Chapter Four

 

Lara jerked, sitting up upright the moment Matthias revealed his name. So, she knew about the Familia. Good. This would make things so much easier. Brownie points to her for not screaming at the sight of his messed-up face. Instead, she stared him down, not something even grown men could do after realizing who they were up against.

“What do you want with me?” she whispered.

Lara looked pale under the basement lights, bleached out of color, of life. He yearned to see her smile again, like the photos he took of her during his surveillance. On her way to work, she’d cut through the local park and bumped into a friend with a baby. Matthias could never forget her smile, so carefree, so out of this world.

Matthias bet she’d taste heavenly, like life itself. He, on the other hand, was a creature who thrived in the dark, and he wanted to devour every inch of her. Corrupt her.

It took him a second to realize she’d repeated her question.

“Answers,” he replied.

“To what?” She blurted, “I’m no one important.”

“You’re of no interest to the rest of the Familia,” Matthias agreed. He shrugged. “After I get what I want from you, they told me I can do whatever I want with you.

She shivered, clutched the blanket at the floor and wrapped it around her shoulders, like armor. As if that little piece of cloth could protect her from him. He could take what little comfort she had, strip her naked if he wanted to.

Down here, he was the king who wrote and changed the rules all the time. Matthias could use the same old technique. Break his prisoners down with cruelty and pain, and they’d beg for his kindness later on.

She kept stealing glances over his shoulder, to the hook and the assortment of toys on the wall. Matthias didn’t intend to use them on her, of course. Not as a last resort. She didn’t know that however.

“Please, you’ve must’ve made some kind of mistake,” she blurted.

“No, I think not. One question,” he said, raising one scarred finger. “What are you to Skip Diaz?”

She widened her eyes, mouth hanging slightly open. Lara’s chest heaved, and fuck, but he couldn’t take his eyes from the swell of her generous breasts. He’d taken her on her day off, so she wasn’t in that drab and ugly pink waitress uniform. Lara wore a thin white tee, pink bra underneath. A pair of skinny jeans topped off her simple outfit, black denim that hugged every luscious curve and those killer legs of hers.

“Skip?” She spat out that name like it was venom. “This is all about that bastard?”

Hearing the anger in her voice, he forced himself to ignore his dick, to study the tight lines around her face. Genuine rage. For some reason, seeing her riled up made him happy. Matthias did wonder how someone like her wound up with scum like Skip.

“Skip used to work for us. You didn’t know that despite having lived with him?”

She shook her head, a vehement expression on her face. Lara bit on her bottom lip. So tempting. He knelt. The chain on her ankle made a clinking noise as she backed away—into nothing but the wall.

She grimaced, but he did nothing but run his fingers up the length of the chain, to the band of metal around her calf. The gesture felt strangely intimate. In better circumstances, Matthias would relish tying her down in bed, putting his mouth to her pussy and making her scream out his name.

Better circumstances, he reminded himself. Still, Lara was here, and each second he had to put up with this charade killed him. Matthias would rather be doing something else than playing the role of torturer. He wanted her to crave his touch, not be repulsed by it.

“I thought all he did was hang around sports bars. His breath smelled of alcohol every time he came home,” she said bitterly, drawing her knees to her chest. A sob tore out of her chest. She began rocking back and forth. The urge to comfort her arose, but that would be sending the wrong message.

A weakness. Matthias knew that the moment he’d been assigned the task of surveilling her and eventually capturing her. He’d known right from the start that she’d be his most difficult job yet. Matthias didn’t completely understand why she seemed to possess the ability to mow down all his defenses.

“Don’t cry, little bird.”

She jerked her head and stared up at him. “What did you call me?”

“Little bird. That’s what you remind me of right now. Sing me the right song, and I might just let you out of this cage.”

“That’s what my mother used to call me, back when she was alive,” she whispered, looking spooked.

“Focus, Lara.”

She clenched and unclenched her hands on her knees. Matthias wondered if she’d try to lash out at him again, dig her little claws into his skin the way she did in the alleyway. This time, Lara seemed to take the wiser route.

She took deep breaths and met his gaze. “I’ll tell you everything you want to know about Skip.”

“I’ll know if you lie to me.”

A little laugh rattled out of her trembling body. “What are you, a priest?”

“No. I’m just someone who’s been doing this a very long time.”

She shuddered at those words. “Why? Do you like it?”

“Because this,” Matthias waved towards the rest of the basement. “Is the only thing I’m good for. I don’t necessarily enjoy it, but I sleep well enough at night.”

She swallowed, probably at the last bit of his confession.

He had no idea why he told her that, why he broke off-script the moment he lowered his hood. Lara beheld him and didn’t flinch away. His physical scars didn’t just make him a monster, the darkness in him did.

“That sounds a little sad.” Lara eyed him up and down.

So bold. He wanted to chuckle but kept his expression neutral. Then again, he didn’t correct her behavior. He wanted to see what else she’d do. Let her believe she was slowly whittling away at his defenses, convince herself that she could somehow convince him to let her go.

“How did you get those scars?”

No prisoner ever asked Matthias that question. None dared.

“Changing the topic now, little bird?”

A distant expression crossed her face. “Other kids always laughed when my mom called me that. I hated it. Little. I was never that. I’d always been a chubby kid growing up.”

Matthias risked a touch. He lifted her chin with his fingers, thumbed her bottom lip. “Kids can be cruel and stupid. You’re fine the way you are. Perfect even.”

Lara darted her tongue out, licking at his fingers when he traced the shape of her lip. He smiled. His dick thickened in his jeans. It would be so easy to kiss her now. Make her think she was slowly gaining control of the situation. Two can play at this game.

Matthias stole his first kiss from her, quick, wet, and fleeting. Fuck. Matthias always felt like a beast shared his skin, and he let it out when he killed, when he wrung answers out of his prisoners. It surged to the surface now, hungry, possessive, and impatient to corrupt Lara. Mark her. Make her his.

His cock pressed up against the zipper of his jeans. So sweet. So much better than he imagined. He wanted so much more, to have her bared for him, to explore every inch of her, to taste that honey between her legs. In the end, he’d make her cunt ache and crave his dick.

She clutched at his shoulder. He expected her to curl her hands into fists, trying to hurt him again, but it never happened.

Matthias pulled back, restraining himself. The shock that rippled across her features seemed genuine. She touched her mouth with two fingers.

“Trying to seduce me won’t work, little bird,” he simply said.

She drew away, and he smiled and rose to his feet. Color rose to her cheeks and neck. That, she definitely couldn’t fake. Fucking adorable.

“We’ll be spending some quality time here together. I’m getting you something to drink. Will you eat?”

She glared at him, stubborn look on her face. “I know how this works.”

He raised one scarred eyebrow. “You do?”

Lara took a deep breath. “I’m not stupid. I watched a couple of crime documentaries. There’ll be poison or drugs in the food and water.”

“Crime shows, huh?” he smirked. She refused to look at him.

Matthias laughed, unable to help himself. “I’ll be right back, little bird.”