Punished. They were punishing him because of what just happened between them.
She looked at the bed and wrapped her arms around herself, trying to stop from shaking.
She wasn’t crying. Not yet, anyhow. She was in too much shock.
At her neck, she felt for the key on the gold chain. She took the stairs down two at a time and by the time she got to the front door it opened in front of her. Lloyd filled the doorway and looked at her with a strange expression on his one-eyed face.
“Lloyd!” she managed and her voice cracked on the word. “I need your help. There’s no time to waste. Nathaniel, he was here already . . . and we . . . well, never mind what we did, but I think he’s in huge trouble with the head office. I have to go back to the mansion and I need you to glam me up so I can get in without—” She stopped talking and stared at him for a moment. “Lloyd? Why are you looking at me like you just ran over my dog?”
His bottom lip quivered and a great big tear dropped from his great big eye. “I’m sorry, Valerie. I . . . I didn’t mean for anything like this to happen.”
“What are you talking about?”
Lloyd suddenly stumbled. As he fell to the floor in front of her, she saw that he was actually pushed.
Julian stood behind him. He stared at Val in silence for a moment, and then smiled widely.
Her stomach dropped.
“Nathaniel’s in trouble with the head office, is he?” he said. “Does that mean that I spy with my little eye . . . a big fat slut?”
Her jaw clenched. “I’m not fat.”
He chuckled. “Even after everything that has happened, she still has a way about her, a true je ne sais quoi, wouldn’t you say, Lloyd?”
Lloyd hadn’t risen yet from the floor. He said nothing, but glowered up at the blond demon.
Julian crossed his arms. “Now, Valerie, I believe we have a little unfinished business to take care of, don’t we?”
She didn’t make a move. “What are you talking about?”
“My key.”
“Your key? You know, I’d always heard the story that it was Lucifer’s key. I wonder what he’d have to say about you taking over ownership without even consulting Daddy first?”
Julian’s smile disappeared. “You should hope you never come face-to-face with him to find that out. Now kindly give it back to me.”
She frowned at him. “Why do you think I have it?”
He raised a blond eyebrow and said nothing. His foot begin to tap impatiently.
Val shrugged and tried to remain as calm as she could. “I don’t have it. The last time I saw it, it was around your neck. Now leave me alone.”
“I want my key.” He actually stamped his foot as he said it.
“I don’t have it.”
His eyes narrowed. “Nathaniel took it from me.”
“And that means what?”
“That he more than likely gave it to you, perhaps around the same time that your legs were tightly wrapped around his waist.”
She slapped him. She regretted it as soon as it happened, but couldn’t control herself. She would have rather beaten him into a pulp if she could, but a slap would have to do for the time being.
He pressed a hand to the side of his face. “Only a few short days is all it took to get you on your back? Sad, really. No wonder they were so eager to throw you out of Heaven.”
Lloyd had slowly gotten to his feet and listened to them in silence. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Julian.”
“Is that so?” Julian snapped. “I’d advise you to shut your mouth. Seriously, Lloyd. I remember when you were once a fierce and loathsome demon. And now? You’re a writer of silly, meaningless stories.”
Lloyd frowned deeply. “They’re not silly. And they do have meaning. They’re about the power of love.”
Julian scoffed. “They have turned your brain to jam. Sweet, runny, useless jam.” He turned to stare at Val again. “But I’m getting off topic, aren’t I? I came here for the key. I have been very patient up till now, I think. Now, give it to me, fallen one . . .” He smiled cruelly. “Or else.”
“She doesn’t have it,” Lloyd said. “Just leave her alone, you impotent bastard.”
Julian turned his attention again to the one-eyed demon. Val thought he was going to say something, another dig, another insult, but instead he hit Lloyd, a blow so hard that it sent the demon flying across the room into the far wall, breaking one of his cherished framed book covers. Lloyd slid to the floor, unconscious.
Her gaze shot back to Julian as he closed the distance between them and pulled her firmly against him. He wasn’t as tall as Nathaniel, actually he was only a few inches taller than she was, so their eyes were close to the same level as he stared at her with his fiery gaze. He slid his hand down to squeeze her ass.
“So, Nathaniel wanted a piece of this, did he? I wonder why. Let’s have a quick taste, shall we?”
He crushed his lips to hers and she felt pain and revulsion all at once. When he backed away with a self-satisfied smile on his face, she hit him again, as hard as she could. He didn’t even flinch.
He licked his lips. “Not bad. However, I’ve never been one for sloppy seconds.”
Then he grabbed both her wrists in one hand so she couldn’t fight him and slid his other hand down the front of her tank top until his fingers curled around the key. He pulled it out and looked at it with a greedy gleam in his eye.
“Naughty little angel, you lied to me. You did have it.” He yanked it to break the chain, then slipped it into his pocket.
Val struggled against him, but considering he’d just launched Lloyd across the room with a single punch, she knew it was a lost cause. Still, she wasn’t about to make it easy for him.
“Now”—he still held her wrists effortlessly in his grasp—“whatever shall I do with you?”
She glowered at him but didn’t reply.
His smile widened. “I’m sure I’ll think of something suitable.”
He let her go, just long enough to strike her across the side of her head. She felt pain, saw stars explode, and then darkness spread across the world.
Val opened her eyes slowly, but it didn’t change anything. It was too dark to see. Where was she? She didn’t know, but she did know that she was tied up—her hands behind her back, feet bound at the ankles. She lay on a soft surface. A bed.
She tried to raise her head, but pain shot through her.
Not good.