Ch. 36..40: Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad Chapter 36-40
Chapter 36
I frown a little at Kent, blinking. What?
He folds his hands and waits patiently.
"What," I say, hesitating. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything," he says, raising his eyebrows. "I want you to tell me everything he said to you, and everything you said in response."
I frown at him further. "Are my conversations with my father not private?
Kent leans forward a little, the corners of his mouth pulling up. "If you want to have private conversations with your father," he says slowly, "you can have them off my property. But in this house? I'm entitled to know everything. Including the words exchanged between my ward," he looks pointedly at me, "and my potential enemy."
I cock my head to the side. "I thought you and my father were allies," I say, crossing my arms.
"Do allies leave each other to be shot at parties they threw? Do they conveniently leave the room moments before an attack?" Kent shakes his head slightly. "Our alliance is on shaky grounds, Fay, before this wedding happens. Right now, Alden and I are tenuous at best." He stares at me then, silent. Waiting patiently for me to talk.
I clear my throat, looking away and trying to think. What did we just say to one another?
"I'm waiting," he reminds me.
"I know," I say, a little sharply. "I just...I'm trying to remember precisely."
I throw my mind back, thinking hard. I don't usually catalog my conversations so precisely. But I guess in a Mafia household, you have different instincts when it comes to these sorts of things.
"He asked me if I was okay, after the party," I say, closing my eyes so I can concentrate. "And I told him was fine, that you got us out."
Kent stays silent, allowing me to continue.
"Then, he asked if I'm happy here."
"And your answer?" Kent says quietly.
n him instead, that I'd be welcome to do that. I told him I'd rather stay here, though. With Daniel, because he's my fiancé."
I look at him then. "That I am. Happy here, I mean. But he told me that if I wanted to come home and "And thennnn," Kent says, moving his hand slowly throw the air, inviting me to proceed. I can tell he's growing impatient by my hesitations.
"And then," I said, putting a hand on my hip, "he asked me if I'm happy with Daniel. And if I love him. And whether or not we've been...intimate." Kent raises an eyebrow at this, smiling a little. "And what, Fay," he says slowly. "Was your answer to that."
I narrow my eyes at him and move on. "I told him that I'm very happy with Daniel, and that of course we're in love. To which he replied that I'm still very young, and that if I wanted him to introduce me to some new options, that he'd be happy to do that." Kent nods slowly at this, still watching my face carefully, clearly processing the implications.
"I told him no," I say, turning towards the door. "That was it."
"Was that all, Fay?" he asks me, and I turn back to him.
"What?" I ask, confused.
"Are you sure? Take a moment. Try to remember if there was anything else."
I swallow then and realize - shit.
I had left something out. Not intentionally, not really - none of my conversation with my father was important enough to warrant keeping a secret from Kent. Instead, I'd rather be open. But somehow, I did forget the most suspicious bit.
I hurry my next words out, eager to have this finished. "He asked me if I had anything to give to him."
"What did he mean by that?" Kent asks, frowning.
I shrug. "I have no idea. I told him I didn't. I don't. Then he left."
Kent nods, waving a hand at me in a dismissal, so I walk out of the office and head towards the back garden.
I'm slightly shaken by the experience, to be honest - first talking to my father, and then reporting the conversation to Kent. I know that I'm a pawn in their game, but I hadn't realized that I'd be expected to report, on either side, what the other had said. How do I manage this? I hadn't lied to Kent - had told him everything. But was that, really, my best choice? Where did my allegiances lie?
I sigh, pushing through the kitchen door and then heading out to the back garden. I need some fresh air.
When I pass through the back door, I'm pleased to see Daniel there, buttering a scone at the little table, reading.
"Oh hey, Fay," he says, smiling at me. "Do you want some tea?"
"Sure," I say, sitting down and feeling better already. "Actually, tea sounds great."
Kent waits for the door to his office to click shut before reaching towards the top drawer, which he unlocks with a key from his pocket. Then he pulls it open and removes the tape recorder that's sitting inside, still running.
