Page 83 of Princes of Carnage

But it’s different now.

I yank a towel from the rack and wrap it around myself, staring up at him like I’ve never seen him before. Like he’s a complete and total stranger.

Except… he’s not. In fact, I know him so much better than I ever thought.

My mind is racing, adrenaline pouring through my veins and making my limbs shake all over again in the aftermath of my panic attack. I feel almost dazed, and my mouth is dry when I finally speak.

“You—you’re the man from the club?”

Killian hesitates for a second, his expression unreadable. Then, as if deciding there’s no point in trying to deny it, he nods.

My heart pounds against my ribs at that simple confirmation.

Phantom.

Killian is Phantom. He’s the man I’ve let chase me and hold me down and do all kinds of shit to me. The one I met anonymously at Le Bal Masque and who became my lifeline, in a way, the only person for a long time who could give me the kind of release I craved. I never saw his face, which was always shrouded behind a full mask, and the rooms where he fucked me were always dark. I only heard his voice and felt his hands—and other things—on my body.

And up until now, I’ve only seen Killian’s face and never heard his voice.

Oh my god.

“That’s why you never talk around me,” I say, my words halting as the truth hits me. “Because you knew if you did, I’d recognize your voice. I knew you had a reputation for not talking much, but you never spoke to me at all.”

“Yes.” Killian nods again.

“Fuck.”

I pace away from him, holding the towel tight to my body as I scrub a hand over my face. The painful remnants of the panic attack are fading away quickly, but the emotions rising up to replace them aren’t much better. I spin around to face Killian again, my eyes narrowing as a new thought occurs to me.

“You don’t smell the same. Phantom—the man at the club—he had a different scent. I’d recognize that scent anywhere, and I never smelled it on you.”

“I know. I wore a different aftershave to the club.”

“Jesus. You’re a fucking psycho.” The words leave my lips on a hoarse rasp.

I feel like I’m spinning out, like the room is tilting and shifting around me. I don’t know how to handle what Killian is telling me right now… but I don’t know how to deny it either.

There’s always been something about this silent, observant man that intrigued me, but somehow, I never put the pieces together. Maybe I should have, considering Killian’s broad, looming stature. But I know other men who are tall like him, and in my mind, Phantom always seemed like he was separate from the rest of my life. He was a part of the club, part of a world that no one else knew about.

He was always at Le Bal Masque when I went. Whenever I needed that itch to be scratched, the tension building under my skin to be released, I didn’t have to wait long for him to show up and give me what I needed.

That thought spins another question into my head as suspicion twists in my gut. Killian said he’s been watching me for months…

“How did you know I would be there?” I whisper. “Every time I was at the club, you were too. I used to think I was just lucky, or that you went there every night or something. Was I really just lucky? Was that a coincidence?”

Before he even speaks, I feel like I already know the answer, and judging from the look on his face, he can tell.

“No.” His face is still impassive, his dark green eyes locked on me. “It wasn’t luck. It was never a coincidence when I saw you. I followed you all the time. Here, at the tattoo parlor, at the club. I knew when you would go to Le Bal Masque, and I would follow you.”

My breath catches. “What do you mean here?”

“I’ve been in your house before. Watching you.”

He says it so matter-of-factly, like it’s not an unhinged thing to say. My mind churns wildly as I think about all the times I thought I was alone here before the three of them moved in. All the times I walked around naked or in my underwear. The times I laid in bed and got myself off, touching myself as roughly as I could in the hopes of sparking some of the sensations I craved so much.

Was Killian there for any of that? Watching from the shadows?

And how the fuck did he get into my house without me knowing?

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