Ficorpio
Chapter 1
In the attic of a secluded estate, Cole Bennett lay curled on the bed. His face was so pale it seemed almost translucent, half-hidden beneath the covers. His long lashes trembled at the sound of footsteps.
The door creaked open. Cole shuddered despite himself, and when the footsteps stopped beside the bed, he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Open your eyes.”
Ethan Sterling’s voice was as cold and dark as ever. When Cole didn’t respond, Ethan seized his chin and forced his face up.
“Have you forgotten how to behave while I was away?”
Cole managed a faint shake of his head, then held out his hand. Around his slender wrist was a band bearing a name: Julian Bennett.
Ethan’s expression softened a little. He let go of Cole’s throat.
Julian was Cole’s brother, once a hugely popular actor. Then he disappeared.
If Julian hadn’t left on a whim—if Cole weren’t his younger brother—perhaps Cole wouldn’t be trapped here, enduring Ethan’s almost savage captivity.
It was all because Ethan had loved Julian too much.
“You really do look like him.” Ethan suddenly pinched Cole’s earlobe. Cole flinched, a deep unease rising inside him. “Cole Bennett, do you think having a face like his gives you the right to say you love me?”
Ethan produced an earring from somewhere and let out a quiet sigh. “I’d meant to give this to Julian.”
Cole realized what he intended to do. His eyes flew open. “No. Don’t!”
Ethan caught him effortlessly as he tried to get away. “Keep struggling, and I’ll cut your ear off.”
“Don’t—!”
Cole’s scream tore through the empty estate.
Ethan looked down at Cole’s bloodless face and tear-streaked cheeks. He licked the blood from his fingertip, then pressed a satisfied kiss to Cole’s torn, bleeding ear.
“You drove Julian away. Wasn’t that so you could be with me? Well, now I’ll give you what you wanted. Happy?”
Cole’s voice was barely audible. “I didn’t drive him away. Ethan, I do love you, but I never meant to be with you. I didn’t do anything to betray you.”
“Don’t stand there pretending you’re innocent. If you hadn’t set me up, why would Julian have left?”
Ethan threw back the thin blanket. Cole wore nothing but one of Ethan’s shirts, far too large for him. His collarbones showed beneath the loose fabric. Cole closed his eyes and resigned himself to what was coming.
Chapter 2
When he woke the next morning, Ethan was already gone. The earring Ethan had forced through the flesh of his ear—the one meant for Julian—was fixed there like a nail driven into his body. Every breath tugged at the wound, sharp with pain, reminding Cole just how absurd his position was.
The butler brought in the private physician to clean the blood from Cole’s ear. Cole clenched his teeth against the pain and finally made it through the treatment. Then the physician told him the wounds on his legs had split open again and he needed to go to the hospital.
Ethan had made those wounds the first time Cole tried to escape. He’d cut him twice with a dagger, deep gashes that had only recently begun to heal. After what Ethan had done to him the night before, they had opened again.
“Mr. Sterling says they’re minor injuries. There’s no need for a hospital.”
The butler’s tone stayed cool as he added, “He also told me to remind you not to hope anymore. You’ll never get out of this estate.”
Cole’s lips curved faintly, but he said nothing more. He should never have held out any hope where a psychopath like Ethan Sterling was concerned.
When Ethan returned that evening, Cole was in too much pain to sleep. The moment Ethan’s hand brushed his cheek, he opened his eyes in fear. Ethan made no further move. He merely caressed the engraved earring with something close to fondness.
“Do you want to know what happened to Lucas Hayes?”
Cole’s eyes were as still and empty as a dry well. At those words, they flew wide. “What are you planning to do?”
A vicious glint crossed Ethan’s eyes. “He wouldn’t stop looking for you. He refused to learn his place, so I taught him a lesson.”
Cole began to tremble with rage. “Ethan, even if you refuse to believe me, don’t take it out on other people! Lucas and I are only friends. Why won’t you leave him alone too? You sick bastard!”
Ethan looked almost as if he had been waiting for him to say that.
A captive who obeyed too easily was unbearably boring. A little resistance now and then was what truly satisfied him. Cole was right. He was a psychopath.
Ethan’s hand closed around Cole’s throat. “I’m a psychopath? Then what does that make you? If Lucas saw you like this, do you think he’d still say he loved you? Cole, you’re like a toy I’ve played with until there’s nothing left of it—so filthy you make me sick.”
Chapter 3
Cole couldn’t draw breath. Ethan’s grip was frighteningly strong, and his face flushed red as his hands thrashed instinctively. The chains around his wrists dragged across the floor with a heavy clank. For one terrible moment, he truly believed Ethan was going to strangle him to death.
Tears slid from the corners of his eyes. Only then did Ethan let go.
Clutching his throat, Cole coughed uncontrollably, but Ethan seized him by the collar and hauled him upright. Then he slapped him hard across the face.
The wound in Cole’s earlobe, not yet fully healed, split open again. Blood trickled into his ear.
Cole’s eyes reddened. One side of his face had gone numb. He stared blankly at Ethan. “Why do you hate me so much? I only love you the same way Julian did. I never did anything to hurt him. I never lied to you. Why won’t you believe me? Why don’t you just kill me?”
“In your dreams. You drove him away, so you’ll stay here and take his place. Don’t think dying will be that easy.” Ethan gripped his chin so tightly that Cole thought his jaw might dislocate. “Julian stayed with me for three years. You’ll stay with me for three years too. We’ve got plenty of time.”
“I’m not Julian. I have nothing to do with him! Stop treating me like he’s me, please.” Cole clenched his teeth against the pain. “I’m not as cheap as you think I am!”
“Aren’t you his beloved little brother? Didn’t you once say you wanted me and tried to seduce me into sleeping with you? And now that I’m asking you to stay, you’re refusing?” Ethan’s laugh grew colder. “You acted like a whore and now you want to pretend you’re virtuous. Leo was right—you really are just as cheap as your mother. Behave yourself. Once I get tired of you, I might even let you go.”
When Cole stopped responding, Ethan finally threw him aside. With an expression of disgust, he wiped his hand and turned toward the door.
Cole forced himself upright. The heavy chains around his wrists had rubbed his skin raw.
He gently traced the injuries. He felt as though he no longer even had the strength to cry.
Then the mobile phone Ethan had left on the bed lit up without a sound.
Cole didn’t dare touch it. He was afraid Ethan would think he was trying to escape. He only wiped away his tears and glanced at the glowing screen.
Two words appeared on it:
Little Leo.
Julian Bennett had returned.
He stood before Cole now, wearing an air of haughty superiority.
Apart from the estate butler and the private physician, Ethan allowed no one into this room. But Julian had come and gone as he pleased. Ethan had always shown Julian the greatest indulgence—something Cole could never hope to receive.