck.
I blink against the darkness. Renata had shut off the lights before she left me and Luca—chained to the floor by a cuff around the ankle—and locked us inside this bedroom. She told us to get some sleep, seeing that these board meetings are held late into the night.
But as tired as I am, I’m not going to sleep.
Luckily, I don’t have to wait too long. I hear the click of the lock and in moments, it flings open wide, slamming back against the wall behind it with a thud that makes me jump.
The lights flash on and the door slams shut again. Renata starts spewing out a string of Italian words as she locks the door behind her. Luca springs up out of bed where he was sleeping and moves toward her. I have no idea what the fuck she’s saying as he moves to her, putting his hands on her shoulders, stroking her arms in a comforting way.
Internally, I fucking cheer.
Everything about her demeanor screams that she’s furious and I’m happy for it—it means my girl owned her shit in that meeting.
I push to my feet and cross my arms over my chest, waiting for Renata to start barking orders at me. If I have to watch her fuck Luca one more damn time, I swear I’m gonna claw my eyes out. As pissed off as she looks, I can’t imagine she’ll have the interest tonight, though I’ve been wrong before.
Luca rubs his hand down her hair, stroking the side of her face as she spits out rage-filled words that I don’t understand. The poor kid is hopelessly in love with her, but Renata is so hateful, so prideful that she insists on drawing me into their twisted relationship instead of just focusing on the guy who actually gives a damn about her.
Her eyes catch mine during her tirade. She gives Luca an order and he’s down on his knees in a second. But he sits back on his heels and bows his head instead of pushing her dress up over her hips and taking off her underwear.
Fuck.
She’s coming after me.
She strides across the room and I drop my hands to my sides, fists clenched, skin buzzing with warning.
“Take off your clothes, Ezra.”
My chest heaves with a heavy breath. Everything within me begs to resist her order, but I know I can’t. She’ll hurt me with the electric shock on my collar, but that’s not what I fear. If I don’t follow her orders, she’ll hurt Anya and I will do anything to keep that from happening.
I took off my jacket, tie, and shirt from the reception before she left and I’m only left standing before her in my pants. I look down at the metal cuff around my ankle. “Am I supposed to do a magic trick or are you gonna remove the cuff?”
“Luca,” she calls him over and he comes.
She pulls a key from her handbag and hands it to him. He bends to unlock the ankle cuff which is attached to a long chain that’s bolted to the floor. Luca stands and gives the key back to her. It would never even occur to this sad sap to unlock his own damn cuff because he’s so in love with this bitch that he wouldn’t dare do something without asking her permission first.
I know the drill and I don’t see any point in stalling, so I strip until I’m standing naked in front of her. It’s happened often enough now that I’ve gotten used to being ogled by her.
Used to it, but not fucking happy about it.
Renata tilts her head, glancing down at my crotch. A nasty smirk lifts the side of her mouth and I can feel my nostrils flare with a slow-burning rage as I hold out my hands and narrow my eyes at her.
“What do you want from me tonight? Foot massage? Back rub? Tie you to the bed for fuck boy to use you? Maybe add another scar so you can play with my blood?”
“I’m taking your cock tonight, Ezra.” Her hand lands on my chest and her fingers blaze a trail of fire until she reaches my belly button.
I dig my fingernails into my palms, fighting every raging instinct within me to slap her hand away. “Don’t fucking touch my cock,” I seethe through gritted teeth. “It doesn’t belong to you.” She steps into me and slaps her palm around my dick, gripping and tugging down to the tip. “Get your hands off me!” My jaw sets as every muscle in my body clenches in tension at her unwanted touch.
I take a step back, but my knees hit the armchair behind me and I fall to sit. She pulls the little black remote from her handbag. “No, don’t—” She presses the button that sends a lightning strike of a shock right through me. “Fuck!” I manage to say before seizing from the pain that rips through my neck.