Deftly, he presses the stop button and then the rewind, waiting a few moments before pressing stop again. Then he presses play and listens, carefully, to the entire conversation between Alden and Fay.
Kent smiles a little as the conversation passes, as he realizes that Fay told him precisely what was said in precisely the same order. Not only does she have a good memory, but she didn't leave anything out. Good. This means his trust in her can remain, at least from
now.
Kent smile deepens a bit as she hesitates when Alden asks if she and Daniel have been intimate. Alden was pleased by her silence, suggesting a negation, and Kent can't help feeling the same.
The smug happiness inside him is checked, though, by the sudden wonder of why Daniel and Fay haven't been intimate. Of course, selfishly, because he knows he wants her, Kent doesn't want Daniel to touch her.
But they're young people who claim to be in love, their bedrooms basically next door to each other. If Kent had been in Daniel's place in his early 20s, he'd be sneaking over to his girlfriend's room every night. So why wasn't Daniel?
Kent sighs, putting the consideration away for another day, and moves to press stop on the tape recorder just as the conversation is ending. He pauses, though, when he hears Fay hesitate.
"Um no. I don't have anything to give you." Fay had said, but her voice is oddly strained here. Kent takes his hand off the stop button, listening closely. "Not...right now. At least."
Kent frowns deeply at this, listening with only half an ear as the tape continues to roll, turning mostly to footsteps and silence.
Not right now? What the hell did that mean? Did Fay expect to have something to give Alden in the near future?
Narrowing his eyes, Kent gets to his feet.
Perhaps little Fay was starting to play the game. And not on his side.
Without hesitation, Kent steps out of his room, snapping his fingers at the guard who is standing there. "Get two more guys," he says. "We're going upstairs."
The guard nods, heading off to collect who he can, and Kent heads up the stairs.
He opens the door to Fay's room, looking around carefully. She keeps her space neat, but not obsessively so. The bed is nicely made, but there are books and writing tools placed casually around the room as if she left them there unthinkingly, distracted. When his guys pull up behind him, Kent gives his command without looking at them.
"Toss it," he says. "The whole place. Anything strange, I want to see it. I don't want a single corner untouched."
The guys nod, moving into the room and starting to tear it apart.
Chapter 37
I smile down into my cup of tea, enjoying the fresh herbal scent. My belly is full of scone, and I'm listening passively as Daniel explains the ins and outs of some new philosophical theory that he's learning about for his class.
I don't really care about it, but it's nice to hear him think through something about which he's passionate. It's really a gorgeous day - the sun is shining in little pieces through the grape leaves that wrap around the pergola, and I lean my face back to enjoy the warmth on the soft skin on my cheeks. Next to me, I hear Daniel laugh a little. "Are you even listening to me anymore?" he says.
"No," I reply, smiling. "But that's okay, it's good to hear you talk."
He laughs again, a soft thing, and then takes my hand.
"It's nice, Fay," he says, and I open my eyes to look at him, seeing him smile at me. "That you enjoy listening to me, even when you're not hearing my words."
I squeeze his hand and return his smile, considering him.
It's funny - I was so in love with him for the few months that we were dating. Or, at least, I thought I was. Maybe "obsessed" was a more appropriate term, but either way, I couldn't stop thinking about how handsome he was or how much I wanted to kiss him. Just to kiss him, small, chaste things. But I had wanted so badly for him to treat me gently, love me, be kind to me. To treat me like his treasure.
But now? After everything I've learned about his life - our life? It's all just... gone. All of those feelings have disappeared.
Instead, I view him now completely as my best friend, my ally in this crazy world. I want the absolute best for him and know that he feels the same about me, but the romance has been totally wiped away.
It's a bit sad, really - the end of a love. I wonder, passively, when the next time I'll have a crush again, feel that delicious buzzing of emotion in my stomach.
I push back against the first thought that comes to my mind, ignoring it. Ridiculous.
Luckily, Daniel helps to disrupt my thoughts.
