Page 31 of Toxic Obsession

I never cried like that again. I wouldn’t allow myself to feel that deeply. When Bell had died, so had I.

I stretched my legs in front of me, leaned back, and wondered why hurting and scaring Wynter hadn’t given me the satisfaction I’d craved.Fuck!Kane had gotten in my damn head. Even though I was bound and determined to inflict pain on Wynter, Kane’s mistrust of Adam had stuck with me. Maybe I was in too deep and my need for revenge had clouded my judgment. I tapped my fingers against the desk, trying to clear my muddled brain. Adam wouldn’t have fabricated the police report, plus I remembered that day as if it were yesterday. The screams and crying …

From my online research, the details had been accurate and had even filled in some holes I’d been missing.

I stood, shoving my fingers through my short hair. Maybe I didn’t have the entire story, but I had most of the facts in front of me. If Kane was right, what would be the point of Adam feeding me shit?You would be able to take revenge on Wynter when he couldn’t.I shook my head, unwilling to listen to the voice tapping on my skull.

Anxiety pricked my skin as a horrible thought formed in a corner of my mind.

What if Adam was having me do his dirty work, then would use it against me and destroy my career?No fucking way. Why the hell would he do that?Adam was a fucking prick, but he wouldn’t intentionally ruin my football dreams. What would he have to gain?

“Facts,” I said to myself, mentally reviewing the file. “Wynter worked for a porn site, check. The police report matched the events, check.” I’d already Googled her address in Forest Dale, Washington, and found the rundown home with the blinds closed, the people inside hiding from the rest of the world. I could get on TikTok and Instagram and search if her sister, Janine, had an account, see what I could find out from her posts.

I located my car keys and phone. If I had to decide right now, Kane was just watching my back, which I appreciated. But something was fucking with me … everything else in the file was true.Then why had the letters from Kyler to Wynter been sealed?

I blew out a breath, pissed that I hadn’t thought this through and asked Adam more questions. Hatred for both Wynter and Adam rushed over me along with a renewed purpose to make her pay. I shook off Kane’s words and recommitted to getting revenge for Bell. At least I’d messed with Wynter’s head pretty badly when I mentioned Kyler. I hoped she was up all night, shaking and planning to run. The little bitch had it coming. I’d lost Bell because of her.

I left the society’s house and walked up the road to where we members hid our cars when we had the chicks around.

A laugh escaped me as I climbed into my Mercedes. I’d fucking hit gold when I’d found additional letters between the file pages from Kyler to Wynter. I’d read the first two, then made copies before I had to go to football practice. Wynter had only seen the first one, and I wanted to send more, but the timing had to be right. I wished like hell I’d been a fly on the wall and watched her as she realized who the letter was from.

As I started to drive home, a thought hit me. Where had Adam gotten all the information on Wynter? Some of it was public, but not the website, and certainly not the notes from Kyler. Hell, I wasn’t even sure a top-notch PI couldn’t have managed that. I massaged the back of my neck, trying to figure out what I was missing.

I white-knuckled the steering wheel, my thoughts whirling faster than a tornado on a warm spring day. Something was wrong.

“Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!” I yelled. I hated the fact that I was questioning Adam. He was my father for Christ’s sake, but even if I had wanted him to act like one, he never had. I reminded myself that nothing had changed. But once Kane planted a seed of doubt in my mind, I couldn’t seem to dig it up and throw it away.

Glancing at the car’s clock, I realized that Adam would most likely be asleep, which might be exactly what I needed.

I sped up, eager to get there.

* * *

Silence filled the house as I slipped in through the kitchen door. The light over the stove was on, and I crept through the room, searching for Adam, but he wasn’t there. I hurried to the other side to make sure Brody was asleep. Since he was a teenager, he kept some odd hours. I didn’t need him to look over my shoulder and ask a million questions that I didn’t have answers to.

After checking in on Brody, who was sprawled out on his bed and snoring softly, I backed out and into the hallway. Then I headed to my room as I remembered that I needed some help with my mission.

Quietly hurrying back down the stairs, I rushed to Adam’s room. He normally kept his bedroom door locked, so I wasn’t positive he was asleep, but it would have to work. To the best of my knowledge, Adam was tucked away for the night.

A few minutes later, my pulse kicked up a notch as I reached his office. I tested the handle, but it was locked. Retrieving the lockpicks I’d grabbed from my nightstand, I started to work my magic. There was rarely a lock I couldn’t open.

A soft click told me I was successful, and I snuck in. Afraid to turn the overhead light on, I shoved the tool into my back pocket and peered through the darkness. If anyone saw the way I waved my hands in front of me, they’d probably laugh their asses off. Finally locating the floor lamp, I turned it on and blinked a few times as I adjusted.

I glanced around the room, then spotted his laptop on his desk. “Bingo.” Once I settled into the chair, I opened Adam’s MacBook. The message for his password or fingerprint flickered to life, and I typed in Bell’s and my birthdate along with our last name. His desktop appeared, and I stifled a laugh. The bastard hadn’t changed his password in years.

“Let’s see what you’ve got, old man.”

I searched his folders until I found the one for Wynter. Hesitating briefly, I swallowed, my throat dry and my heart pounding in my ears. Years of Adam conditioning me to be afraid of him jumped to the front and center of my being. “Don’t be a pussy. What are you scared of?” I muttered to myself.

I clicked the mouse, my attention landing on the documents that Adam had printed off and given me. He also had the porn website bookmarked. The thought of him jerking off to pictures of Wynter infuriated me.

“How many times have you visited that site, Adam?”

A sick excitement sprang to life inside my gut. If I had the ability to take Adam down for possession of porn with underaged girls, then that proof would protect me from whatever shit he had in mind.

If he’s planning anything at all.

Next, I checked Adam’s search history, expecting it to be cleared out, but I was in luck. Multiple websites popped up, and I started clicking on each of them. Not only were there several with Wynter, but the rest of them were all underaged sites.

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