Page 166 of Quinlan

“I’m here for you.” The blush on her cheeks burns brighter under the harsh lights of the gym. “You left us. I was worried.”

“Is that so?” I keep sounding like an asshole. Keep imagining her broken-hearted and crying in that pool, and I don’t settle down for her. I snarl.

“I wanted to know where you were.” She lifts her chin higher, takes a step closer. “I wanted to talk.”

“You should’ve stayed in bed.”

Too late, though. Both my hands are around her neck, fingers sliding up to her jaw. I’ve caught her.

I’m the worst fucking man. A true monster to be this rough on her.

But my heart is a mess. And she brought me food, for crying out loud.

I need to shield her. I need to possess her. I need to get a handle on this.

Can’t.

“Liam—” she gasps when I press my thumbs to her jaw. When I start choking her. I can’t stop and she doesn’t try to pull away. All she does is place her small hands over my large, sweatyones. “Liam. He let me out of the penthouse. He came down the elevator with me.”

“So you know.”

“That you’re locking me in the penthouse from the inside?” Her taunting has my lips twisting. She’d be so much fun to play with. All by myself. “You went to work. You think I didn’t test the door?”

“I bet you did.” My head cocks to the side. The predator in me assesses this bold, reckless little lamb.

“Makes sense.” What a daring little thing she is, raising an eyebrow at me. “I’m a captive, right?”

The sick need to devour this woman feels a lot like anger. How dare she, stand here, so beautiful and brave that it hurts to breathe around her?

No one has the power to hurt me.

“You are.”

One movement takes both of us to the black rubber floor, me on top of her. Locks of sandy blonde hair spread wildly around her head. Her fingers grasp onto my neck.

“You asked Liam to leave, anyway.”

“Yes.” I had her breath knocked out of her, and here she is. Recovered. “For you.”

Robbing me of my sanity.

“There will be consequences for your little transgression.” My legs straddle hers. My hands are on her face, pinning her to the floor. Caging her in.

Her nose scrunches. Even with her eyes red and puffy from crying, even after she bared her heart to us, Quinlan has the audacity to look indignant. God, I love that.

“Liam said it was okay.”

“Liam isn’t here, isn’t he?” My jaw tics. “Just you and me, sweetheart. So here’s what’s going to happen next.”

This isn’t about sex. It’s about control. And fuck, am I ever in control over her. One hand slides around Quinlan’s throat, the other peeling her hands off me. Her arms go over head, wrists locked in my grip.

“What?”

“You’re going to tell me why you’re really here.”

“Or else?”

My sweaty chest presses to the clean shirt on her body. Her heart thrashes in her chest, the loud hammering beating doing things to me.

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