Page 78 of Hunted Obsession

Merrick chuckles, obviously hearing Vaughn in the background. At this point, I should probably just put this fucking call on speaker. I stay quiet and wait for Vaughn to speak because it’s clear he’s got more information.

“She’s on my database, using an alias. I didn’t know it was her,” he murmurs. “I don’t know if she’s killed anyone. I can’t look at the jobs she’s completed. They get deleted the moment they’re completed on my app, but what she did today, I’m not sure she hasn’t done anything physical.”

Fuck me.

“She didn’t put Emmie on that list?” I ask out of morbid curiosity.

Vaughn chuckles. “She didn’t, although she also didn’t explain to me why, either. She fucking should have.”

Merrick clears his throat. “I have to go, but I’ll email you everything I have. Sounds like Vaughn has some insight, too.”

Thanking him, I shove my phone back in my pocket. Lucille moves, beginning to head my way. I watch her, wondering who she really is. Clearly, I don’t know her as well as I thought I did.

As far as I knew, she did transcription work at night and not much else. Now, I am coming to realize there is a whole layer to the woman she is that I didn’t understand. And that I’ve wasteda hell of a lot of time without her when we are more suited than I understood.

It’s time for me to get some answers.

And find out exactly what the fuck I bought when I purchased this beautiful fucking creature.

LUCILLE

The car rideback to the safe house is quiet, almost too quiet, and I realize that I’ve fucked up. I let my anger control me, and I did something I shouldn’t have. My reaction was not what it should have been for a woman who had never witnessed hideous atrocities before.

I’m thinking it might be time for me to come clean about what I am.

Vaughn has already promised that he wouldn’t tell Theron everything as long as I do it myself tonight. There is no waiting around. There is no avoiding it. Not any longer. I just hope he understands that sometimes we have to do things in life that aren’t always pretty to survive.

I walk into the safe house and stop when I am standing in the middle of the living room. Theron closes the door behind him, locking it before he faces me. I watch him, my eyes focused on his, waiting for whatever is about to come my way.

I don’t know what it’s going to be, but I can tell just by the energy he’s giving off that it’s going to be something… big.

I press my lips together and roll them a few times while I wait. My breathing is slow and steady as I try not to completely lose myself and panic. Waiting for him to speak is the most nerve-wracking moment of my week so far.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t know you as well as I thought I did,” he begins. “Why don’t you tell me about yourself, Lucille.”

I open my mouth, then snap my lips closed as I think about what to say. I’m not sure how much I want him to know, how much he already knows, and how much is actually relevant. I bite the skin on the inside of my cheek for a few moments as I try to think of what to say.

“Let’s begin with the fact that I watched you gouge a man’s eyes out today.”

I snort. That part’s easy. “He wasn’t giving you the information you wanted. And he was a piece of shit,” I snap.

Theron chuckles. He doesn’t respond immediately. Instead, he tilts his head to the side with a smile playing on his lips. He watches me, almost like he thinks I’m cute or something. I hope he still feels that way once he knows everything about me, about my past

“You’re right, he wasn’t. He was never going to give us anything.”

“He didn’t care about those boys being hurt,” I continue in a whisper.

Theron hums and takes a step toward me, then another. He stops when he’s just a few feet from my body. I want him to touch me. I want him to assure me that everything is okay and that he still wants me.

I want him to fuck me.

“I appreciate your care and concern over that,” he murmurs. “But I’m a bit more concerned with the fact that you have an alias on Vaughn’s dark web app thing. Which I didn’t even know existed until a few days ago when you were listed as having a price on your fucking head.”

Well then.

Okay.

I suck in a deep breath and hold it for a moment. I knew this was coming, but I was hoping it wouldn’t have for a few more years… maybe when we’re old and gray or something.

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