Page 47 of Obsessive Cravings

“Well, Tides plays a slow game, baby. He lured you into his trap, and you fell head first, as usual. You’re so easy to play. You’d think you would have learned from me, but you went and did it again.”

“No, he didn’t. That can’t be. He loves me.”

“Love? Tides? Oh baby, Tides loves nothing but power. You were the prey in his hunt.” My fight left me, those words slamming into me like a vicious storm. They were the exact words Greyson had said to me. That I was his prey. “Did you know the perv even had a camera installed in your apartment? He watched you through the apartment next door. I saw him leave one night and broke in. Nice set-up and a fantastic view of your room, your bed, your body. Fuck, I wish I’d been that clever. But then again, you willingly spread your legs for me right away.”

I didn’t know what to say. Everything Clint had said left me in shock and my mind was filling in all the blanks, confirming it was the truth. The way Greyson had snuck into my apartment, leaving me gifts, knowing when I was asleep. Pain more intense than my wounds stabbed at my heart.

“That’s it, Riley. I love watching you break.”

A car screeched into the lot, and Clint turned me, using me as a shield, my back pinned to his chest, his gun to my head.

Greyson stepped out of the car, powerful and beautiful. No fear lined his face, only a lethal hardness that sat in his blue eyes.

“Drop the gun, Randall.”

“Oh, but Tides, Riley and I have been catching up, haven’t we, baby?”

“You fucking call her baby again and I’ll slit your throat just enough for you to feel every ounce of pain I give the rest of your body.”

“I was calling her baby long before your cock was pounding into her.”

Greyson growled, a sound that usually would have had me soaked, but I wasn’t sure how to feel now. I had a gun to my head and a dagger in my heart.

“Do you want to finish filling her in on how you were using her to get to Brinks? Or should I continue?”

Greyson’s face dropped, confirming everything Clint had said.

“Ah, Tides. Time to destroy you completely. Because she hates you now. She knows the truth and she’ll die hating you, not loving you like you wanted. Too bad I’ll be the one taking Brinks down and?—”

What happened next was so fast, I wasn’t sure how it had happened. Greyson pulled his gun so quickly that Clint hadn’t even finished his last word before the shot went off, hitting him between the eyes. He fell back as I recoiled from the sound. Greyson ran toward me, but I stumbled away. He stopped, his eyes so wounded it hurt me even more.

I stood across from him with Clint dead at my feet, unsure of my next move and feeling like my life had fractured so severely that I might never piece it back together this time.

Chapter Twenty-One

GREYSON

Ididn’t know fear, but the moment I knew Clint Randall had Riley, I understood fear like it was a close friend. It raked through me, piercing my chest with a pain that pounded through it. And with every passing minute, it increased, closing in on me like a snake constricting my lungs.

I was driving too fast, but I didn’t care. My need to get to Riley had taken over all others. I glanced at my phone as I ran another red light. The mark that signified her location had stopped moving, and my heart jumped to my throat. There were only two reasons the location would be static: Randall had found the phone, or he was getting ready to kill her. I was so close to the location, but I was still too far, and my chest was so tight it was difficult to breathe. I clutched the steering wheel, running every red light.

My phone rang, Riley’s number coming up, and fear gripped me further.

“Riley!”

“Help me. He’s going to kill me.” The terror in her voice crushed me, and I bit back the emotion.

“Fuck. I’m on my way.”

There was silence, and my fear twisted like a knife blade.

“Riley!”

“Greyson Tides.” Clint Randall’s voice was calm. He had the power, and he knew it.

“You touch a fucking hair on her head, and I will ensure your death is slow and painful.”

A slew of vile words came at me, shredding my calm, and I roared, “I will hunt you down like the piece of shit you are, Randall. Walk away now or you’ll be begging me for mercy!”

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