Page 53 of Vicious Seduction

I wasn’t sure of the exact moment my trajectory had shifted. My endgame was still the same, but I’d taken a detour along the way.

A shift in motivation was bad enough, the last thing I needed was to be upset about her perspective on the matter. Her feelings should have been irrelevant. Instead, I’d spent hours trying to talk myself down from the ledge. Commanding the wind would have been easier than reigning in my emotions. The past six months of grief and anger and betrayal had festered down deep where I’d banished them and were now threatening to consume me. And the one thing I shouldn’t have cared about was going to be the tiny puff of air that tipped me over the cliff’s edge.

Lina.

I wanted her to see me as more than her tormentor. I wanted her to acknowledge that buzzing intensity that electrified the air when we were together. Acknowledge the way her body listed toward mine of its own accord. I wanted her to want me, and that pissed me off more than anything. I didn’t want to want anyone, let alone someone secretive by nature. What the fuck was wrong with me?

I poured myself two fingers of whiskey in my office and sat in my chair, eyes drifting to the skyline of twinkling city lights out the wall of windows. When I realized I’d left my trashcan outside, I went to retrieve it only to find the balcony door unlocked. I was rarely absentminded and had even been accused of being overly meticulous when it came to my habits, so I was confident that I’d locked the door the nightbefore as always. I didn’t care how high up we were, I locked every fucking door and window.

I peered back at my office over my shoulder and knew with a certainty that Lina had been snooping. It wasn’t a shock. I’d expected it, but for some reason, I’d hoped that she wouldn’t because what was the point? What had she hoped to achieve?

I sat back at my desk and opened the drawers, studying the contents with a critical eye. I wasn’t worried she’d seen something she shouldn’t have. I hadn’t left anything incriminating accessible. I wanted to know if she’d just looked at the view from my balcony or if she’d truly been hunting through my things.

Using my phone flashlight, I looked for fingerprint smudges on the glossy console drawers. I hadn’t opened them in weeks. The cleaners had been to my place multiple times since then and were exceptional about wiping off all prints from the modern lacquered finishes.

Smudges dotted every damn drawer.

A chilling savagery washed over me.

She wanted to think me a monster, then I’d show her how uncivilized I could be. I locked the balcony door and turned off the office lights then stalked quietly to the guest room.

I flung open her door, pissed that it was closed. She was sleeping so soundly that she didn’t stir. I crossed to where I could see her face peeking out from beneath the covers. She was on her side with her hands up under her cheek as though she’d come straight from heaven. That only made me angrier. It wasn’t right that someone so damn infuriating could appear so harmless and tempting.

Time to wake up, little angel, and answer for your sins.

As if she’d heard me, her eyes fly open an instant before I tossed the covers onto the floor.

“Oran? What’s going on?” She sounded as innocent as she looked, and I want to shake her until the truth fell out of her.

“Why the fuck would you need to go through my office?”

“Huh?” She was groggy but coming around quickly, scooting to the end of the bed and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Your stuff? You practically kidnapped me, and you’re surprised I went through your things?”

I couldn’t help myself. I wanted her to see sense so fucking badly. My hand clasped around her throat, bringing her to her feet. She could breathe, I made sure of it, but her eyes were wide with worry. Good. I wanted to shred away her bravado and dig down to the truth. To the real Lina.

“What exactly is it about my actions that you find so offensive? The fact that I interrupted your geriatric dating strategy? Maybe the way I insisted you stay away from your toxic fucking parents? Or maybe it was moving you off a goddamn futon bed and into a luxury apartment that you find so appalling.”

“You had me framed for drug possession with enough drugs to qualify for intent to distribute, and you think I shouldn’t be wary of you?”

“Only because you wouldn’t fucking walk away from him.” I let go before my anger got the better of me and ran my aching hand through my hair.

“You ever think that maybe I had my reasons?”

“Trust me, I’d love to hear all about them,” I roared back at her.

“I’m sure you would, just like I’d love to know why the hell we’re in this fucked up arrangement to begin with.”

I slowly turned and leveled her with a scathing glare. “Would it be so fucking hard to believe that I was doing it for you?”

“I’m supposed to assume everything you do is for me?What about the blood-stained shirt you burned—was that for me?” She got in my face, thinking she’d pulled out the ace that would trump any argument I could possibly make. “Until I get some answers, I have no reason to believe you’re looking out for anyone but yourself.”

She wanted brutal honesty, she’d get it.

I took out my phone and did a quick search, handing her the device displaying the results—multiple articles dated from earlier in the day.

California tech company reeling after tragic loss of CEO.

Even in the dimly lit room, I could see the color drain from her face as she scrolled down and saw the smiling photo of Ron Gaetz.

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