"Are you all right, Fay?" he asks.
"Daniel," I say, running my thumb lightly over his fingers, thinking about what my father said to me earlier. "Are you happy here?"
He frowns at me, slightly curious. "What prompted this?"
I shrug a little. "Curiosity, mostly, I guess. You just seem... such a mismatch for this world, most of the time. I guess I wonder why you've never left. Never just... bailed on it."
He shrugs, a little uncomfortable. "It's my home, Fay. My family, my world. I guess I don't really have anywhere to go."
"But you've got all the resources in the world," I say, leaning forward. "Honestly, aren't you ever tempted to just steal, like, one of his cars, sell it on the black market for whatever you can get, and take the money and just run?"
His mouth falls open at the idea.
"Or," I continue quickly, "you offered me millions to keep my mouth shut the day we broke up - if you have access to that kind of cash, why not just take it for yourself? We could go! We could run away to the French Riviera, change our names, spend the rest of our days just drinking wine and writing books! About whatever we want!"
He laughs softly and gives my hand a squeeze before pulling his back to reach for his teacup.
"It's a beautiful dream, Fay," he says softly. "But it's impossible."
"I think we could do it," I say, my face eager. "I think we could go."
He looks at me seriously then. "You mean that, don't you?"
"Daniel," I say, pleading. "We could do it."
His face is still hesitant, but I can tell that he wants to say yes.
"Daniel, if we don't do this," I say quietly. "We'll end up like Fiona."
His eyes go wide as he looks at me then. "You - you know about Fiona?"
I nod quietly, not explaining any further. He wonders how I knew what I knew - but he doesn't ask me now. I can tell him more when we're lying on a beach in San Tropez.
His eyes dart around the patio, as if he's looking for someone who is listening.
"If I agreed to even think about this," he says, "what would the plan look like?"
I bite my lip eagerly. "We could keep it simple, start small. Figure out how to get our passports, or get convincing passports made. Then, the next thing we need is cash. I have nothing," I say, but then my eyes catch on the million-dollar diamond I'm wearing on my hand. "Or, well, I have some of this jewelry his dad gave me."
He frowns at the ring on my finger, remembering - of course - that it was his mother's. I quickly put my hand over it.
"Not this one," I say gently. "This one, we keep. But there are sapphires, other jewels. Just like... sitting in my room."
He pauses for a moment, looking at me seriously, and then he whispers his answer.
"Okay, Fay," he says, very, very quietly. "I'm not saying let's go. I'm just saying... let's look and see. We'll look into how hard it is to get the documents. Then, once we know more... we'll talk again."
I can't help but give a little squeal of joy, and he smiles at my excitement.
"Okay!" I exclaim. "Um, I don't even have a passport though do you think we can get one?"
He considers it for a moment, opening his mouth to answer, when suddenly the door to the patio flies open, banging hard against the stone wall of the house. I gasp, turning sharply to look at Kent, standing there, seething, his hands clenched in fists at his side. Both Daniel and I go silent, frozen in our seats. This is bad.
"What the hell," Kent says, striding forward and putting out his open hand between us. "Is this?"
I instantly recognize it. Shit. Shit.
In Kent's hand is the folded note that Fiona had given me for Alden, that cryptic poem inside. It's been opened - clearly, Kent has read it - but it still has the tape on it, the same I used to stick it to the back of the desk. Suddenly seized with fear, I raise my eyes from Kent's hand to his face. I don't say a word.
In response, Kent just grabs my arm, pulling me up out of my chair and along with him back into the house. He's angry, of course, but his grip doesn't hurt me. He's still firmly in control.
"Dad!" Daniel calls after him, coming into the house as well. "Stop! What's happening! What did she -"
"No," Kent says, turning to look firmly at his son. "You stay here."
Daniel stops in his tracks, seeing the look on his father's face. Still, he tries once more.
"Dad, let her go don't do this -"
"You stay here. If you kept your woman in line," Kent says, his voice dangerous, "then I wouldn't have to do this."
