| Mine To Defile

𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐀

I watched as Mato's smug grin turned arrogant. "See, I helped you, and I was smart about it too."

"What did you pay him?" I glared at him. "What did you pay my father to write that fucking letter?"

He cocked his head, his gaze sweeping from my neck, to my lips, to my eyes. "I paid him more than he would make in two lifetimes." He licked his lips. "And it was worth every cent because now you're mine. Mine to take care of, and mine to defile."

Bile crept up my throat, and my chest burned with equal parts disgust and craving. "All you know how to do is destroy lives."

"Sometimes the strong need to eliminate the weak to thrive."

I almost laughed in his face. "Strong? Do you think you're strong? What, by turning an innocent woman into an addict? By taking her son away from her? Are those the actions of a strong man? An honorable man?"