NICO POV
I stared at the monitor. lila was sitting on the bed, huddled in her usual way. I took about ten minutes to go through the footage of what she had been up to the last few hours while I was gone. The entire time she sat in utter darkness, yet she didn't seem rattled more than usual. Even on the footage taken earlier, all she did was sit on the bed...lie down...sit back up...lie back down.
No screaming, no swearing, no begging nothing.
I pressed the button on the keyboard and the lights inside the room went on. Quickly she pushed herself back against the headboard, immediately glancing up toward the door like she was expecting me.
Well then, let's not disappoint.
I grabbed the bottle of water on the table, and with a push of a button the door opened. There I was staring at the woman still sitting on the bed, not even attempting to move.
"Hello, lila."
She didn't reply.
I stepped into the room. "Did you enjoy your time in the dark?"
Still no reply from her.
I snorted, finding her lack of response quite amusing.
I walked up to her and stopped about two feet away from where she sat. "Do you have no words, little pet?"
Her blue eyes met mine. "No words I want to waste on you, no."
I smiled. "At least I won't have any trouble with you not knowing when to shut up."
Her eyes narrowed, and I shot her a smug grin before tossing her the bottle of water.
She caught it before it connected with her face. "What is this?"
I cocked a brow. "What does it look like?"
"The last time something looked like water to me, it wasn't."
"Check the seal of the bottle. It hasn't been opened yet. You can drink it." I made sure I chose my words right. She needed to stay hydrated, and if I had to let it sound like I was commanding her to drink the damn water, she wouldn't. And besides, there was still plenty of time for me to get her begging on her knees like a worthless piece of flesh.
Hesitantly she started to twist open the cap. I watched as she first smelled the water before taking a tiny sip. The second she tasted that it was clean water, she gulped down the entire bottle like a sheep deprived of water for weeks.
Water escaped her mouth as she struggled to swallow it all, yet refused to drink any slower. Tiny droplets moved down the sides of her mouth, over her jaw, trickling down her neck. I licked my lips. The fair, soft skin hidden beneath her dirty strands of hair hanging over her shoulders somehow enticed me, and I couldn't miss the movement of her throat as she swallowed.
When she was done, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before placing the empty bottle on the bed.
"If you expect a thank you, you're not going to get one." Her gaze remained fixed on mine, and I saw the resolve swirl around in a whirlpool of hate and disdain. I loved it.
Placing my hands in my pants pockets, I continued to stare back at her. "I wouldn't expect any good manners from a girl like you."
"Woman."
"Excuse me?"
She carefully got off the bed and faced me. "I'm a woman, not a girl."
"Yet like a petulant child you refuse to eat."
"I'm not refusing to eat. I'm refusing to obey. There's a difference."
He shrugged. "It won't be long before you learn."
"Learn what?"
I stepped forward, bringing us a few inches from one another. "That he who pays the piper calls the tune, Miss Falcone. Here, I am the boss, and you will learn to obey me." I gave another step closer, looking down into the depths of her sad, yet fiery blue eyes. "And believe me when I say I look forward to helping you learn that very costly lesson."
Staring at her, witnessing the fear mixed with the faintest glimmer of fight in her sapphire blue eyes was downright toxic. The darkness curdling inside me reached out to her fear, to her fight, wanting to taste it. I've always been drawn to the darkness of night, wanting to see how far I could push until evil would completely consume me. Little did I know that it would take the death of my twin to finally let the shadows have my soul.
I slanted my head to the side, studying the woman standing so close to me. I could see why Nikolai might have pursued her, why he would want to fuck her. Even with her dirty hair, tear stained face and bloodshot, tired eyes she still looked enticing.
Maybe that was it, maybe it was the brokenness depicted on her face that made her seem so tempting...for me. I just couldn't fathom why he would have wanted to be romantically involved with her. If Nikolai had wanted her purely just to fuck, I'd understand that. I won't deny the fact that she was a beautiful woman. But Nikolai? lila just didn't seem like the kind of woman he would find alluring, or even interesting. He and I, we were a lot alike, but when it came to women, we were like night and day. Nikolai being day, me being night. He preferred the sophisticated, well-mannered women whom he could wear as trophies at his side. I, on the other hand, I liked the more complex kind of woman-the broken ones, hiding behind impenetrable thick skin, too afraid to embrace the darkness that they craved. Fucking them into the twisted world they yearned for was euphoric. Right now, I'm not exactly sure which kind of woman lila Falcone really was, but I sure as shit was going to have fun finding out.
I leaned closer, my cheek touching hers ever so slightly, and I felt her stiffen as I inhaled deep before I moved my lips to her ear. "You stink."
She turned her face toward me, bringing her heart-shaped lips inches from mine. "Fuck you."
I smiled, her sudden daring bravery intriguing me. "I think it's time for you to clean up."
I grabbed her chin in my hand, and she flinched as I gripped tight. "I can't have you looking like a used up whore and smelling like a pig when I present you to the rest of my family."
Her eyes widened, the courage portrayed mere seconds ago gone. "What do you mean, present me to the rest of your family?"
I let go of her chin with a jerk and stepped back. "Perhaps present is the wrong word. Let me rephrase...I need you cleaned up before I put you on display for the rest of my family to see."
"What are you going to do to me?" Her voice lacked the fear it had earlier. It was like she had somehow scraped together every bit of courage she had left to try and hide the terror she was feeling inside her gut.
I stepped back. "First, you need to clean up." I walked out of the room, not the least bit worried she would try to make a run for it. Besides, there was another security door between the monitor room and the outside hall, and the only person who knew the security code was me. The only way Damon got access was when I let him in.
I grabbed the silver bucket of water and the bar of soap I had placed on the floor earlier, before walking back in.
She spotted the bucket. "What is that?"
I placed it down in front of her and dumped the bar of soap into the water. "This is your new Jacuzzi, Miss Falcone."
She looked up at me. "That's a bucket of water. How the hell am I supposed to clean up with one bucket of water?"
I shrugged. "You'll be amazed at what we can do when we realize we have no choice but to use what is given to us." I grabbed the chair and placed it right in front of the bucket before taking my seat.
Her big, blue eyes widened. "What? You intend to watch me?"
"Of course."
"I'm not going to wash myself in front of you."
"I'm afraid you have no choice, Miss Falcone."
Like a damn child she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I'm not washing myself while you sit there and watch me like a fucking pervert."
"Watch your mouth, Miss Falcone. I've been real nice so far, so do not force me to show you what I'm really capable of so soon in our little game. Now" I glanced down at the bucket and back up at her "clean yourself up."
"If I refuse?"