With that, he again storms forward, dragging me behind him across the kitchen. Towards that small white door in the corner.
My blood goes cold when I see where we're heading.
"No," I say, finding my voice, throwing my weight back, digging my heels into the tiled floor. "Please, no!"
He ignores me, continuing to move forward, tugging me once so that I lose my balance and have to stumble after him -
Then, we're through the door - heading down the stairs -
Down the little dim hallway, towards...
I cry out again when I realize where he's taking me. Kent only checks his stride to throw open the metal door to that room. That room. The same one where I had looked through the door - seen Kent, his belt in his hands -
Those two men, chained to his chair -
"Please," I beg, my voice frantic, terror snaking through every limb in my body. "Kent, please - I promise, I didn't do anything -"
"It's time," Kent says, pulling me into the room and tossing me so that I stumble the last few steps and stop myself against a metal table across the far wall. "Time for you to learn your place, Fay."
I lean back against the table, horrified, as Kent strides forward and closes the distance between us.
Chapter 38
Kent comes to my side, grabbing my right arm and pulling it forward as he moves to the other side of the table. He still holds my arm firmly in his grip as he goes, making be bend over the table to move with him -
Which, I suddenly realize, is precisely what Kent wanted.
When I'm bent at the waist, my torso stretched across the table, Kent produces a set of handcuffs attached by their chain to a metal loop on the table's edge. While I watch, he snaps the handcuffs tight around my right wrist, attaching me firmly to the metal table. Then, he looks at me. "Your other wrist," he demands, holding out his hand for it across the table.
"No!" I shout, scared but also suddenly furious. I'm not going to be complicit in my own t*****e.
"Fay," he says, his voice threatening. "This will be much easier on you if you're obedient."
In response I tighten my lips and stand up as straight as I can, curling my other arm behind my back. "No."
Inside of my head, a very quiet voice is screaming at me to just do as he says - he won't be cruel to you if you do what he says! - Just tell him what he wants to know and you'll be fine! -
But I've been here long enough to know that Kent Lippert is going to be cruel no matter what he does - it's in his blood, or some other intrinsic part of him.
And god damnit, I'm sick of being the good little girl who does as she's told in this world. It hasn't gotten me anywhere yet, and it's not going to start now, just because he's got me chained to a metal table in his basement.
"Fay Alden," Kent says, lowering himself to look me in the eye. "Give me your arm. Now."
"No," I throw back at him, matching his tone and his glare.
I shock myself here, again. Moments ago, I was trembling as he pulled me down the stairs. What the hell snapped in me to make me so suddenly defiant?
As Kent's mouth pulls back in a frustrated snarl and he storms around the table, grabbing my left arm and pulling it back with him as he returns to the other side of the table, I realize that it's this -
This -
As I watch the anger on Kent's face, I realize that I've riled him. Kent Lippert - always so calm, so in control, so even-keeled in the face of danger, opposition, hell even gunfire -
Kent Lippert reacts when I stand up to him. It pisses him off.
And part of me really, really likes pissing him off.
Bullies, I think, snarling myself, they hate it when someone finds a chink in their armor. And I'm the chink in his.
This, I could use to my advantage.
Still, there's not much I can do as Kent pulls my left arm around to the other side of the table, clicking the other half of the handcuffs around my wrist. Then, he stands back, studying his handywork.
I pull back on the chain once, testing it, and seeing how firmly it holds. The handcuffs bite sharply into my wrists, making me wince, so I lean forward again, resting my elbows on the table and looking up into Kent's face. Casually, I clasp my hands together.
I see him open his mouth to speak, but before he can his eye falls on the engagement ring on my left hand. Quickly, he moves to unlink my hands and pull it off my ring finger, slipping it into his pocket.
Without thinking, I feel a retort coming to my lips.
"What, Kent," I say, my voice soft. "Can't beat me with your wife's ring on my hand? Something feel wrong about that?"
Even I'm shocked at the words that just came out of my mouth. Jesus Christ, who am I?
