Bobby blows out a breath. “Sorry about your sheets.”

I mumble that it’s okay, then realize he isn’t talking to me.

“It’s fine,” Eli says. “Are you staying or…?”

“Nah, I’ll go.”

And like Doc before him, Bobby scrambles off the bed and collects his clothes, leaving without a second glance. I press my face into the covers as my heart zigzags. I’ve been used again, left again, but I’m still a virgin.

“My turn, bella.” Eli’s voice is as soft as the velvet that makes up his name. “Are you going to be a smart girl and spread your legs?”

He already knows the answer, I can hear it in his voice. He’s daring me to deny him to his face.

I keep my head buried in his sheets. “I’m sorry, Mr. Morelli. I can’t.”

“Of course, you can’t.” There’s a snapping sound and a strong, sweetish scent fills the air. I raise my head and see Eli has lit a cigar. He exhales a cloud of silvery smoke above our heads. “I thought you were smarter than this, Miss Whitehall.”

“Maybe this is me being smart.”

His jaw hardens. “Perhaps Adriano is right about you. Perhaps you are more trouble than you’re worth.”

Cold slithers through me. “I don’t want to disappoint you, Mr. Morelli. I just want to stay a virgin.”

Eli draws on his cigar, and the end burns orange-white. “In some ways I admire you, Miss Whitehall. There isn’t a woman in a million who could have withstood Orchard the way you have, and your childish insolence has its charm. But I laid out certain expectations tonight and you have failed to meet them.”

His even tone is worse than Doc’s threats. More unnerving than Bobby’s anger. “I’m sorry, Mr. Morelli.”

He points the cigar at the floor in front of him. “On your knees.”

My heartbeat pounds in my ears as I crawl across the bed toward him. I eye his cigar and remember the fire from my dream. Was it a warning? Is he going to burn me?

Eli blows out a cloud of smoke. “I will not ask again.”

I collapse at his feet.

“Bella.” The cigar hovers above me. “You’re running out of time and options. Do you know that?”

I nod, trying not to keep my face away from the burning end. I already feel the heat of it on my cheek, the threat of it in my heart.

“You’re going to finish what you started in the dining room. You’re going to suck me like your life begins and ends with my cock. And while you do it, I’m going to sit here and smoke this…” he tilts the cigar at me. “… and think about why I should let you live.”

My mind goes blank. Fear obliterating thought.

Eli moves his hands to his armrest. “What a mess we’ve made of you.”

I touch my hair. It’s a rat’s nest from being grabbed and pulled and I’m still covered in Bobby’s cum. Eli’s judgmental smile makes me want to curl into a ball and hide. But I’m frozen, hypnotized by the burning cigar tip.