Page 63 of Please Hate Me

That was faster than I had hoped. Cameron was certainly a smooth operator if he could convince her to go on a date before I even had a chance. I was sure I had at least a week before Mason would want to leave the house.

“Did you two talk about anything interesting?”

Ideally, he would’ve poured out his entire past for her, and she would tell me he was a murderer and a cult leader. But that wasn’t exactly realistic, so I could settle for at least learning who “Dale” was.

Mason struggled to sit up as she used Cameron’s pillows to prop herself up. She genuinely looked terrible—I wondered if I should text Lucian and ask him to make sure whatever room Mason fell asleep in had snacks on the bedside table. But, no, if she woke up and noticed him, it’d make him look like too much of a gentleman.

She swallowed hard before refocusing on the screen. That’s when I realized she wasn’t wearing her own shirt. Instead, she was in a denim blue button-down that almost swallowed her whole. She looked comfortable. But I didn’t like it.

“We talked about the stars and our zodiac signs,” she continued.

I fought the urge to grimace. Mason was a high school dropout; that wasn’t news to me. I just wished she could have smarter hobbies.

“... Cameron’s into astrology?”

Mason nodded. “He knew his big three and everything. And he was able to point out a couple of constellations for me.”

My jaw clenched tight as I swallowed the bitter taste of jealousy. I forced a smile and studied my reflection to make sure it looked genuine.

“As long as you’re happy and healthy, that’s what matters.” I was trying to convince myself of that. “Was he nice to you?”

Her tired eyes met mine through the screen before darting away. Then, her eyes lit up for a moment before she flipped the camera around and pointed it directly at her bump. She smoothed the stiff blue fabric down, and I could see tiny pops of movement. Normally, I loved seeing the baby move. It always made my heart flutter, and if I was home, I’d be rushing to feel them for myself. Right now, though, it annoyed me that Mason was changing the topic.

“Look at how much she’s moving today.”

It’s because you’ve actually been feeding her. Now answer my fucking question.

“And I love that.” I tried to sweeten my tone. “But I don’t want to see Lavender right now. I want to talk to her beautiful mommy.”

There was a beat of silence before Mason flipped the screen back around. There was guilt in her eyes, but I had no idea why.

“He was really nice. It almost felt natural…. but I like hanging out with you more.” Her rushed assurance filled me with buzzing doubt.

My first instinct was to tell her every detail of my case. I knew Mason would be scared off, especially if I told her Cameron was the serial killer. That part had yet to be proven, of course, but I couldfeelthat I was on the right track. And here Mason was, discussing her fuckingzodiac signwith this unbelievably dangerous individual. But she’d never believe me if I told her that Cameron was going to lock her in a burning building to find out if Lavender was the second coming of Christ. If I were somehow wrong, I’d never be able to earn back her trust.

So I just had to ignore the jealousy threatening to tear me in two.

“I’m glad. I hope you know you’re my favorite person in the world.” And if anyone got in the way of our relationship, I wouldn’t be able to trust myself to make a rational decision.

Mason forced a smile and nodded, but she looked notably different than she had just moments ago. Her lips had gone pale, and there was a sheen of sweat on her forehead.

“Princess, are you alright?”

Her shoulders lurched forward, and she covered her mouth. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

And with that, the call ended.

I wish I’d been able to move on from there. I still needed to file what remained of my paperwork, attend my mandated sessionwith the company‘therapist’,and prepare to leave tonight. But I couldn’t stop picturing my brother and Cameron defiling my girl. Sophia didn’t threaten me in the slightest, but Cameron was the biological father of her child. And Lucian…. I knew what they were like together. Mason and Lucian could pretend to hate each other until they were blue in the face, but the second one of them dropped that façade, it was over. She had a track record of choosing him—I’d be an idiot to assumethatwould ever change.

However, I didn’t feel defeated or angry. Instead, a dangerous excitement coursed through my veins. My heart skipped, my breathing grew shallow, and a smile pried at my lips. It was no secret: I loved a good chase. Nothing helped stave off my eternal boredom like a game of cat and mouse. But, until this moment, I assumed that was a game I had already won with Mason. I tracked her down time and time again, found each of her new phone numbers by any means necessary. I sculpted my body to perfectly suit her desires. Long before she ever invited me to Lyon, I was there, staring through her windows, collecting information, trying to craft the ideal opportunity to make hermine.

And just when I thought I had successfully lured her back to my home, my little mouse was wandering away. Unfortunately for her, I was hiding just a few feet away in the darkness, licking my chops.

I was well aware that I was the bad guy. Good people had morals and often put others first. I, on the other hand, would set the world on fire as long as Mason was by my side to watch it burn.

Chapter 19

Mason

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