I see him flinch - just barely - but then he raises his eyes to mine, his face perfectly calm. "That's enough, Fay," he says. "I'll be asking the questions."
He folds his arms and I hold his gaze, not moving an inch.
"What was that note," he asks, his words quick.
"I don't know," I say, matching his pace.
"Then why," he pushes, his voice harder, "was it in your room."
"Because Fiona gave it to me."
He presses his hands to the table. "Then you do know what it is."
I narrow my eye at him. "I know what it is as far as I know that it's a piece of paper with bad poetry written on it, sure," I say. Again, I surprise myself with my attitude and confidence - it by no means matches what I feel inside. "But as for what it means, or what it's for, I don't know." "What," he says, bringing his face closer to mine, "did she tell you to do with it?"
I lower my voice almost to a whisper, forcing him to lean closer. "She told me to give it to Alden."
I see Kent's lips curl back from his teeth at that. But before he can ask another question, I continue.
"But obviously, since it was still in my room," I whisper, lowering my eyes to his lips as I speak. "I didn't."
I hear a low rumble of dissatisfaction in Kent's chest as he pushes away from the table, turning his back to me, clearly thinking this through.
I stay where I am, leaning my weight onto my elbows and forearms, watching him, my hair spilling around my face. I shake my head, trying to push it back, but it doesn't work.
"Why," Kent says, over his shoulder. "Why didn't you give it to Alden."
"Because," I say, my voice deadpan. "I don't know which of you to trust. I'm still deciding."
He whirls on me then. "After all I've done for you, Fay - everything I've given you -"
"Oh!" I say, laughing up into his face now, shaking my manacled hands. "Yes, thanks so much, Kent - you've been a real angel to me these past few weeks - I just feel so cared for when I'm being chained to a table in your basement -" This sets him off.
I can't help myself from smiling, a little, as he storms to the right, coming around the table. I try to turn, to watch him, but he's too fast -
Kent grabs me by the back of my neck, pushing me down so that my chest is flat on the table, my cheek likewise touching the cold surface. Again, he's controlled enough to ensure that I don't slam my head on the metal surface, but I can hear his breath coming fast now, his chest heaving -
"God damnit, Fay," he says, "I could make this so much worse for you - you're treated like a damn princess in this house -"
"Don't you get it, Kent?" I say in response. "I know that you only treat me well because if it got back to Alden that you weren't, that he'd move to take me from you. And you like having me here in this house. Like having me as your little pawn, to hold as a threat against him."
Kent pauses for a moment, and then I gasp and wince as he pushes on my neck harder, my face pressing hard against the metal.
But then, to my surprise, he releases me.
I take a deep breath as I feel the pressure lessen on my neck, feel him take his hand away. I hear him move back a few steps, starting to pace behind me.
"This, Kent," I say, panting a little, stretching my neck to soothe the ache there. "This is why I kept the note, taped it behind my desk, instead of giving it to you straight away. I kept it because I know that this lurks around every corner - you treating me like an animal."
"Maybe," I continue, my voice cold, "if you gave me the respect I deserve to begin with, I would have given you my allegiance from the start - given you the note, instead of keeping it as leverage in case I needed it."
I hear silence behind me as Kent stops pacing. For a minute, all I can hear is the sound of my breathing.
Then, I hear three slow steps as Kent comes up behind me.
I feel him there, the warmth of him behind me, as he slides one hand over my ribs and the other over my shoulder and collar bone to wrap around my throat, pulling me upwards as far as I can go, until my arms go taught against my chains. "And I told you, darling Fay," he says, his quiet voice itself a threat, "that respect in this house is earned, not given. So, let's see if we can teach you a little lesson."
He lowers himself so that I can feel his taught stomach against my lower back, his voice close to my ear now. "A little lesson," he whispers, "about respect."
Chapter 39
Kent moves around the table, and to my surprise, he takes a key out of his pocket and slides it under the metal table. A mechanism snaps, and I feel a sudden give to my handcuffs as they are released from the table.
