Page 35 of The Invite
“The suspension is just another vacation for me. A vacation where every waking hour I’ll devote to being your shadow. Nothing is stopping me from satisfying my hunger for you. Sorry to say, Miss Nessa, but your plan backfired.”
A shiver travels down her spine, which I feel underneath my palm resting above her hip. A confused frown pinches her forehead and she sighs. “Why are you doing this, Augustus?”
I can tell her the truth that her little complaint threatened to expose my secret. That she pissed off my mother after tarnishing our family name. Disrupted my life by opening Pandora’s box.
Instead of telling her all that, I lie. “You waged a war against the wrong man, little prey.”
CHAPTER – 11
Nessa
The reality of my situation truly dawns on me right at this moment.
I didn’t want to believe Ace’s warning, but he was telling the truth. Augustus Grayson’s family is no ordinary one. Every member is dangerous and a force to be reckoned with and I’ve just caught myself in their crosshair.
I basically served myself on a silver platter.
And let’s not forget, I’ve let Augustus touch me twice and enjoyed every second of it like a whore. My brain short-circuits around him and I can’t think straight.
He’s a mastermind at using my body against me.
Now, he’s invaded my home and has the audacity to tell me I’m the one who started the war when it was him.
Why the hell am I still letting him touch me?
And that gory mask? I shiver as I stare at it lying in the middle of my bed. It’s a dark red skull mask with its lips sewn shut to make it eerie with two hollow cuts for eyes.
It made him look inhumane.
Glancing away from it, I shove his hands off my hips and step back. Pointing my finger at him accusingly, I snap, “I didn’t wage a war. You did, Augustus. When you and your friend captured me in the woods. When you cornered me after class. All I wanted to do when I moved here was to live peacefully, but you’ve ruined it all.”
My chest rises and falls as I finish, but nothing on his stony face changes. No remorse. No guilt. Just a calmness that terrifies me.
I can’t decide whether I’m scared more of him in a mask or without.
The black compression shirt with full sleeves and matching black jeans molded to his ripped frame makes him appear menacing.
Even now, without the mask and messy hair, he looks larger-than-life.
“As entertaining as that speech was, it doesn’t change anything,” he says after I’ve squirmed for long enough.
“I may not go to the cops,” I admit, trying one last tactic. “But that doesn’t mean I won’t tell Mr. Crane everything you did tonight. I’ll get you expelled.”
He can kiss his chance of ever becoming a mayor goodbye.
I may not be a politician, but I do know a record like this on his résumé will raise suspicion about his integrity and aid the people looking to uncover his dirty secret.
I’m not above using it as a leverage.
Rising to his full, intimidating height, Augustus says nothing and walks past me. Have I scared him with the threat of Mr. Crane? My little smugness turns to nerves when instead ofmoving toward the door, he strides to the mantel behind me and leans over to pick something.
He turns and I catch sight of the phone in his hand, just as he hits a button.
My jaw drops when my moans fill the bedroom, sucking all the air out of it.
Dread blasts inside my bloodstream when I listen to my cries in horror.
He recorded us!
