Page 55 of Toxic Obsession

Excitement swirled in my chest. I couldn’t believe I was only hours away from avenging Bell’s death. I wished she could watch the show from up above. Hell, maybe she would. One thing I wouldn’t do again? Let her down.

Remington and I parked ourselves at the top of the stairs where we had a good view of the activity on the main floor.

The moment Kane opened the front door, people flooded the mansion. Remington had made sure they knew it would be a party above any other, and the crowd was the biggest I’d seen yet.

I leaned against the wall, watching Wynter, Gabby, Everlee, and Leighton stroll into the entryway. Wynter’s gaze bounced around the groups, a slight frown marring her beautiful features. I figured she was searching for me, but I wanted to wait for a while before I announced my presence.

The girls weaved through the crowd to the kitchen and fifteen minutes later worked their way through the crowd to the living room with drinks in both hands. That’s how it went at my parties. The lines were long to the alcohol, so normally people would make two beverages at a time.

Wynter downed a shot, then tossed the plastic cup in the garbage. “Butterfingers” by Oli Fox shook the walls. One thing I could say about Adam, his taste in state-of-the-art stereo equipment was off the hook.

Gabby grabbed Leighton’s and Wynter’s wrists, coaxing them to the makeshift dance floor. Everlee danced behind them, laughing.

“Wynter and her friends are having a good time.” Remington folded his arms, his gaze trained on the group.

I wondered how fast Gabby, Everlee, and Leighton would pack Wynter’s belongings and toss her out of their house once they’d heard the big reveal. If I gambled at all, I would have bet Remington that Wynter was back on the road to Washington by Monday morning. Imagining the horror go down, I couldn’t wait to see her drive away, defeated. Her leaving was a good enough reward for me. I squared my shoulders and stood up straight. I was about to test my acting skills with Wynter one last time.

“Good luck. Text if you need me.” I slapped Remington on the back as I descended the stairs and elbowed my way over to where I’d last seen Wynter. “Different Man” by Kane Brown and Blake Shelton drifted from the speakers as bodies gyrated.

Finally reaching Wynter, I placed my finger over my lips as Everlee and Gabby spotted me walking up behind their roomie. I snuck up to Wynter and slid my arms around her waist. Her coconut-scented shampoo tickled my nose as I pulled her to me, my cock waking up the moment the back of her pressed against me.

“Hey, beautiful. I’ve missed you,” I said against her ear.

She spun around, a huge smile on her face. “Hey.” She placed her palms on my chest and looked up at me. “I’ve missed you too.”

I leaned down and kissed her slowly, her body falling into mine as I continued. “We should dance.”

Wynter eagerly nodded and I clutched her hand, dragging her to the center of the room. A fierce and powerful beat blared through the speakers as Corvyx’s “Burn it All Down” played. Our bodies moved in perfect sync, melding against each other, and we swayed to the song. I ran my fingertips up her back, giving her my undivided attention as we kissed during the song. Her deep blue eyes met mine, and for a second, I felt torn between Remington’s warnings, Kane’s and Sutton’s words, and my plan. But when Adam had spoken of Wynter’s betrayal, a blind rage consumed me like a wildfire, blazing uncontrollably until I realized it could only be extinguished by Wynter’s tears tonight. The music shifted to a more upbeat tune as we separated, leaving me with a darkness I couldn’t shake.

My cell vibrated in my back pocket and my entire body tensed. I glanced at the grandfather clock in my living room. We were only five minutes away from showtime. Hopefully Remington wasn’t having a hiccup with the setup.

“I’ll be right back, beautiful.” I kissed Wynter, realizing it would be our last, but I was good with that.

Reaching for my phone, I excused myself to move where I could hear. Frowning at the unknown number, I answered.

“Hello?” I plugged my other ear with my finger as I made my way through the crowd and outside.

“Quinn, it’s Sutton. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

Shocked to receive a call from her so late in the day, I assured her it was as good as any and shared that we were celebrating another victory on the field.

“Congrats on the win. It sounds like you have a great team again this year.” Her tone shifted as she continued. “I’m sorry that I didn’t get to you sooner with this information, but considering the allegations, it was important to make sure our research was spot on. As it is, we have only scratched the surface, but I felt it was imperative to tell you this right away. Quinn, the letters from Kyler to Wynter aren’t real. Some of the words are original and were used to engineer the rest of the handwriting.”

I rubbed at my chest where my heart hurled itself against my ribs. The palpitations were full of shock. “Why would anyone do that?”

“In my experience, it’s because they’re usually trying to hide something, but I don’t know if that’s the case here yet. The documents that you gave me in the file are real, but the letters were fabricated. From what the specialist said, the letters were original notes from some English homework, then the rest of it was generated and spun to appear that Kyler wrote them to Wynter. Since the police report was real but incomplete it probably was done to make you think your source was trustworthy.”

I groaned. “What the hell. This is nuts.” My pulse stuttered and a wave of dread crash over me. If Adam had deceived me about the letters, then what else had he lied to me about? The rest of the information about Wynter had proven to be true, so how much of this new reality could I actually believe? With my hands shaking, I shut my eyes and tried to keep my composure as I wondered how deep this rabbit hole would go.

“Quinn, with your permission, I would like to continue this work. I have a feeling there’s a lot more to this.”

I stared out over my yard littered with people and empty cups. “Me too. Let’s find out anything else we can.” I looked around as it dawned on me what time it was. “Sutton, I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to call you later.” A sudden panic struck me in the temples, making me wince as I hurried back into the house. I had to find Remington and stop the reveal before it was too late. Fuck!

What have I done?

Chapter29

Wynter

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