Page 87 of Cruel Possession
I jump out, taking the steps up to her door two at a time. “I’m here.”
“Well now, if I knew you were going to come to my rescue that fast, I might have waited a bit before calling you.”
She opens the door, and my jaw hits the ground. There’s not a drop of blood on her, and the smile she gives me is sultry.
Her jeans look like they’re painted on, and the black top laces up the center, showing off a sliver of skin.
My gaze roams up and down her body, looking for any new bruises or scratches.
There might be a few bruises, but they look more like they’re from tying her up the other night and fucking her than from any fights.
Zoe ends the call and slips her phone into her pocket, giving me a smile. “Sorry, didn’t know how else to get you here, and I wanted to have some alone time.”
“You could have just told me that.”
“And you would’ve told me that you had too much work to do.” She steps to the side, giving me enough room to enter. “Or a million other excuses because you’ve barely come out of that office of yours in a week.”
“I was with you the other night.”
“For a couple hours, and then you went right back down to your office and stuck your nose in the books, trying to work through getting that mall running properly.” Zoe arches an eyebrow at me as I step into the house and take off my shoes. “So, you want to try and tell me again how you would’ve just come over?”
“Fine, maybe it wouldn’t have been that easy, but you know there’s a lot going on.”
“There’s nothing really going on.”
“Dead bodies on my doorstep.” I turn to look down at her as she shuts and locks the door behind me. “Your family is still dropping them off at my door.”
“I told you it wasn’t them. Morgana confirmed it.”
I shrug. “Fine, not your family, but somebody out there is killing people in the same way your family liked to and leaving them at my door. Which is a bigger problem than your family doing it because that means I have no clue who is fucking with me.”
“And you’re not going to figure it out tonight either.” She runs her hands up my chest before pushing the jacket off myshoulders. “Now, get comfortable and grab some food from the kitchen. I ordered from your favorite Italian place.”
I let her take the jacket from me, dipping down long enough to brush a kiss over her lips before making my way down the hall and into the kitchen. The scent of tomato sauce and garlic fills the room, making my mouth water.
“What did you even break when we were on the phone?”
“Aw,hubby,” she says, drawing out the word, “I didn’t know you cared that much. But it was nothing. Dropped a glass. No injuries.”
“Good.” I glance over my shoulder into the hallway.
Zoe hangs up my coat, humming a tune.
When I peel back the lid on one of the foil containers, I’m greeted with the most glorious appetizer in the world: arancini. There is nothing more perfect than deep-fried balls of risotto with hunks of cheese crammed inside.
“Please don’t start drooling on the food,” Zoe says, her tone teasing as she walks into the room and opens the cupboard to grab down two plates.
“Last time I checked, you didn’t seem to mind sharing a little spit.” I smirk and take both plates, setting them beside the pan.
She opens up another container of lasagna, the cheese browned and gooey. “There are some things you should know about me. Like the fact I don’t share my food. And that the corner of the lasagna is the best piece.”
When she grabs a large knife to start cutting up the lasagna, I roll my eyes. “You say that like it wasn’t a known thing. Everyonewho has ever had lasagna knows that the corner is the best. The crispy cheese, the noodles that get a little toasty.”
Zoe cuts off two of the corner pieces and drops them onto my plate, dropping the other two onto her own. I ladle out the arancini before opening the last container and finding thick slices of garlic bread.
I take my plate and hers over to the dining table once they’re full, setting them down. “So, why did you want to spend some time alone?”
“Your house is chaos. Summer and Jade are always coming and going. I think Ellie and Sean are there every three days, and Gia and Royce seem to come and go on the daily. The only one who doesn’t use your house like a damn train station is Skyla.”
