Page 67 of Monster's Edge
“It’s no excuse.”
“It is,” she places her hand on mine. “It is an excuse, actually, and a good one.”
I nod. She already knows what Ian did to me in his room. I didn’t tell her, but I didn’t have to. She just knows these things. Georgetta has been around men like my dad and Ian for a very long time. We both know what they’re like, and we both understand that when they get into these moods where they’re inconsolable, where they’re impossible to please, then we just need to leave them alone and let them be.
That’s how I feel now.
Ian will stew for some time. Maybe it’ll be another hour. Maybe it’ll be two. Eventually, though, he’ll come out and want to talk to me. He’ll want to see what I have to offer him and then he’ll take whatever it is that he sees in me.
“Listen,” Georgetta says quietly. “He’s going to send for you. You’re the one he wants.”
“You don’t think that...you and Ian...” I don’t even want to say the words. My heart starts to race as I wonder if the two of them have ever even thought about something like that. Would they?
No.
It can’t be possible.
Georgetta places her hand on top of mine. “He won’t come for me,” she tells me. There’s a certainty to her voice. I kind of hate the fact that it’s worded this way, too. She doesn’t promise me, “I won’t go after your man” because she never would. If Ian wanted her, though, then she wouldn’t have a choice.
I feel like there are no longer any choices.
I miss my freedom. I miss feeling like I had a space of my own. Ian wrecked me when he first took me away. He completely destroyed any semblance I had of reality. He’s the one who told me that my father owns the studio where I love to dance. He’s the one who implied that my father watches over me more than I know.
And Ian is the first person I’ve ever met who asked me what my father is up to.
And I don’t know.
I hate that I don’t know.
There’s a knock at the door. The knob turns before we can react or offer to open it. A tall man in a suit appears and looks directly at me.
“Rose, come with me.”
It’s not a request, and I don’t hesitate as I get to my feet. I move a little too fast, though, and I groan at the pain. Ian wasn’t as rough with me as he could have been, but my body is going to hurt for a little while.
“She’s hurt,” Georgetta warns the man. She’s not asking him to take it easy on me. She’s just letting him know that I’m going to move a little slowly. I’m not being disobedient. I’m coming with him just as he wants.
“I’ll help her,” he assures Georgetta. He’s looking at her carefully, and even though he’s here to retrieve me, I can’t shake the feeling that he either knows her or likes her. She’s looking at him right back.
“Do you two know each other?” I blurt out the question. Right away, the spell is broken.
“No,” they both insist at the same time, and a moment later I’m in the hall with the tall man. I look up at him, stretching my neck to see. He’s so tall that he reminds me of a giraffe. I wonder if he’s going to fuck Georgetta later tonight.
I wonder if she’ll like it.
The door closes. The man steps forward and places his hand on the door. For a moment, I think he’s going to lock her in, but he doesn’t. Just like Ian, he’s giving her a little bit of freedom. We all know that she can leave the room, but she can’t leave the house. Neither one of us can, possibly ever.
My dad is a cruel man, but he’s also quite possessive. Once he finds out that Ian has not only me, but Georgetta, he’s going to completely freak out. He’ll lose his cool. Maybe he’ll try to sever business ties with Ian, but I don’t know for sure. Dad isn’t an idiot. As much as I want to think of him as being stupid, I know that he’s not. He’s cold and calculating.
Perhaps worst of all, he’s patient.
He waited years to sell me. He waited a whole lifetime. I don’t know why he wanted to sell me now. I don’t know what’s changed for him. I just know that he could have made this move a long time ago and he didn’t.
Now I’m stuck with Ian – a man who might hate me, might despise me, but who also can’t seem to get enough of me.
“It’s time to go,” the tall guy with me says. He looks down at me. I look up at him.
“What am I supposed to call you?” I don’t bother asking his real name. I don’t think he’ll give it, anyway. These guys all know each other. They all go way back. Everyone knows everyone’s mom, everyone’s cousin, everyone’s uncle. I’m new, though, which means they’re going to lie out their asses so that it takes me longer to figure everything out.
