“It’s clear to me that Mr. Raspallo isn’t the only one harboring some feelings. Why aren’t you the one with him instead of Miss Lin?”

Faith blushed and became intensely interested in a red-and-white glass ornament that looked like old-fashioned, wrapped candy. The silence stretched between them, and it became clear that Demetri’s post at the Raspallo estate had made him infinitely capable of waiting.

“Y-you know what he’s into?”

“I’ve seen the dungeon.”

“I’m sure Leo thinks I’m a prude, but I’m not into all that. And it isn’t like I pursued him. It’s not as if I’m here by my own choice.”

“Do you think he’d throw you down and pick the most painful implement he could find and go at you full force?”

“Maybe. I don’t know what he’d do.”

“He cares about you. He’d go slow. If you were willing to try it.”

The conversation made her want to disappear. Leo’s dungeon and his activities therein weren’t spoken about. By not speaking about it, it could be part of a hazy dream world and nothing more.

“But he said if I say yes, my consent isn’t revocable. I can’t change my mind later. So if it’s too much, I can’t ever get out. The only safety I have right now is saying no and hoping he honors that. If I say yes, I don’t have any more choices ever.”

Demetri laughed. “That’s what he thinks. The truth is, from the moment you stepped into his life, he couldn’t stand for any harm to come to you. That sadistic side of him you’re so scared of isn’t all he’s about. He’s a healer and protector. He would do anything to not damage you. If you couldn’t handle it, he’d stop. He doesn’t want to be played with. He needs someone who belongs to him completely, like you do. He’s had too many woman who came here and then tried to control things, giving and taking consent like submission meant nothing to them. It’s the reason Miss Lin is the only one so far who has made it to a second visit.”

Faith didn’t reply, but if what the butler was telling her was true, the Asian woman was the first true threat.

Demetri excused himself and left her alone with the tree. When he was far enough away, she slipped off to the dungeon. Maybe she was a masochist. If she didn’t like pain, why did she keep going back there every Friday to listen in on what happened with Leo and the others? She wasn’t a voyeur. She didn’t get a burst of excitement from watching or hearing other people going at it. She just couldn’t stand not knowing the status of things.

Despite how much she protested and denied, she knew if things went far enough, she wouldn’t be able to prevent herself from begging Leo to do what he wanted with her to keep the other women away. She couldn’t understand how any of this had happened, how he had transformed into someone she had real feelings for. All the time spent getting to know each other to trick his family, all the public affection and time spent with others and the meals they’d made together, had created a crescendo of need she could neither explain nor deny.