FIVE

MARIE

I woke with a start, and tried to call out, but my throat felt sore, and my tongue felt like it was rough, dry, sand paper.

The numbness in my hands drew my attention to them, and I realized that I was tied up – my surroundings had changed as well. Someone had moved me out of the hotel.

“Help! Please help” I called out, forcing the sound out through my throat.

Garrick had taught that in situations like this, the best thing is not to let my captor know I am awake, that way, I could discover a thing or two unnoticed, but my emotions felt too raw for me to think straight.

“Help!” I started again, then paused in fear as I heard footsteps and approach the door, and the clicking sound as it opened.

Peter – Xavier Storm stepped in, his eyes expressionless, his face cast in the shadows of the darkening room.

“Hello Marie,” he said softly, coming to sit on the bed beside me. “Welcome to your nightmare.”

I hated the tears that filled my eyes, hated how much I forgot my spy training. All I could think of as my body began trembling was how he had held me in his arms not too long ago, been inside my body, and now, he wanted to destroy me.

“Please,” I whispered stupidly. Pathetically.

My eyes sought his, but in the fading light, I could not read his expression.

He sighed. With deft movements, he pulled my hands to himself and untied me, and his hands were surprisingly gentle as he massaged blood flow back into them.

“How does someone as fragile as you cause such damage?” he whispered almost to himself. “Where does the acting stop and the vulnerability start?”

As much as I tried, I could not answer him. The words just wouldn’t form.

The windows were open, and what I’ll have considered gentle breeze under normal circumstances chilled my flesh, till I was crying uncontrollably and shaking.

Xavier swore and got up. He ran a hand through his hair as he went over to pour a sniffer from a decanter close by.

When he turned around, I could see his face, and what I saw there frightened me.

He gave a short bitter laugh. “Damn! You’re good. I can see why James fell for your tricks, but I’m not buying that whole damsel in distress trash.”

He dug his hand into his pocket and tossed a sheaf of receipts at me.

“It’s all there, the money paid by these big corporations to help bury smaller corporations. You’ve built an empire from destroying small companies and then handing the ruins to their bigger rivals.”

I swallowed, biting my lip until the trembling stopped. Ironically, bringing my crimes to my face helped strengthen me, remind me of what I was.

I raised my chin. “You give me more credit than I’m worthy of, but I’ll take the compliment.”

And yet, the payments were indeed in my name, to a bank account I had never opened before.

Glenda’s words came back to me. ‘it’s a setup and I think Garrick is in on it….’

The accounts were in my name, but of course Garrick had access to all the money. He’d been using me as a shield all these while, his very own scapegoat.

The pain of Garrick’s betrayal hurt even more than when Timothy had jilted me. I realized he had been planning this all along, from the moment he hired me.

‘I built you,’ he’d said, and the son of a bitch believed I was his to do as he pleased.

Once again, I had let a man fool me, once again, I had been played by a man who thought of only himself.

My eyes were dry, and my expression hard when I looked up to face Xavier.

“Which of the pathetic men I destroyed sent you to get revenge?”

The smile that curved his lips was cold, ruthless, and it lit up his eyes.

“I prefer you like this,” he said with a heartless murmur. “You’re much more fun to break when you fight back, and trust me little miss brown eyes, I would break you, I’ll make you regret every single decision you’ve ever made.”