FaCade (Deception #1) Read Online Free PDF

steam curling from it. My stomach rumbled loudly when the delicious aroma made its way up my nose. I cringed when the man smirked at me, his thin pale lips pulling even narrower with his cruel smug smile. “Well, eat this time.”
    I didn’t answer him, just watched as he walked over to Maria. He slid his palm over her cheek affectionately. She smiled up at him, her eyes wide and idolizing. “You’re such a good girl.” He held a piece of bread between his fingers in front of her. She smiled softer and then curled her fingers around his and took the bread.
    “Thank you.”
    He nodded then turned to me. A scowl covered his face as his eyes roamed over the blanket covering my body. The disdain on his face caused me to lower my eyes, self-disgust transferring from him to me. “You either eat…” I jumped when he appeared before me with the bowl in his hands. “…or I’ll shove the fucking stuff down your throat.”
    I nodded but kept my eyes fixed on my lap. He pushed the bowl closer and I reached out for it. He pulled it back, taunting me and laughing when I reached again and he took a step back. He bent forward and placed the bowl on the floor. I frowned, not understanding why he had told me to eat then moved the food out of my way.
    “Eat!” I looked up at him. He scoffed and lifted a brow. “Eat!” he repeated slowly as though I was dense and couldn’t understand him.
    I shuffled across the bed and stretched my arm to pick it up. His foot kicked at my arm and I yelped, snatching it back to cradle the pain. “The bowl doesn’t move.”
    I swallowed back the bile when I figured out what he wanted. My gaze flicked to Maria. She smiled faintly as she chewed on a piece of bread she had dipped into her own bowl and nodded encouragingly.
    He huffed when I remained still and tapped at the bowl with his foot, reminding me, baiting me. I shuffled forward slowly and slid to the floor. My belly groaned again. I was so damn hungry, my stomach muscles twisted in pain with just the scent of food. My mouth watered as I crawled closer.
    When I made it to the bowl I looked up at him for the spoon. He stared at me and shrugged. It was then I understood I wouldn’t be getting a spoon, that if I wanted to eat, I would eat like a dog. My gaze drifted once more to Maria as she sat on her bed, dipping her spoon into the soup and bringing it hungrily to her mouth.
    The soup had cooled when I ran my tongue across the top of the watery broth. I curled my tongue, desperately trying to create a makeshift spoon but it was so hard. The liquid was too watery and all I managed was to wet my tongue, yet I was so hungry, I carried on. I found if I lapped faster, I was able to get more into my mouth. The chunks were easier, my teeth clamping around each morsel so I could take it in and chew.
    The man laughed as the broth trickled over my cheek, crusting immediately in my freshly washed hair. Hatred conflicted with the food in my stomach, bringing with it a need to vomit, but my heart told me to carry on, to feed myself.
    I swallowed back the self-disgust, the humiliation and the misery and I ate. I ate to give me strength, I ate to fuel my revulsion and I ate to show them I wasn’t done yet.
    Maria watched me, her eyes on the rapid movement of my tongue. I couldn’t work out if she was an ally yet, but I had the impression she would turn on me quickly if it granted her leverage and ‘ranking’. She seemed nice enough but there was something about her that made me wary.
    I knelt back once I had managed to get what I could from the bowl without having to squash my nose in the bottom. The man sneered at me, chuckling smugly as he looked from me to the bowl. “See how easy that was.” He kicked the bowl at me, the remaining soup splattering over my thighs, making me flinch and scuttle back towards the bed. “Amazing what you can accomplish when you understand how this is gonna work.”
    I didn’t answer him; I didn’t think he expected