I pressed the button on the wall as I worried about a stray thread. It was sticking out where the tulle skirt met the tulle corset.

Did I ruin the dress somewhere? All I needed to do to know that I couldn't afford it was look at it. The thought of having to buy it because I damaged it made me shrivel up on the inside. Just imagining having to explain to Zev or Jaxon why they had to pay for it had me hoping I'd accidentally activate another portal.

The curtains softly finished opening.

Something seemed... wrong.

I looked up from the loose thread. I realized the feeling of wrong was coming from the heavy silence that had blanketed the room.

For the first time since the day I first woke up, looking into Ezra's eyes evoked fear.

He slowly rose from his seat. His green eyes lacked their usual warmth. They were locked on me.

On my neck.

I swallowed.

It was fine. It was nothing.

He slowly walked towards me, his eyes never leaving the bursts of colour that popped against my light brown skin. An unfamiliar fear rose from within. It wanted me to be assured that Ezra wouldn't hurt me, but at the same time, it sent my warning signals blaring.

Behind him, Zev leaned back against the couch, widened his knees, and crossed his arms. His eyes hardened as they focused at the same point as Ezra's.

My tongue darted out to moisten my lips. I had to say something to cut the rising tension in the air, but I didn't know what.

It was nothing. I was the one that had the bruises. They were fine. It was fine. It was nothing.

I still stepped back when Ezra got too close. It was scary. He was scary. I hadn't been more aware of the physical difference in size between us than I was at the moment.

My heel collided with the mirror, my back followed.

My heart raced.

My eyes remained on him as his stayed locked on my neck.

He came to a stop a few inches away. He just watched me for a moment. His eyes didn't stray further than the darkened edges of the bruised skin. He raised a steady hand and brushed his thumb up my neck. His thumb pushed my chin up, exposing my neck further.

"Have you been lying to me, Nea?"

I swept my tongue over my lip. "No," I lied.

His brows furrowed, mocking sympathy. "Oh, blossom, that's a lie too, isn't it?" He frowned as he shook his head.

His thumb pressed into the bruised skin harder. I winced at the flare of pain.

His eyes finally met mine.

"Nea." His voice was hard. I swallowed at the shiver of fear his eyes sent up my spine as they drilled into mine. "You lied to me." He didn't ask this time. He stated.

I bit my lip to stop it from trembling. It was a white lie. It hurt no one, least of all him. Plus, I could recall from my fuzzy memory of the car ride I had decided to eject myself from, that the kind of treatment I received from Jaxon was something I was warned about. It was something they knew was going to happen.

He kept watching me. His eyes were heavy on my skin, prickling. He waited. He wanted me to acknowledge the truth. Hesitantly, I gave a small nod, admitting that I did lie.

He shook his head in disappointment. His thumb gently trailed up and traced over my cheek. He stepped towards me and I tried to mimic him, but my back pressed into the mirror behind me. He caged me in against it and leaned down until his lips brushed my ear.

"Never," he calmly said into my ear. It sent fear trickling down my spine. "Never lie to me. I may be the nice one, blossom, but even I have rules. Lying is one of them. Especially when in regards to matters of your health."

He pulled back and stared me down with his hardened eyes. I couldn't handle it. I had to look away, focusing instead on his chest. His eyes held too many emotions that sent a fear that I couldn't relate to Ezra through my veins.

But worse of all, they made me feel like I betrayed him. That I disappointed him. That I failed.

They made a familiar panic rise from within. One formed from the fear of being rejected, of being alone.

What if he didn't want me anymore?

"Now tell me, blossom," his voice hardened slightly. "And I want the truth this time. Did. He. Hurt. You?" he asked, accentuating each word in barely concealed anger.

He didn't need to specify who 'he' was.

I knew it would be stupid to try to lie to him again. He wasn't a fool and he had already seen the evidence. I conservatively nodded my head, the promise of consequences that shone in his eyes drove me.

"Is this it?"

I stared a hole into his chest.

"Show me."

My hands trembled at his command. I had never heard him more serious before.

Swallowing, I stepped forward. I expected him to move back to give me space, but he stood rooted in place as my chest pressed into him. Reaching a trembling hand up behind my back, I reached for the zipper I had difficulty closing.

It was a better plan than lifting the whole dress and flashing him my bits.

Noticing what I was trying to accomplish, he made me turn with gentle fingers on my shoulder. His fingers trailed over my exposed upper back before reaching the zipper. He pulled it down, the sound the only thing that could be heard over my pounding heart. The fact I was being undressed to put my bruises on display just made it worse.

Once he had unzipped it, I turned back to face him. The coldness of the mirror stung my skin.

I looked into his hard eyes, mine pleading with him to just let it go. It was nothing.

But they didn't waver.

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I used one arm to cover my breasts before pulling down the corset of the dress to reveal my torso. I could hear the blood rushing through my ears as my heart pounded.

I jumped at the feel of cool fingertips brushing over my skin. Goosebumps erupted and I shivered.

Then I screamed.

I nearly fell to my knees as he pulled my arm away- exposing my chest. I tried to cover myself up again, but he wouldn't let me as he inspected my skin. My nipples tightened in the cool air as my anxiety ran high. My face flushed with humiliation when I felt Zev's eyes inspect me.

