send him away. It hadn’t been, and the sound had represented his first show of disappointment in her. The leash around her neck had been the final clue. It had meant he could control her, that she was his to do with as he wanted. And he had.
“Someone’s been asking questions. They’ve been digging into my financials, talking to my shareholders, putting doubts in their heads. Your mother’s friends are acting as if they no longer want to talk to her. I think you know why.”
Nivea shook her head. “I don’t go back on my word. I don’t lie or betray like you and she did.”
“Just tell me what you told him and then we’ll go to him together and explain that you lied. That you’ve always been a liar, always a troublemaker looking for attention. We’ll tell him that and see just how long he wants to keep you here amongst this little army he believes he’s building.”
“I did not lie!” she yelled at him. “I didn’t lie when I told her what you were doing to me and I didn’t lie when I said if you put one hand on my sisters I would make you pay.”
“Don’t threaten me, you little bitch!” Richard yelled, stepping so close, so quickly that his chest pushed against hers.
The movement caught her off guard and she stumbled back a step. Trying to regain her composure, Nivea moved around Richard, going deeper into her room, her back to the wall but her front to the door, where she planned to kick his ass out in the next few seconds.
“Don’t talk to me like that! You are no longer allowed to talk to me like you own me. I’m an adult and I’m free from you,” she countered. “I don’t have to tell anybody a damned thing about you if I don’t want to. And guess what, I don’t want to. I don’t want to mention your disgusting name!”
The hand that came up to slap her was quick, but Nivea was quicker. She blocked the slap, grabbing hold of Richard’s wrist and twisting it until he frowned back at her. He didn’t yell out. No, Richard Cannon was too strong for that. She bristled at the fact that here was where her inner strength had originated. The very part of her that she’d relied on so heavily to get over all that he’d done to her, had come from him, the sick bastard.
“You think you’re so tough, but you’re not. Remember Amina and Serene are still with me. They’re still mine.”
“I kept my part of the deal,” she told him, releasing his hand as if it had been on fire. “I did what I promised so you would keep your filthy hands off of them. They don’t deserve what you did to me.”
“I did nothing that you didn’t want,” he taunted, his eyes filled with the same glint they always had when he came into her room, just before he …
“You were always front and center, singing the loudest in the school plays. Shining brighter than any other star in the Christmas play. You outran your sisters, outdanced them, and outlearned them. No matter what they did, you did better. And when I finally opened my eyes to that, when I finally gave you the attention you fought for, you cried foul, running to your mother of all people!”
“I was your daughter!” Nivea yelled, her chest heavy and heaving with each breath she struggled for. “You were not supposed to do those things to me.”
“You wanted it, Nivea,” he told her, taking a step closer to her. “Just like you want it now. You’re not getting the attention you want, maybe from one of these misguided shifters. That’s why you brought up my name, and it’s why you’re telling these lies about me. You want them to think you’re special, that you’re worthy.” Richard grinned. “They have no idea.”
Every muscle in her body trembled. With the blink of an eye Nivea was sixteen and back in the Manhattan condo where she’d lived with her sisters. She’d just come home from school—from track practice—and was all sweaty and tired and had already peeled off her shirt, toed off her tennis shoes, and was headed to
“Someone’s been asking questions. They’ve been digging into my financials, talking to my shareholders, putting doubts in their heads. Your mother’s friends are acting as if they no longer want to talk to her. I think you know why.”
Nivea shook her head. “I don’t go back on my word. I don’t lie or betray like you and she did.”
“Just tell me what you told him and then we’ll go to him together and explain that you lied. That you’ve always been a liar, always a troublemaker looking for attention. We’ll tell him that and see just how long he wants to keep you here amongst this little army he believes he’s building.”
“I did not lie!” she yelled at him. “I didn’t lie when I told her what you were doing to me and I didn’t lie when I said if you put one hand on my sisters I would make you pay.”
“Don’t threaten me, you little bitch!” Richard yelled, stepping so close, so quickly that his chest pushed against hers.
The movement caught her off guard and she stumbled back a step. Trying to regain her composure, Nivea moved around Richard, going deeper into her room, her back to the wall but her front to the door, where she planned to kick his ass out in the next few seconds.
“Don’t talk to me like that! You are no longer allowed to talk to me like you own me. I’m an adult and I’m free from you,” she countered. “I don’t have to tell anybody a damned thing about you if I don’t want to. And guess what, I don’t want to. I don’t want to mention your disgusting name!”
The hand that came up to slap her was quick, but Nivea was quicker. She blocked the slap, grabbing hold of Richard’s wrist and twisting it until he frowned back at her. He didn’t yell out. No, Richard Cannon was too strong for that. She bristled at the fact that here was where her inner strength had originated. The very part of her that she’d relied on so heavily to get over all that he’d done to her, had come from him, the sick bastard.
“You think you’re so tough, but you’re not. Remember Amina and Serene are still with me. They’re still mine.”
“I kept my part of the deal,” she told him, releasing his hand as if it had been on fire. “I did what I promised so you would keep your filthy hands off of them. They don’t deserve what you did to me.”
“I did nothing that you didn’t want,” he taunted, his eyes filled with the same glint they always had when he came into her room, just before he …
“You were always front and center, singing the loudest in the school plays. Shining brighter than any other star in the Christmas play. You outran your sisters, outdanced them, and outlearned them. No matter what they did, you did better. And when I finally opened my eyes to that, when I finally gave you the attention you fought for, you cried foul, running to your mother of all people!”
“I was your daughter!” Nivea yelled, her chest heavy and heaving with each breath she struggled for. “You were not supposed to do those things to me.”
“You wanted it, Nivea,” he told her, taking a step closer to her. “Just like you want it now. You’re not getting the attention you want, maybe from one of these misguided shifters. That’s why you brought up my name, and it’s why you’re telling these lies about me. You want them to think you’re special, that you’re worthy.” Richard grinned. “They have no idea.”
Every muscle in her body trembled. With the blink of an eye Nivea was sixteen and back in the Manhattan condo where she’d lived with her sisters. She’d just come home from school—from track practice—and was all sweaty and tired and had already peeled off her shirt, toed off her tennis shoes, and was headed to
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