Before I can pull away, Kent grabs the chain between the cuffs, taking control of my actions. He says nothing as he starts moving towards the center of the room, pulling me roughly along with him. When we reach a spot where a short chain is bolted to the floor, with an open padlock at the end, Kent stops. He slowly brings my manacled hands close to his face, my body pulled close to his. "On your knees, Fay," he says, firm..
My mouth hangs open in disbelief. Why? I try to speak, to question his demand.
"I said," he says, his brows knitting cruelly together. "On your knees."
Slowly, my earlier courage abandons me, and I begin to sink to my knees as Kent lowers his hand to allow me to do so. I find myself resting there, my knees on the cold cement floor, my arms stretched above my head, looking up at him with wide eyes.
Kent lowers one knee to the ground, maintaining eye contact with me. Then, slowly, he raises the chain from the ground, wrapping it around the links of my handcuffs and sliding the padlock closed, creating a perfect circle. I look down, realizing that I am once again contained, trapped, and at his mercy.
I gaze up at him as he stands tall.
"In this world, Fay," Kent says, his voice even and low, "you don't survive if you let people walk all over you. My father tried that - tried to maintain this family's power by being kind, and fair, and logical."
Kent slides his hands into his pockets, his most controlled position, and bends at the waist, bringing his face close to mine. "He was dead by the time I was eight."
My mouth falls open slightly, and I watch as his hands clench into fists in his pockets. "So when you tell me," he continues, slowly circling me, "to trust you, to treat you as someone I trust, without having earned it..."
I turn my head to watch him, but my movement is limited, my neck reaching its breaking point.
"You're asking me, then, Fay," he says, taking another step, "to act like a fool."
I try to turn further, but the handcuffs won't let me. I stare forward, my heartbeat and breath quickening. I can't see him, don't know where he is. I listen intently, needing to know. Startled, I jump when I hear his voice very close to my ear.
"Do you think I'm a fool, Fay?" his voice is a whisper, sending a shiver down my spine as his breath brushes against my earlobe.
"No," I whisper, closing my eyes. In this moment, I feel completely different than I did just minutes ago at the table. Then, I had the power, the information he wanted, the ability to provoke him with my words, actions, and body. But now, everything has changed. Kent is back in control, and he's going to make me pay for every bit of power I took from him at the table. Pay it back tenfold.
"Good girl," he murmurs. Then, he starts walking again, continuing his circle. My eyes fly open, waiting for him to come into my line of sight once more.
"Do you want me to trust you, Fay?" he asks, now at my right shoulder. I turn my head towards him.
"Y-yes," I say, unsure if that's truly what I want, but knowing it's the answer he expects.
"Well," he says, leaning down and towering over me, "you were wrong to doubt my vengeance, to think that I wouldn't uncover your secrets."
My chest rises quickly now, and I sink closer to the ground, my knees splayed apart, forming a W-shape, my rump resting on the floor. "I'm sorry," I breathe. "I won't do it again."
"Too late for that," he says, a small smile forming on his lips. "It's time for you to take your punishment. And if you want me to trust you, then you'll have to take it without complaint and show me just how obedient you can be."
Slowly, I nod. Internally, the surprise of being dragged to the center of the room wears off. The anger and defiance I felt earlier at the table start to resurface, waiting on the tip of my tongue to be thrown in his face.
Go ahead, Kent, I want to say. Hurt me. Let's see what it does.
But for some reason, I don't. Instead, I gaze up at him, my eyes wide, my mouth slightly open.
Slowly, I nod. "I'll be good for you, Kent," I hear myself whisper.
And suddenly, I realize it. I realize that I want this. That, goddamn it, some part of me likes this, likes being chained to Kent's f*****g basement floor and telling him I'll be obedient for him.
My breath quickens, my brows knit together as I think, what the f**k?
But Kent laughs lightly and my attention shifts back to him. "Good girl," he murmurs, looking down at me. "I like it when you do as I say!"