Compared to his treatment, Ezra's fingers were light and gentle. I kept my eyes locked on his chest as he looked over my body. His lips moved in a whisper as he brushed his fingers over my skin. They soothed over the bruises, the soft touch left a trail of warmth that seemed to dissipate the aches that had been a constant since I had awakened.

After he was done, he mutely jerked his head and grunted. Turning from me, he dropped his hand and left, not looking back at me once.

The suffocating pressure formed in my chest. It grew, filling me with an irrational sense of doom.

He was leaving.

but, it was just a few bruises.

Tears burned my eyes.

Zev's sigh drew my blurry gaze to him. "He's only angry because he cares," he explained. Getting to his feet, he pulled out another spice cigarette and put it between his lips. "He's going to need some time to cool his head. He hates being lied to, especially about health." He cupped his hand and lit his cigarette.

"Why?" I asked in a whisper.

Zev inhaled from the cigarette. Holding the smoke in his lungs, he eyed me as he exhaled- his sight lingering a bit too long on my chest. Remembering that I was exposed, I quickly wrapped an arm around myself to cover my breasts.

Taking another hit, he glanced at the door Ezra had left through before looking back at me- at the bruises I wore like a necklace. He blew the white, curling smoke from his lips, seeming to have decided something.

He grabbed the leather jacket he had discarded on the back of the sofa.

"His mother used to lie to him about her health." He took another hit. "Made him think she was perfectly fine when in reality she was rotting from the inside out."

I winced at his blunt words. They were harsh, but the information they provided would explain why my white lie elicited such a reaction from Ezra. My heart twisted with guilt.

"A word of advice," Zev said. "If you're going to lie to anyone, make sure it's anyone but Ezra." He walked over to the wall. "Get changed and meet me in the lobby." He put the cigarette between his lips. "We're not done yet." He pressed the small black square on the wall with the side of his fist before he headed for the door at the back.

I watched him leave through closing curtains. I kept staring at the closed door as the curtain cut of my view. The soft sound of them moving stopped and the insidious silence in the air pressed in on me.

Left alone, I looked down at myself. I was still cupping my breasts with my arm to keep them hidden from view. The stiff yet malleable, tulle corset sagged near my waist, exposing my pebbled skin to the empty room. Without the heat of their stares, I was cold.

I felt...

Abandoned.

Was Ezra... Was he done with me now?

The thought hurt. It shot through my chest. Burned the back of my throat. Left me feeling like I made an irreparable mistake.

My nails dug into my palms.

I had messed up again. I had started building a fantasy life with him in my head- was even headed in the right direction! And now...

I had ruined things again.

I always did.

Just like I did when I had stormed off at the circus that night on my sixteenth birthday because I was being a brat.

Just like I did when I fell in love with one of the cook's sons a few years ago and thought he loved me too. I had trusted him. Thought he would have wanted to run away with me. No, instead he told him all about my plans to run. To rub salt in my wounds, he had crouched beside my bloodied body and told me that I was nothing to him. Just a warm body to fuck. Easy, too.

Just like I did was I was too curious about an open drawer that was usually locked.

I hastily changed out of the dress and into my previous clothing. I couldn't bear to look at my bare, marred skin any longer.

* * *

After a few wrong turns and having to ask an overly helpful employee for directions, I finally made it out of the store's front doors.

The cool night breezy drifted over my skin, making me shiver. I could smell the promise of rain in the air as the darkening sky still shone through with hints of vibrant clouds of purples, blues, and oranges.

Zev stood with his back towards me, his hands in his front pockets. He took one out and surprised me with the golden pocket watch he held.

"Come on, we need to get the bracelets before the jeweller's close."

He started down the street.

The only other people around were the periodically stationed guards and a few people here or there walking on the street.

"Where's Ezra?" I didn't correct it to Lord Ezra.

Zev shrugged his shoulder. He mumbled something under his breath, but I couldn't catch it.

A light drizzle had started as he pulled me into a dark jewelry store. Everything but the displays were thrown in shadows.

"Lord Cassius Montgomery?" A smooth and delicate voice asked as we stepped further in.

Zev pushed back the hair that had fallen into his eyes with his hand. "Lord Zev Dubois. I'm here to pick up the order he placed and get the ring sized."

"Yes, right this way."

The woman led us into the store and seated us at a set of sofas that flanked a coffee table. She gave us sparkling champagne flutes and said she would be back with the finished items and an employee would come to get the ring size.

Once the woman left, I faced Zev. "Where is Ezra? Is he going to come back?"

He turned and looked at me. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was a hint of pity in his lavender eyes.

He sighed lightly. "I don't know," he picked up one of the magazines from the table and started flipping through it. "But, he will be back."

I thought his reassurance would calm me, but it did nothing.

I gripped the cushion of the seat with white-knuckled hands. I didn't know why, but just knowing Ezra was upset at me had me spiraling. This was different than the time with the kiss; he wasn't angry then.

A gentle brush against my collar bone had me flinching.

"You know, I was once like you," Zev said. He had thrown an arm over the back of the sofa as his fingers danced over my marked skin. "An abused whore."