Page 15 of Ruthless Passion

"Yes, the Brisco in the company’s name is for Gina Devlin-Brisco. She manages the administrative side of the studio while I oversee the production of our projects. Here's the script. Now, I warn you, it's very rough."

She smiles, taking the pages from me, thumbing through a few, and snickering at others. "This is rough. Who wrote this? Your death will be as sweet as your desire to hurt me. What on earth is that?"

I squint, trying to remember what part of the story that is, when it flicks in my head. "That's the scene when Cadence and the guy…I forget his name, meet and go to a motel to hook up. She's about to put him under her spell, but there's something different inside his thoughts."

"She can read minds?"

"She can only read the mind of her victims right before she sings her death song to them. It's like a year in review for her to justify her actions. But when she reads his memories, she sees the reason behind his crimes. He's not like the others. You want to run the scene real quick? We can make notes on how to change it."

My pulse races because the siren's death song to men comes with fade-to-black sex scenes. She kills them in the middle of the act, distracting them as she uses her paranormal abilities to drown them in bed. I pull out another copy of the script, confirm the page, and look at her to start.

Josephine scans the next few pages. Her eyes widen as a seductive smirk spreads across her face. She reads the first line. "Your death will be as sweet as your desire to hurt me."

"I don't want to hurt you, Cadence." I perform the lines as if the scene's real.

"Of course you do. You want to hurt me like you've hurt all the others. I've seen you there, there in the destruction, in the aftermath of the lives you’ve shattered." Josephine hums slightly as the script calls for the death song to begin.

I step closer to her, following the direction of the scene. My arm slides around her waist, pulling her into my body and spinning her to press her back against the wall. "Whatever you're doing to me, stop it. Stop this right now, Cadence. You can't take this from me."

Josephine breaks the scene. "She's assaulting him?"

"She's also going to murder him, so it's on par for the character. Josephine, this isn't a romance. She's not the sweet innocent type who gets a happy ending. She's a serial killer who can change into a killer mermaid. I'm sorry. Is that going to be too much for you to portray on screen? We can put clauses in your contract pertaining to nudity, sexual content and perception depending on how we reshape the character."

"No, it's fine. I'm a professional. I've never had this much power over anyone let alone a man. It's hard for me to picture any guy letting me do this to them."

"Do it to me," I tell her.

She grins. "Ha, ha, very funny, Luca. The scene is fade to black, but you want me to assault you? Like now, in real life?"

"Yes. I mean, it's not going to be completely like the script because you don't have a lethal singing voice?—"

"You've never heard me in my concert shower series."

I shake my head, chuckling to myself. "Josephine, I want you to feel that power so you have a source to draw on for this role. It's going to strengthen your talent as an actress and we can stop at any point. It's up to you."

"What am I allowed to do to you?"

"Cadence is a siren, nearly a century old but she never ages. Imagine what she's been witness to as a woman observing the history of humankind. Hell, think of what you've been through, Josephine. What's something you'd like to do to me or anyone?"

"Choke you?" Her eyebrow arches.

My eyes drop to the size of her hands and I nod. She'll never get enough leverage to do any real damage with her fingers alone. I take her by the hand, leading her downstairs to my bedroom. The dark slate tile floors are perfect for withstanding the ocean air when I open the doors to my balcony. It wraps around to the pool and workout room, curving with the shape of the cliff side.

"You're in charge, Josephine. Tell me what to do."

"Take your clothes off," she commands.

I smirk, silently undoing the clasp of my watch and emptying my pockets onto the nightstand. I step out of my pants and toss my shirt onto a cream leather armchair facing the view. Standing in front of her, wearing nothing but my boxers, Josephine pads across the room.

"Can I slap you?" she asks. I can see the power waiting to burst free. She needs this and perhaps the exercise will help me get her out of my system before things go too far.

"How about this? You can slap me, scratch me, punch me, choke me, touch me anywhere on my body that you want. Take what you want. I won't let you tie me up, but if things get too intense, I'll tap you on the shoulder or say, ‘starlight’. Okay?"

"Sounds good."

"Good. Let's begin, Josephine."

She closes her eyes, but when she blinks back open, there's something different inside of her gaze. Darkness; the lust in her power over me engulfs her energy as she reaches up to stroke the side of my face. Her hand is only there briefly before sliding around to the back of my head where she pulls my hair.

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