Page 56 of Possess Me! (I Want You To)

She quieted.

Could she tell?

My breath stuttered, my pulse beginning to dance again. Prudence’s fingers pulled taut, pain zinging up my back. I sagged again, letting him force me into submission. The touch meant calm down. I hadn’t realized I’d tensed up but he had. The steady thump, thump of his heart trembled against my cheek, and I nuzzled into it, unable to help myself.

How did he have a heartbeat?

Maybe it was part of the spell he was under.

“I’ve been really busy because of work,” I said softly. “But I’ll do better. I’ll call more.”

“I want to see you.” Mom’s voice was stubborn, it left no room for argument.

Fuck. No. No— “What—?” My shock must’ve been obvious.

“Luca. If you’re telling the truth and nothing is wrong, then you won’t have a problem coming home to visit. It’s not like we live on Mars. Besides, your birthday is coming up. I’ve been trying to plan something for you like we always do—which you would know if you had been answering your phone.” My breath hitched. “We haven’t seen you since Christmas. Betty’s even bringing her boyfriend over to meet you, and Adam’s out of school for the summer. It’s time to come home.”

I couldn’t afford to go home.

But I couldn’t admit that without coming clean about all my lies.

She was right. If nothing was wrong, I should’ve had plenty of money to visit them. It wasn’t like I had a job that had me on a strict schedule—not yet, anyway.

Prudence’s nose was cold where it pushed against my temple. The touch was weirdly soothing. He probably didn’t think I’d notice the way he was sniffing at the sweat there. But I did. It hadn’t taken long for me to realize he liked anything that reminded him I was human. He seemed particularly attracted to my scent.

“Okay.”

“Good,” Mom’s voice flooded with relief. “Twenty-five is a big number. We’ll make it extra special! Betty’s baking!” I was so fucking screwed it wasn’t funny. “I’ll see you soon, baby. Five days.”

“Five days.” I echoed obediently. “Love you, Mom,” I croaked.

“Love you too, sweetheart.”

The second I hung up, Prudence took my phone away. He set it on the counter, then he dragged me out of the crook of his neck, his hands bracketing my cheeks, squeezing till I was forced to look him in the eyes.

I expected judgment.

But he…he just looked at me like he always did.

Sure. Confident. Detached. Hungry.

“I can solve your problem.”

“What?” My heart wobbled, and my eyes were more than a little wet. I was shaking all over but Prudence didn’t seem to mind. He squeezed me tighter, tight enough a trickle of pain tingled beneath my skin. Just enough I could separate away the tangles of anxiety and fear that were still threatening to choke me from the inside out.

“Money. That’s what you need, isn’t it?” Prudence’s voice filtered through the fog in my head. How had he known? “If you help me I’ll make sure your family is taken care of.”

“How?” I had no idea what he was talking about. He was dead. Dead men didn’t have bank accounts.

“My family—” Prudence grimaced, “and I…have more than enough means to fix the mess you’re in, whatever it is.”

“You’re…”

“Rich, yes.”

“And you would…do that?” I shook my head dubiously. My lips were dry and my tongue flickered out to wet them. “You would help me?” For a second I almost asked him why he’d robbed a fucking ATM if he was as rich as he claimed he was—but I held myself back.

“Yes.”

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