Page 95 of Illicit Obsession

“I’m sure it will sink in over time. You deserve the truth.” The corner of her pink-painted mouth twitched.

“Which means you’re going to kill me or force me to work for you again.” Not feeling sick to my stomach or drowsy, I took another bite of my sandwich and slowly chewed as I stared a thousand holes into her. Hatred rolled to a boil, consuming me.

“No one will die . . . today. I’m here to welcome you back into the fold. With those beautiful blue eyes, dark hair, and gorgeous body, you’ll bring more girls for us to sell than we could possibly manage. We’ll need to hire more help. When I gave birth to you, I had no clue that you would be the best investment I ever made.”

I scoffed at her. “How do you live with yourself? You’re selling children, Mother. Children!” Cold, hard fury brewed in the pit of my stomach, and I itched with the urge to hit her. Never in my life had I wanted to lay hands on a woman, but she wasn’t a woman. She was a fucking monster. All bets were off. My fingernails dug into my palms and I stood slowly.

“Just in case you get any big ideas in your thick skull, Psycho is holding Ariana at gunpoint.” She reached into her slacks pocket. “If I push this button, he pulls the trigger.”

A burst of panic strangled my throat. I mentally kicked myself for ever involving Ari in my life. I was toxic, a monster just like my parents, and I hated myself for it. Whatever was left of my heart shattered as the realization hit me like fucking hurricane, stealing my breath.

“That’s why you want Ari. To control me.”

“She’s the only person that you’ve ever loved. Not me. Not your father. You like your friends, but Ariana is your person.” Mom stood and smoothed her blue blouse. “Now, Ariana ismyperson.” With that, she walked out of the room and left me with my dark thoughts.

ChapterForty-Five

Ariana

“Where is Jagger?” I asked, my chin shaking with anger and fear. Jagger and I had almost escaped until Psycho’s goons appeared out of nowhere.

“Jagger is having quality time with his mother,” Psycho said around the toothpick dangling from his mouth. He propped his feet on the table and folded his arms over his chest.

After we were caught, Psycho tossed me into the room like a sack of flour. I cried out as my knees connected with the cement floor. It took me a few minutes to pull myself up into the chair. The sharp pain was horrendous, but I could bend my legs, which told me I had no broken bones. Running at this point wasn’t going to happen, so hopefully, in a few days, I would return to normal.

Psycho’s gaze narrowed on me. “You really don’t remember, do you? At first, I thought it was all an act, but now I ain’t so sure.”

I rubbed my forehead, confused. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

He snorted. “Just proves my point. You don’t remember meeting me after the fire?”

“I’ve never seen you. Even if your face hadn’t burned, you wouldn’t look familiar.” His comment unsettled me, something strange stirring in my chest, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. “Did I meet you when Jag was young? Honestly, he never talked about you, and neither did Samantha. Now that I think about it, I never even saw a picture of you.” I smirked. “Sounds like your kid thought you were the real father of the year.” Samantha’s words bounced around in my head as soon as I said that. I wasn’t sure if she was fucking with me about Dad’s job not being legit or if there was truth to her statement. At this point, nothing would surprise me. For all I knew, Theo was mentally unstable and Samantha’s partner in crime.

“The first time I saw you was right after Crimson snatched you.”

Shock waves rippled through me, and I licked my dry lips. “I don’t remember. I’m sure the trauma messed with my head and I’ve blanked out parts of what happened.”

Psycho scratched his chin, the stubble whispering beneath his fingertips. “I suppose so.”

“I remember Crimson.” My palms slickened with sweat, and I rubbed them on my jeans.

“She’s hard to forget,” he grumbled.

Even though Psycho’s nickname definitely fit him, I’d just realized evenhehad a weak spot.

“Why do you let Samantha talk to you that way? It’s demeaning. According to Jagger, you run the fucking business. What’s the deal? I figured a tough guy like you wouldn’t allow a bitch to order you around.” I drummed my fingers against my leg, wondering if there was any way to turn him against Samantha.

He answered me with his silence. Then it hit me. I leaned forward and propped my elbow on the table. “Oh hell, you’ve got it bad for her. Does she know?”

“Shut the fuck up, you have no clue what you’re talking about.”

Grinning, I crossed my legs. “I think I do. You’re in love with her and would rather she treat you like shit than not have her in your life.” I was grasping at straws, but my intuition rarely led me down the wrong path. If I’d listened to it concerning Peter, I wouldn’t have landed in hot water with him. But desperation breeds desperate choices, and I couldn’t pull myself out of my depression and grief when I thought I’d killed Jagger. God, I hoped he was okay.

“It sucks when the other person doesn’t love you back,” I whispered, ensuring my tone was compassionate. “I felt like that about Jagger for a long time.”

He snorted. “You’re a kid. What do you know about relationships?”

I held my hand up in surrender. “Hey, I just want to help. I think if she knew how you felt, maybe she would look at you as an equal in the business. It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”

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