Page 30 of Master A-0011
“No they’re not. They’re looking at me.”
Ethan winked, throwing me a charming smile as he lifted his glass of water, taking a drink.
“They are looking at you too.” I shrugged. “Probably wondering how in the world you lost your mind, and what you’re doing having dinner with someone like me.”
He put the glass down, reaching across the table to grab my hand. When he lifted it and kissed against my fingers, I stiffened, glancing around at the random person looking our way.
“I wish you would stop doing things like that.”
“Doing what? Enjoying our dinner together? Trying to woo my future wife?Wife.Who would have thought I liked that term so much?” His head shook. “Who cares what any of these people think. They’re fakes, all of them. I think I want you on my lap.”
I quickly jerked my hand back as heat burned my cheeks.
“I’d die. Literally. I’d drop dead, which I guess wouldn’t be that bad. At least I wouldn’t have to endure the staring anymore.”
“Who’s staring?” Ethan finally glanced around, his face immediately hardening as he slowly scanned the room and realized I wasn’t exaggerating.
“We don’t have to stay long, right?”
“Pearl.” His forearms flattened on the table as he leaned in. Again, he picked up my hands, kissing against them. “You’re taking it the wrong way. You concealed a lot of the scars with makeup. They’re just curious. It’s aggravating but not what youthink. You look breathtaking. Focus on me. We’re here for us, not them.”
“Us.” Even as I said it, I shook my head through the fog that kept coming in waves.
“Wife.” Ethan smiled.
“This makes zero sense. I don’t even know you.You don’t know me.”
“I know enough. And you know more about me than anyone else. We’re off to a good start.”
I laughed and Ethan’s smile was so big and genuine that I felt my heart leap in my chest. Butterflies were automatic and my body flushed with a new craving that begged for more of him.
“You eat people.Pretty people.I’m so glad I’m safe from that.”
“They’re not pretty, Pearl, they’re fake. Ugly. That’s the point of all of this. It’s why I kill them. They’re not real. They have no empathy. Everything about their life is a lie. It’s superficial. A sham, and they love to be that way. I hate them on a level I can’t even explain to you. They’re like everyone I know. Like most of the elites.Like my own family. Eating them…” He stopped. “It’s hard to explain. I haven’t always been like this. One day, I just snapped. The details about that will come later. Now’s not the time. But eating them…It’s a feeling from deep inside. They can’t hurt me or anyone else ever again.I own them. I’m erasing them. Overpowering them. Taking them in me allows me to have the control. I win. I have the last laugh.”
My eyes dropped to stare at our hold of each other. Ethan’s finger was traveling down mine. In that moment, it was everything. It made me feel safe. Wanted, despite the horror I knew that came with his compulsions.
“I guess I can see that.” I pushed back the screams, barely managing to get the words to come. “Earlier you said my family wasn’t here yet. What did you mean by that?”
A throat clearing had both of us looking over. My eyes flew open wide, and my face shot down.
“Main Master.”
Ethan’s tone remained happy if not slightly surprised.
“My best chef is missing three fingers. He says you did it. Do you want to explain?”
Ethan lifted my bruised hand, but I still didn’t look up to see the Main Master’s expression.
“I brought him in to teach her to cook, not to beat her. Pearl is not a slave. Even if she was, never once did I give my permission for him to discipline her. He’s lucky he only lost fingers. I almost couldn’t stop myself from killing him.”
A pause.
My hand was taken, lifted higher by the Main Master.
“Hello, Pearl.It’s been a few weeks since we’ve seen each other.”
At the hypnotic tone, my eyes snapped to his like a magnet. The smoothness of my name smothered out the fear. It pushed it so far away that all I could do was look into the bright blue as I responded.