Free This Darkest Man by Sinden West

taking a step
back.
    “Relax,
Mattie.”
    I
paused, and then turned slowly to face him. He sat behind a desk, dressed in a
tuxedo and his hair was cut short just like in the magazine photograph. He
leaned back in his chair, with his hands behind his head. He looked absolutely
relaxed and calm, nothing about me disturbed him. I wished that I could say the
same.
    I
clasped my hands in front of me to stop from fidgeting nervously. I had
expected rage to rise within me, but instead I felt anxious. The only anger I
felt was at myself, for letting that feeling of lust return. I tried to push it
down, as I narrowed my gaze to stare at him.
    That
only served to make him laugh. “Mattie,” he cooed. “You look like a nervous
school girl. What shall I do to make you relax? Quote the “Fall of the House of
Usher, perhaps?” he mocked. “Or should I use another method?”
    Then,
right then, the rage returned. “Who are you?” There was not even the hint of a
stutter in my voice.
    His
lips quirked up into a smile. “Don’t you read the business pages?”
    I
gave a small humorless laugh. “Forgive me. I should have asked what are
you? What kind of person goes sneaking around, lying and stealing and
pretending to be someone else?”
    The
smile remained on his face but I could read nothing else that was there. “All
you say is true. They don’t call me the Snake for no reason.”
    I
shook my head at him. “What kind of high powered businessman takes a week off
to go to the middle of nowhere and pretend to be someone else. You already had
every legal right to take my land. It wasn’t necessary to go to such lengths.”
    He
shrugged. “I don’t get to take vacation time very often. I decided to spend it
with you. Although, I must say, I didn’t expect it to be so pleasant.”
    “You’re
a special kind of fucked up, you know that?”
    He
laughed softly. “Swearing now, Mattie? Normally, you only do that when my mouth
is on your—”
    “Shut
up,” I seethed. “I want to forget that all those awful things ever happened.”
    He
arched an eyebrow. “Awful? You didn’t seem to think so at the time. All I
remember is you begging for more…”
    “I
want my ring back.” It was time to get to the point. “You’ve taken everything
else from me. I want it back.” My hands were bundled into fists at my side, and
I welcomed the pain from my nails digging in viciously to my skin.
    He
slowly removed his hands from behind his head and straightened his back, his
face was serious now. “It was never yours to begin with, Matilda.”
    “That’s
crap and you know it. I was the only heir. It belonged to me and—”
    “It
was stolen.”
    I
frowned. “What? How could you possibly know that?”
    “I
don’t have to explain myself to you, Mattie.”
    Ouch.
Those words hurt more than I liked to admit. For a moment, I didn’t know what
else to say, but I wouldn’t give up yet. “I-I just want to know. Why are you
acting like this? Why are you being so mean? What did I do to deserve this kind
of treatment?” My voice sounded raw and desperate, exposing everything that was
inside me.
    “You
need to calm down, Mattie,” he said quietly.
    I
sucked in breaths, trying to stop the rapid beating of my heart, which felt
like it was going to thump its way out of my body. “It’s true what they say
about you, isn’t it? That you’re a snake, a sadist. You enjoy causing pain.” I
was trembling now, and I wrapped my arms around myself to try and stop my body
but it seemed to have a mind of its own, just like my mouth. The worse thing
was how he was looking at me. There was no emotion there; it was like I was
some creature that had slightly caught his interest. I could almost feel him
dissecting me with his eyes.
    I
nearly jumped when he stood and moved from behind his desk. All I could do was
stare at him in wide-eyed horror as he approached me. He gripped my upper arm.
“Nice dress.” Then he pulled me to the curtains and pulled a