Page 15 of Uncaged Obsessions

I shoot up, staring at the door. I want to fight against the way he's using them to get to me, but he already knows that I'll do what I can to spare them. I don't want to find out what exactly he would actually do.

“I’m thinking Adam? He has the most to lose, doesn’t he? That shithole of a gym is his entire life, isn’t it?”

My mouth gapes; how did he learn about any of them? I think about the ways he could have and come up short. Even if he knew where I was this whole time, there’s no way he knows who I was with, or anything about them.

“Yeah, I’ll just make a call…” His voice gets quieter and I race to the door, opening it, but I stay standing my ground.

He smiles, tucking his phone away when he sees me, and I watch the movement, raising my chin. “Where’s my phone?” I ask because I’ve been wondering, though I doubt he’ll give it back.

“You don’t need it.”

“I want it.”

“Come with me,” he demands, avoiding the conversation altogether. It takes every ounce of me not to punch him in the back of the head as he walks ahead of me into the living room.

I hate walking through this house. It’s haunted all my nightmares. Walking through the halls unlocks every memory that I’ve wanted to suppress since leaving, and being back here has me neck deep into the hell I thought I escaped.

We get to the large open space and I anticipate what he’s going to ask of me before he can even open his mouth. My suspicions are confirmed when he sits in the chair he always did.

“Dance for me, wifey, it’s been too long.”

I fold my arms across my chest. “Fuck no.”

“You came back feisty, Maxine. I think I like it.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“Come on, you used to love to dance and I’ve missed watching you, it’s one of the only things you were good at.” He takes a sip from the glass of brown liquid I just noticed he has and I can smell it from here. I know it’ll only get worse if he gets drunk. Everything was always worse after he’s been drinking. Especially when he came home from whatever “business meeting” he was just at.

“Things change.” I watch his throat bob as he swallows the liquid, my strength retreating every second I stay standing here. The weight of my past consumes me once again.

“They sure do.” He looks me over and I fight the urge to cower. “In fact, I think I’d like to seeallthe ways you’ve changed in these last couple months.”

I take a step back, away from him. “You have already.”

“No, I want to seeallthe ways you’ve changed. Strip.”

My breath hitches. I shake my head, taking another step back.

“Strip or dance.” He takes another sip. “Preferably both.”

I steel my spine, gathering every single ounce of the strength I’ve built to get through the inevitable torture. It’s about trading one thing for another with him. If I do this, maybe he’ll leave me alone for now. I hope at least that as long as I play nice he’ll leave Caine, Adam, and Drew alone.

If I have to suffer for the time being, it will be worth it to know that they're safe. Because no matter what, I won't risk their lives being ruined simply because they wanted to get involved with me.

Even if I tried to stop them. Especially with Caine, but that ship has sailed because we are all in the deep end now and there’s no going back.

“Fine. I’ll dance,” I agree, reluctantly. “But I need the music on my phone.”

He barks out a laugh. “You’ve always been a shit negotiator, wifey.” Shaking his head, he pulls out my phone from his pocket, and I think about lunging toward him to grab it, but he doesn’t even look up when he says, “Don’t even think about it.”

I grit my teeth, wanting to go against everything that he’s saying. Every fiber of my being wants to fight to get out of here right now, but I have to be smart about this. I have to play the long game, which includes getting Carson to somewhat trust me again. I have to get through this.

He starts playing some music from my phone, turning the volume up as he holds onto it while it plays. “I should take a video to send in the little group chat you have that keeps blowing up.”

My heart lurches; I know exactly what group chat he’s talking about. “You’re reading my texts?”

“Of course. I need to know what my fiancé has been up to and who she’s been talking to while she was on her little adventure. Dance and maybe I’ll read you some of the ones you’ve missed.”

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