Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

I swallow and shrug off his grip before taking a seat. I bend to put my purse on the floor right
beside me. I don’t want to get separated from it in case I need to use the pepper spray stashed inside.
“How was your day?” Calvin asks as he pulls out a chair and takes a seat across from me.
I take the white linen napkin and drape it across my lap, a little thrown by the casual way he
asked that, as if I’m a real date instead of someone he essentially blackmailed into dinner. Does he
really think I’ll interact with him as if we’re on a date? Is he completely crazy?
“Not great. Some lunatic stole my cat and nearly gave me a heart attack.”
Calvin looks at me across the table without the slightest gleam of remorse in his eyes. “I do what
I have to do to get what I want, Hallie. It will serve you well if you remember that.”
I scoff a little, but it’s hardly funny. “And just give you what you want without a fight?”
“Oh, no.” His eyes gleam with darkness as he grabs the glass of wine in front of him and takes a
sip. “I enjoy the fight. However, I think it will be less crushing for you if you realize sooner rather
than later that you’re going to lose in the end.”
His arrogance rankles. “I won’t lose,” I tell him, reaching for my goblet of water, but then
hesitating and looking between the glasses. I have wine and water, but both were poured before I got
here.
He said he wouldn’t drug me, right? There was no fun in that for him. That’s what he said, and
while he could have been lying, I’ve already decided he seems rather honest—horrible, but honest
about being horrible.
There’s no reason for him to drug me, right? I’m here. He’s won this round.
I’m still unsure. I look up and see him watching me, apparently fascinated by my internal debate.
“Not sure you want to drink anything tonight?” he asks.
The amusement in his tone is infuriating. “No,” I answer a bit shortly. “I’m not sure if drinking
something my rapist poured for me is a great idea.”
“Probably not,” he says, not even moved by my calling him a rapist. “I think you should do it
anyway. You’ll get pretty thirsty if you don’t.”
I eye the glass of water since the liquid is clear. It should be easier to see residue if something
was slipped in it, right? The liquid appears to be clear, no chalky residue at the bottom, no faintly
colored waves on top. I glance at the wine and see nothing suspect warping the surface of that one,
either.
I look him in the eye and ask, just to be sure. “Did you drug my drinks? You said you’d be
honest, right? So you’ll tell me if you did.”
His lips curl up with amusement. A gleam lights his hard eyes, softening them just a bit. “I love
when you try to evade me like this. I’m not sure why. I think I’d find it annoying if most people tried