Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
I want it back. I want it back so fucking much.
But I let down my guard with Ani. I became soft with her. Weak. Never. Fucking. Again.
She’s a liar. A liar.
And her sister, and that fucking Godwin baby…
But I want it back. Ani back. I want my sunlight back. I do.
Is there a way to fix the wrong?
No. She’s a liar! Or…
Maybe…
She reaches for the door and something inside me makes me shout, “Stop!”
She freezes, turns to face me.
“If you are serious about suffering the consequences for your crimes,” I take a step toward her. “Then get back on your knees now.”
Without hesitation… she does.
Chapter
Sixteen
Ani
I adjust my weight to relieve the pressure on my knees. The small movement is not a good idea, however. Phoenix, who now has a handful of my hair in his grasp, jerks me up to a standing position. The sting on my scalp has me crying out, but I don’t resist in any way.
“First rule,” he says between clenched teeth. “You do nothing without my permission. Nothing at all. I don’t care if you’re uncomfortable, in pain, or just in the mood to do something of your own free will. You won’t do anything without my direct order, or you will suffer the consequences. Liars, deceivers, and Parker girls get punished, and you will soon see just how severely.”
He pauses and waits for some type of response from me. I can’t talk. I’m so terrified I can only stare and nod. What type of consequences?
“Let me explain in more detail why you’re still here,” he begins. “I have graciously decided to grant you mercy. Of sorts. I believe in paying for your crimes, and that a girl like you can repent rather than just being shot between the eyes as any other Godwin would want me to do.”
“I didn’t mean to lie to you,” I begin as Phoenix still grips my hair by the roots. “It was a secret. One I didn’t feel you needed to know. It’s my darkness. I don’t have to share that.”
“Well you are about to see my darkness. And what happens when I’m betrayed.”
“Why are you being so mean?” I somehow get the courage to ask.
“Mean? Mean?” He pulls harder on my hair. “I was nice. I was so fucking nice. And look what that got me. A liar. It got me a fucking liar.”
“Are you going to kill me? Is that it? I told you I wouldn’t tell a soul. Not one.”
“A death sentence is not off the table, but you have a chance to remove it by being a good girl rather than a bad girl,” Phoenix says. “I’m not a man to say no to. Regardless of what your heart is screaming right now, your intelligent mind has already accepted the fact that you will have to pay a price. But life doesn’t have to be difficult here. It can be quite comfortable if you earn the comfort.”
“How do I earn the comfort?” I feel the first spark of hope since Phoenix learned of the murder.
Still holding my hair, Phoenix leads me to the stairs. “You have two choices every single day. To be a good girl or to be a bad girl. So, the choice really is up to you. Just as the choice of whether you would lie and deceive me was up to you. You clearly chose wrong, but hopefully when I’m done with you, you’ll never make that mistake again. And you are going to have to make the ultimate sacrifice.”
“What’s that?”
“Your body,” he states. “Your sister trapped my brother by becoming pregnant with his child. She’s bringing another Godwin into the world. He can’t act against her now. None of us truly can. So, as payback”—he locks gazes with me—“you are now going to be trapped with my baby.”
“What?” There is no way I heard that correctly.
“Tit for tat,” he says. “Your sister trapped my brother, and I’m going to counter the move by doing the same to her flesh and blood.”
“I don’t want to have your baby. Please. There has to be another way.” I try to turn my head to look at Phoenix in desperation but am rewarded with a sharp yank on my hair as he leads me up the stairs. “I’ll do anything else you want. I’ll go to the police and take the fall. I’ll claim that I did it and leave Apollo’s name out of the story completely. Anything. You don’t really want me to have your baby, do you? Or I’ll leave and disappear if you want. I swear that I’ll never betray your family. Please just tell me what I can do. Let me pay for what happened in some other way.” I stumble up the stairs to try to keep up with his stride.