Page 98 of Illicit Obsession

A familiar, beautiful woman entered the room, smiling warmly at us. Her blue eyes sparkled, and not a single blonde hair was out of place. “Hey, bestie.” She hugged Samantha, then sat next to her. “It seems I’ve missed some fun.” She gave me a little wave. “My, haven’t you turned out to be a gorgeous girl since I saw you last. It was a shame our time together couldn’t have been longer.” Crimson joined us at the table.

An onslaught of memories of those three days with her bombarded me, making me feel sick.

The ladies laughed while I stared wide-eyed at them.

“Kelly, or as you call her, Crimson is my best friend.” Samantha leaned her head against her friend’s. “It was easy enough to fool you all. Whenever I needed to manage the business, I told everyone I had to take care of my elderly aunt for a few days. Theo never questioned me.”

My stomach dipped hard and gave me a firm fuck you on its way down to my toes. My attention bounced back and forth between them. “Does Jagger know that you’re behind Joe putting him through hell?”

“Before I gave him the memory blocker, yes. I met with Joe and Jagger saw me and started to ask questions. It was a touch and go situation at first. For whatever strange reason, the memory blocker worked on Jagger later, but not when he caught Joe and me in bed along with our conversation. Then, we found the right dosage and the drug finally worked on him. My son is our first success.”

Kelly clapped her hands together and squealed. “This means that when we befriend a family, we can slip them the drug, spend time feeding them false memories, and not worry about them identifying us. We’ll never serve time in prison.”

My mouth gaped open. “What the actual fuck?” I muttered. “If you’re the boss, Samantha, then who is the mastermind behind the entire crime ring?”

Samantha feigned innocence. “It wasn’t Joe, that’s for damn sure.”

The ladies’ laughter sliced through my chest as white-hot rage blazed to life inside me.

Samantha squared her shoulders, pride rolling off her. “Joe and I are partners, but I call most of the shots.”

“So Jagger and I were pawns to move you along in your twisted game of chess?”

“You and Jagger weren’t just pawns. You were the best choices we could have made.” Samantha winked at me. “Look at you, Ari. You’re all grown up, beautiful, and smart. You’ll attract the girls and guys alike.”

I slammed my fist on the table. “I willnothelp you!”

Samantha shot me a dirty look as she reached inside her pocket and removed something similar to a key fob. “Psycho is babysitting Jagger. If I punch this button, his orders are to kill him. I suggest that you rein in that nasty temper of yours right now or you will have Jagger’s death on your conscience . . . for real this time.”

“Looks like you might need this as well.” Crimson removed her gun from the back of her pants and slid it across the table to Samantha.

Checkmate!

ChapterForty-Seven

Jagger

Ipaced the small area, swearing at the top of my lungs. It had been hours since Ari and I had been recaptured and Samantha left my room. Every time I referred to her as my mom, it made me sick in every sense of the word.

After running multiple scenarios through my head of how to break the fuck out of here again, defeat won out. I’d searched the door, but there was no way to open it from the inside without a key.

I had no idea how long Ari and I’d been missing, but surely someone was looking for us by now: my teammates at the society, Teagan and Ari’s friends. Maybe Theo couldn’t get in touch with Ari and he’d called the cops and sent a search party. Unfortunately, we’d lied to everyone about where we were.

Exhausted, I sank into one of the chairs and laid my head on the table. Images of Ari’s smiling face eased my anxiety a little bit. I promised her a proposal if we got out of here, and for just a few minutes, I allowed my thoughts to wander in that direction. Maybe my subconscious would work a plan while I thought about the only girl I’d ever loved.

A gunshot jerked me up straight and I ran to the wall. I banged my fists on it as another shot was fired. “Ari! Ari!” I choked on my tears as additional shots rang out, my mind playing dirty tricks on me that Ari was lying on the floor bleeding out. I had to fucking get out of here. “Ari!” I pounded and screamed at the top of my lungs for what seemed like an hour before I heard the lock click. Stepping back, I raised my hands to protect myself. I didn’t have a clue of what was happening in the hall or who was about to walk in.

The door flung open, revealing Samantha and another lady. Ariana was right behind them with a gun trained on them.

“Move. Now!” she ordered.

“Jagger, check Kelly to see if she’s armed.”

As I was too astonished to move, Ari had to repeat herself. Yells and another shot fired off, pulling me out of my fog.

“Kelly?”

“Jagger, search her. She’s your mother’s best friend, also known as Crimson. I’ll explain later.”

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