Page 70 of His Prince
I should have never married him, should have just cut my losses before things grew complicated. No amount of money or alliance is worth this much torture.
But then I think of him, the way he blushes, the sweet way he talks to those he cares for, the way he used to stare at me in awe.
He was so in love with me, and I saw my opportunity to grow my empire and pounced.
And now here I am, waiting for him to appear and knowing he won’t. Because under that sweetness is a stubborn soul.
I should haul him in here, put him over my knee, and spank his ass a pretty pink.
Should make him come to heel.
But before I can, something creaks beneath the floor and I freeze, staring at the ground. The wood floors look pristine, as if Nina was just in here cleaning and my eyes start to burn from not blinking. The creak intensifies, the ground pulsing. Perhaps it is the rats Angel heard in the walls. Perhaps they found their way into the floors.
I stare at it intently as my eyes follow the sound, my heartbeatratcheting up slightly as the floor opens up with an ominous creak and Bane appears.
His head pokes out, his hair an unruly mess, a cobweb stuck to his nose, and those big eyes blinking at me as he waves.
“Hi there,” he says as he maneuvers out of the hidden passageway and into my room, dirt falling onto the floor as he goes. “Didn’t know where this tunnel was leading.”
“I didn’t know there was a passageway into my room,” I reply when I find my voice. The thought of unknown tunnels under my house makes my head start to throb.
Who the fuck created these passages? I know about the one from my office. I had it installed to be used in case of emergencies, but this one? It seems I don’t fucking know anything anymore. I’ve lost complete control of my life, of my house, of my fucking mind.
“Yep. You have several. It’s a very unsophisticated labyrinth,” he replies and then shuts the passageway with a loudclang. “But it’s been fun figuring out where each one goes.”
“How many do I have?” I ask, and he shrugs.
“About ten that I’ve found so far. This one leads outside the gate.”
I stare at him, the throbbing in my head growing.
“And the others?”
“Oh, well, I can draw you a map if you tell me where your killing station is.”
I glower at him, my head almost cracking at the force of the frustration.
“You know, butchery, meat retail, eyeball palace?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You know, the place where you chop people up. I want to know where it is. I haven’t found it yet.”
“I don’t have one of those. However, Georgiy lives near the perimeter of my property…”
“Is George your Bane?” he asks, his cheeks flushing, his hands fluttering around his face. “Is he your butcher?”
“He’d be appalled by that name, but yes.”
“Oh my. He’s so…good looking. I thought he was the onsite doctor.”
“He’s both.”
“My, oh my. I need to talk to him, discuss things, but first…”
Bane walks around the room, his hands sliding across the walls, digging into the divots where the paneling meets the drywall. I just stand there and watch his every move. I don’t trust him, this chaotic man who’s been snooping about, finding secret passageways that I didn’t even know about.
Perhaps he’s the one fucking with my house, with my mind. Perhaps the person I’ve been seeing isn’t Katarina, but Bane.