He reaches out a hand, curling his index finger under my chin, slowly dragging his thumb across my lower lip. "Get back on your knees, Fay," Kent whispers to me.
I blink at him and, for some reason, I don't comply. It's not that I don't understand him; I just... don't.
Kent laughs lightly, and I remain perfectly still as he returns his thumb to the dimple at the center of my full bottom lip. Then, leisurely, he slides his thumb into my mouth.
I feel it slip down the soft wetness of my tongue, caressing it. I close my mouth slightly, just enough for my teeth to press lightly against his flesh.
"I said," Kent's voice is rough as he suddenly tightening his grip on my chin, causing me to gasp, "to get on your knees, Fay."
Quickly, I obey, pulling myself back up to my knees with difficulty.
"Good girl," he murmurs, loosening his grip on me and taking his thumb out of my mouth.
I leave my mouth hanging open as Kent stands up, walking slowly around me until he again disappears from my sight. For a few moments, I keep my eyes closed, straining my ears to hear beyond the sound of my own panting breath, trying to decipher what he's doing. He's at the back of the room now, opening something on a hinge, moving things around. Damn it, I want to see. I have to know. Shivers run all over my skin in anticipation and fear.
I hear his steps approaching me again, and I press my eyes closed.
"Lean forward, Fay," he commands. Without protest, I do as he says, moving my shoulders forward so that my chest is angled towards the ground. "Further, Fay," he says impatiently. "Put your arms on the ground."
I whimper lightly, but the sound fails to express the complexity of my emotions as I press my forearms to the ground in front of me, lifting my hips and a*s into the air.
Chapter 40
A sound cracks through the air and I flinch, realizing -
Shit, was that a whip?
I gasp and whimper when I hear it again - snap, snap -
"I didn't want to do this, Fay," Kent says, his voice low and my stomach twists at the realization - pleased But you made me. If you'd only been obedient, I could have spared you this." There is silence now, and my breath comes quick and ragged, my arms trembling as I wait -
SNAP.
I let out a piercing shriek as I feels the leather whip smack against my a*s. I falls forward so that my face prosses against my clasped hands. I pant, my eyes flying open in shock - The right cheek of my a*s smarts and stings -
Holy fuck - did Kent seriously just -
"Get up," he commands, but I don't. Instead, I stay precisely where I am, staring at the floor in shock.
"I said," I hear him grind the words out from between his teeth, to "to get up, Fay."
Trembling, I pulling my body back up so that my weight is resting on my forearms and knees.
"Ask me for another," he demands.
My eyes fly even wider at this.
"Do it," he says, his voice quick and thick. I hear him panting now, too, and realize -
Realize that he's losing control -
Slowly, I begin to smile. And I don't say a word.
"Do it, Fay!" Kent shouts behind my, snapping the whip in the air again.
"No." I say, narrowing my eyes as I stare at the floor, my voice firm.
I hear the whip clatter to the ground, hear the anger in him as he throws himself in front of me, falling
"You will do it," he growls, his face dark with his need. "Ask me. Beg me."
e knee, grabbing my face and forcing me to look at him.
When I do nothing, he loses it, his face turning red with fury. He brings his face close to mine and shouts directly at me. "DO IT FAY."
I wait a moment, and then surprise even myself when I open my mouth to laugh - just a tiny little thing, but enough to wipe his expression clean. The blood drains from his face, leaving him pale.
"Do it, Kent," I say, my voice totally even.
I don't beg at all. I demand.
"Hit me," I say, raising my chin as I look him in the eye. "Hit me again. And again."
A horrible snarl slides from Kent's lips and then suddenly -
I blink, shocked, as I sees that Kent's face is no longer inches from my own -
I turn, looking towards the door just in time to see Kent move through it, slamming it behind him.
Wha-
I blink again, sitting up on my knees and resting my b**t on my heels as I looks around at the empty room. What the hell just happened?
Upstairs, Kent storms through the kitchen, then out the door into the hallway, where Daniel is waiting, his face angry.
