Page 16 of Wild Devil

“And what is that?”

He rises to his feet. “Play your cards right and be the obedient fiancée until tonight. Then, after our wedding, I’ll enlighten you. Perhaps I might even take pity on you enough to help change your father’s mind. But know this. When you are my wife, his rules will no longer apply to you. You will answer only to me, and I won’t tolerate a deceitful woman in my home. You will learn to be subservient, even if I have to beat the goodness into you.”

“Tonight, then,” I say, watching him leave. The second he slams the door behind him, I don’t waste any time. I slide his cell phone from its hiding place between my legs and fumble to get it open. It’s locked, but I get it open on my first try—our supposed anniversary. The thought makes me sick as I open up a message and compile one on the fly. Then I send it to a number I’ve memorized by heart. My fingers tremble as I hit send at the same time I hear footsteps rushing toward the door. I delete the message and slide the phone away just in time to witness Colton fling it open, his cheeks pink, chest heaving.

“What’s wrong?” I ask with faked innocence. Sweat is dripping down my neck, and I just hope he underestimates me enough to write off the reaction as fear.

As he surveys me, his eyes narrow before he turns his attention to the floor. As soon as he spots the phone near the doorway, he crouches to pick it up, holding it as warily as he would a live viper. I can’t tell what he thinks as he tucks it in his pocket. Does he know I used it? Will he somehow be able to track the number down?

Hopefully, Daze won’t try to call back.

Without a word, Colton turns on his heel and storms off, and I can finally breathe again. Then, I clear my mind of fear and focus on another plan for escape. One that utilizes the razor blade tucked into my hem.

Do I have what it takes to use it?

It only takes thinking about Daze in danger and his beautiful eyes swollen with pain for me to find the answer. Hell yes. I’ll find my way back to him no matter what it takes.

Or who I have to kill in the process.

SEVEN

DAZE

Love can utterly fuck you up. You think you’re on the right path, and you know what’s best. Then, before you know it, you’re pussy-whipped, shackled by someone else’s morals and ideals. You can’t react out of anger and impulse like you used to. You can’t barge in to save them either, spraying bullets and dropping bodies. You’d rather die than have them hate you.

Or worse.

Fear you.

So, to prove your worth to them, you strangle your worst impulses. As soon as I saw Sam for the first time, I knew I would die for him. In Frey’s case, however, there is no parental bond to hide behind. The sex alone doesn’t seem to justify this change that I can feel warping me from within. No, it’s like she’s altering me on a cellular fucking level, and the worst part?

I like it, to some extent, the shit she does to me. Fuck, she’s more potent than a drug, making me feel like more than a worthless piece of shit. She makes me feel alive again. Powerful.

And she makes me terrified to lose that high.

“You seem tense,” Ben says. The irony is he’s the one hunched over a table scattered with journal pages, trying to make sense of Hale’s lost, rambling words. “Shouldn’t you be relieved? You heard from her. You know she’s still alive and able to type, at least. Shouldn’t that be a good thing?”

It is.

But then it isn’t.

If she’s taken the risk to steal a phone, then she’s desperate. I’d be a fool to just twiddle my fucking thumbs out here, following the breadcrumbs she’s dropped.

Deep down, though… I suspect that’s exactly what she wants me to do. Trust her. Lay the groundwork to make sure her father can’t fuck with her or anyone else ever again.

So, I’ll play. I’ll be fucking Hansel and Gretel and keep unraveling the mystery of Michael Heywood and whatever the fuck he’s up to.

“She said that something’s happening tonight,” I say to Ben, who’s still watching me. “We should keep an eye on Heywood.”

“I bet it has something to do with the meeting last night,” Ben agrees.

“But that isn’t all. Something’s off. I can feel it. She’s keeping something back from me. I know her.”

“Do you really?” Ben counters. At the look I shoot him, he immediately throws his hands into the air. “Look, all I’m saying is that, what? You’ve only known her for two weeks. I get the whole Romeo and Juliet thing is sexy, but let’s not go overboard.”

“That’s not what I mean,” I snap. “There’s more to it. I can tell when she’s afraid, even without seeing her face. Something is wrong. I’m just not sure what.”

“You know the drill,” Ben says. “We keep an eye on Silas and Heywood. We continue to build the crew. Then you get to be the hero and rescue your damsel in distress.”

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