Page 2 of Wicked Games

I didn’t expect Lenora Bryan to cry.

Or maybe I did. I tried to morph my face into a semblance of sympathy, but… it’s sympathy I don’t quite feel. Not for them anyway.

Will they kick Margo out? Or will their perception of her shift just enough that it becomes unbearable?

I guess we’ll find out. I leave their house, trotting down the steps and to my car. Once in, I tip my head back and breathe a sigh of relief.

It’s done. Whatever happens next is on them.

I scan my phone before I take off, clearing away messages from classmates and my mother. I pause on my best friend’s latest text. It came in less than a half hour ago.

Eli

You schmoozing the Bryans? Freaked your girl out that you were there.

I pause.

Two things.My girl?She is mine—but to hear him acknowledge it is an entirely different beast. The second?—

Margo saw my car?

I’d figured Eli would take his sweet time getting out of there. He was supposed to offer to take them to breakfast or some shit. Give me time to cause my mayhem and leave.

I type back.

Me

Dickhead.

But really, this is a bigger issue.

Eli

She got out of the car at the top of the street.

Did you see her?

No, no I didn’t.

“Shit.” I slam my hand against the steering wheel. I’ve never had her catch me before. I’ve never been this careless, though… Just hours ago, I wasinsideher. Making her scream and squirm under my touch, bringing her pleasure. And now, the opposite.

But what did she see? Or hear?

I dial her number and drum my fingers on the steering wheel. I need to drive away from the Bryans’ house, but not until Margo answers me.

It goes to voicemail.

I dial again, just in case.

It must be off, because it barely rings once before it switches over to her breathy voice on the recording.

This plan… It was set in stone a while ago. Pulling her down piece by piece. But I’m not ready for her to fall—not yet. I’m not done with her.

This was supposed to be slow. A shift in their family dynamic. An unsettling.

Seven years ago, she broke me. Now I’m just showing her what she created.

A beast in my chest demands to be free—a beast that only wants Margo’s blood.

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