Elemental Assassin 03 - Venom

realize there was nothing I could do to stop him. And when that happened, when he had me where he wanted me, the bastard made me kiss him—over and over again. And the whole time, he told me how beautiful I was. How fucking
special.
He rubbed my back for a while, and then, he stroked my hair. It was almost like… I was some sort of doll he was playing with. Some real-life Barbie he could do anything he wanted to. Slater had this look in his eye—this sick, satisfied look. It was the scariest damn thing I’ve ever seen.”
    There was no sorrow in her voice, no pity, no feeling sorry for herself. Just a cold recitation of the facts. A calm retelling of the way she’d been forced to submit to Slater. The way he’d overpowered, controlled, and humiliated her. The way he’d made her feel so helpless. Maybe there hadn’t been any body parts involved, but Slater had subjected Roslyn to his own twisted form of rape.
    Two tears rolled down Roslyn’s lovely face. She used a crumpled, discarded napkin to wipe them away, then took off her silver glasses and started cleaning them. The only thing that gave her away were the slight tremors that shook her hands as she worked.
    The cold, sharp knife of guilt in my stomach twisted in a little deeper at all the things Roslyn had endured because of me. All the horrors that I hadn’t even known about until right now. All the pain that I’d accidentally inflicted on her without even knowing it.
    But as much as I might want to, I couldn’t change the past—only the future. So I leaned back in the booth.Waiting. Just waiting for Roslyn to pull herself together enough to tell me the rest of it. I’d been the assassin the Spider for years. I was very good at being patient.
    After about two minutes, Roslyn put her glasses back on and set the crumpled napkin to one side of the table.
    “Since then, Slater’s been at the club every night,” Roslyn said. “Now he gets a private room. As soon as he comes in, I go and meet him. He usually stays about two hours. I don’t leave until he does, and no one interrupts us. No one.”
    “What does he make you do?” I asked.
    “Everything, nothing. Slater makes me sit on his lap and fix him drinks while he tells me about his day. About working for Mab Monroe. Then he asks me about the club. It’s like we’re playing fucking house or something. Hi, honey, how was your day? But he always has his hands on me, touching me, stroking my hair, kissing me. Every night, he kisses me a little harder, touches me a little longer. It’s only a matter of time before—”
    Roslyn bit off her words, but I knew what she’d been about to say. That it was only a matter of time before Elliot Slater raped her. It was clear that was what the sick bastard was building up to. I was willing to bet it was a game he’d played before with other women. Stalking them, dominating them, and finally raping them. Like a cat playing pat paw with a mouse until the poor creature was broken, bloody, and dead.
    Except in this case, Roslyn Phillips was the mouse. How Roslyn had endured Slater’s twisted attentions this long, though… that was something else. The inner strength that took… it was something I couldn’t evenbegin to imagine. Something I didn’t know if I would have been able to do, if our situations had been reversed.
    “What about Xavier?” I asked. “The man’s paid to protect you and the club. Why hasn’t he gone after Slater himself?”
    “Because I asked him not to. I told him that I had a special arrangement with Slater. That the giant was paying me good money for my time and to leave it alone.”
    I stared at the vamp. “Why would you do that? Xavier’s a bouncer
and
a cop
and
a giant. He can take care of himself—and you too.”
    “Because Elliot told me that he’d kill Xavier if he tried to interfere. If he ever interrupted one of our
dates.
” She let out a disgusted snort. “That’s what he calls them. Dates. And I—I just couldn’t bear it if Elliot ever hurt Xavier. I can bear anything else he does to me, except for that.”
    Pain darkened Roslyn’s eyes, but there was also another soft emotion shimmering in her tight gaze and face.
    “You’re in love with him,” I murmured. “With Xavier.”
    That same grim smile curved her lips again. “Come on, Gin. Everyone knows it’s not love when you’re a former hooker,” she said, trying to make light of her feelings.
    “When did it happen?”
    Roslyn shrugged. “I