Page 57 of Wild Fury (Fallen Royals 6)

I raise my eyebrow, and she goes silent.

“See you around…” I turn and saunter away. I know my words can be perceived as a threat. Because if she talks, then I can trace the contents of this envelope back to her. And the papers.

My phone buzzes again, and I snarl as I yank it out of my pocket.

The first text, from fifteen minutes ago, alerts me that my car’s alarm system was activated.

The second warns that the GPS was disabled.

Heat crawls up my neck, straight to my ears. My friends always made fun of me for that particular trick: how to tell if I’m furious by the shade of red my ears are.

She fucking snuck out of the movies, waltzed past me, and stole my fucking car. Nothing gets me more irritated than that. She knows, because she’s borrowed my cars on more than one occasion.

It’s why I change cars often. Upgrade when I can, or sell. Faster engines, sleeker models, sure. Better security, though, is unbeatable.

Unless you’re Lucille Page.

I leave the library and head back to my apartment. I’ll deal with her after I’ve stashed my new package.

18

Lux

I open my eyes at the click of the door. The bathroom is all shadows and flickering candles—something I thought might relax me. I figured, if I had the room alone, the least I could do is take advantage of a bath.

But now I’m on edge, and I can’t immediately pinpoint why.

It takes me a moment too long to realize one of the looming shadows isn’t inanimate. It breaks away from the wall, and understanding dawns on me.

I grab the side of the tub to haul myself out. Water sloshes around me.

He’s faster than me, though.

His hands wrap around my throat and shove me back—and then under.

I try to suck in a gasp before I’m fully submerged, but water fills my nose. It burns down my throat, up into my sinuses. After a few seconds, I open my eyes. He watches me above the water, seeming to consider me.

He could kill me.

In fact, it’s seeming more and more likely.

Theo Alistair has unleashed his inner psycho.

His hands squeeze, forcing me to the bottom of the tub. I kick out, but I can’t reach him. A smirk graces his beautiful, blurred face, though, for just a second. Like he’s fucking enjoying drowning me in my own bathtub.

I’d enjoy kneeing him in the balls, but alas… he has the upper hand.

My lungs are on fire. The air rushes out, little bubbles escaping for the surface. Black spots flicker at the edge of my vision, creeping closer.

And then he drags me up.

I gasp and immediately go into a coughing fit. The days when I seem to press all of Theo’s buttons are rare, but I’ve managed to do it by stealing his car. It probably has something to do with the fact that I disabled his GPS…

I swallow, ignoring the burn in my throat and behind my eyes. He thrives on this sort of chaos, and tears will just feed it.

He’s still holding my throat with both hands, and he yanks me toward him. He doesn’t even seem to care when my wet shoulder and arm hit his chest, soaking his t-shirt. His face is colder than I’ve ever seen it, and I smile slowly.

“Do you like watching the world burn?” he asks.

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