Chapter Thirty-Three

I turn around slowly.

Giotto is standing a few feet away from me. He's stroking a black cat with iridescent green eyes. I press my lips together and gaze at him. He smiles politely, but there's a darkness in his eyes that I've come to know all too well. It’s the intent to harm, and manipulate. Humiliate. There aren’t enough words for everything that he is capable of.

After a long moment of silence, he says to me, "I'm waiting, my dear. It is very rude to not greet the owner of the house."

I lick my lips. They're numb all of a sudden. I force them to move and look at the carpeted floor. My heart is racing in my chest. I’m sure I’m perspiring all over my body. Rage is coursing through me, and I feel ready to explode like a volcano. He’s doing this on purpose, of course he is. He wants to see how far he can go with me. He will test me to my limits, and then laugh about it later with his ridiculous friends who find pleasure in destroying the lives of innocents. She bites out a, "Hello."