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“I just watched you nearly beat a man to death I don’t knohat you’re capable of”

He took a deep breath and composed himself “I won’t ever hit you, Penny”

“But you will keep me captive, pull reat person”

His expression hardened as he looked over his shoulder back tohere Scott still lay on the concrete patio

“You have to understandyou with erous But if I leave you here, these men—”

“These ry that I’ll throw et fucked by your bodyguards while you’re away?”

His hands curled into fists “No, I don’t”

“Then don’t beat so to me”

“I beat hi you You think I haven’t noticed the way he looks at you? He saved you the night your brother attacked, and ever since then he’s been er You don’t notice because you’re not used to that sort of attention, but that duot”

I paced across the kitchen, fu “You’re such a bastard You have an answer for everything, don’t you?” I hated that he was right Scott all but admitted it outside

And even still, Kaspar shouldn’t have beaten him like that

So why did I feel a strange attraction pulling atit into knots?

9

Penny

Present Day

Rome, Italy

Watching Kaspar beat Scott nearly to death taught s

First, Kaspar was truly a , and easily jealous, and if I wanted to survive for long, I had to find a way to handle him

After Scott’s savage punishuards would so much as look me in the eye They talked around h I were a piece of furniture They responded to direct requests—they’d bringif I asked for it, for example—but they kept all interactions as short and polite as possible

I was even more alone