"Dad," he says, falling into stride with him. "You've crossed a line here - taking Fay into the basement - she is my -"
"Go and get her, if she's yours," Kent snarls, throwing the handcuff keys onto the hallway floor at Daniel's feet and storming beyond him into his office. Then, before anyone can follow him, Kent slams the door shut and deftly twists the lock. Then, safely inside, he lets out the bellow of rage that he's been holding in - his hands in fists at his sides, his face turned up at the ceiling.
God damnit - he thinks, finishing his yell, turning and hurling himself towards his desk and into his chair. God damnit that f*****g girl - The images run through his head -
His thumb in her mouth, sliding over her tongue -
The delicious, shocked expression on her face and then, the way her eyelids had fallen half shut, as she had let him push it in deeper - God. Damnit.
Kent pounds his fist once on his desk, the sound echoing throughout the room as he grits his teeth and closing his eyes.
But no matter how hard he tries, he can't stop the memories -
The sight of her kneeling for him on the ground, panting, waiting -
The sweet yelp that she made, her whole body tensing as he just flicked her a*s with the whip -
God, he'd been instantly hard when he heard that noise - had felt, finally, like he could control her again - But then.
Fucking then. When she had said no.
He had just lost it. Lost complete control - gone to his knees in front of her and she had laughed at him.
Kent pictures her face in that moment - her beautiful face, with her red curls spilling around her cheeks, as she had smirked at him and not begged, but demanded that he hit her again.
God damnit. He had almost truly lost it then - almost...
Instead, he'd gotten out of the room.
But now, in the privacy of his office, pissed at himself for losing control, horrified that it was at her hands - this girl - this nothing -
He lets him think about what he would have done - what he almost did - if he'd stayed just two more seconds down there.
Grabbed her by that red hair, pulled her to him, crushed her face to his own, panted into her mouth as he ripped the shirt from her body, grasped her small, firm breast in his palm, pulled her on top of him - Made her moan, made her beg-
Fuck, Kent thinks, grinding his teeth against his desire, but he can't help it. Instead, he gives in, swiftly unbuckling his belt, the top button of his pants, thrusting his hand inside. "Fay?"
Her head swivels towards the door as it pushes open slightly, a dark head peeking from behind it.
"Hi, Daniel," she says with a little smile. She's sitting cross-legged on the ground now, her hands still locked to the floor with the chain and padlock.
Daniel frowns at her, stepping inside. "You seem...shockingly okay," he says.
She gives him a little shrug. She's been down here alone for about ten minutes now. Actually, she'd been getting kind of bored. "No real harm done," she says.
Daniel comes over to her, kneeling on the ground in front of her and producing a key from his pocket. She wonders, passively, where he got it, but then shrugs, realizing that it doesn't matter.
"It's just," Daniel says as he works. "I've seen people after my Dad...teaches them a lesson. And you're just sitting here, kind of...peaceful? When he is flying around upstairs all pissed off?" Daniel pauses for a moment and studies her. "What did you do to him?"
Fay shrugs, giving nothing away. Daniel just sighs and finishes unlocking the cuffs, setting her free. Fay stands, rubbing her wrists - which really are sore - and looking around. "What did he do to you?" Daniel asks, slipping his hands into his pockets and standing as well.
Fay shrugs again, glancing at the whip on the floor.
Daniel's eyes widen as he sees the direction of her gaze. "Wait, did he whip you?"
She meets his eyes and gives him a little smile. "Not hard," she says, truthfully. She barely feels it now. "I think he was just trying to scare me a little."
Daniel looks at her, aghast, but Fay's smile just widens. "Do you want to go upstairs?" she asks.
Daniel just nods slowly and gestures towards the door. Fay accepts the invitation, walking out of the room and down the hallway ahead of him.
"Actually," she says over her shoulder. "Do you want to get something to eat and bring it up to my room? I could use a snack."
Daniel says nothing, just stares at her as he follows her up the stairs.