Page 17 of The Secrets That Kill

“Like you helping me get into that party, that club. I can’t buy that particular power. Pretty pussy power.”

I want to say he disgusts me, but the heat generated by his heavy stare makes that pretty pussy power throb right up under my clit.

As I struggle to breathe, he takes a sip of his drink, the epitome of effortless cool, dangerous power.

Darkest desires.

Mercer sets his drink down with a small click on the table. I let out an unsteady breath.

“This is also personal.” He stares at the glass. “Remember Ruby?”

I recoil, my brows furrowing. That’s a completely out-of-left-field question about the past. It should hit me like a cold shower spray because Mercer doesn’t chat or exchange pleasantries. He commands. Orders. Lays things out. Unravels. Guides. And all of that has a strangely arousing effect that I can’t seem to break free of.

Like a spell.

Like there’s a secret language I didn’t know I spoke, and he’s the only other person who speaks it, too.

“Jaxson’s girlfriend?” I nod. “I do.”

Ruby appeared on the scene the same time Mercer had. And stupid, young me with my stupid crush thought that Ruby, an impossibly beautiful and cool girl, had been into Mercer. Like I’d been. But she and Jax became a thing instead.

“She wasmygirl. Jaxson stole Ruby from ne.”

A hot knife slices into me at his caustic tone. It’s irrational, that envy, but it’s there. He says Ruby in a way he’d never said Ivy back in the day. Or Pollyanna, for that matter. And that same warm affection is lacking when he says my name now.

He looks at me, shakes his head. “Ruby…now there was a girl.” The warmth vanishes. “She went missing when I was in jail. So I never knew what happened to her. Until now.”

That familiar rush of guilt immediately joins the jealousy party.

“W-what happened?”

“The man who owns Broken Angel caught her in his web and killed her. She’s dead. Long dead. And that’s why I’m going to bring him and all his businesses down, end his trade in girls. With your help.”

“So going with you to some parties at these twisted places is how you’re going to crush him?” I shake my head. “It even sounds ridiculous when I say it.”

Mercer smiles. It’s bitter, twisted, cold. “This man’s tastes have been honed over the years. He wants innocent girls, or those who look innocent and untouched. Those who can be bent. The most submissive.”

He doesn’t say it, but the words whisper in the air.

Like me.

He means like me.

“This man also wants what isn’t his.”

I swallow hard as the meaning becomes so clear it hurts. My clit thrums. I press my thighs together.

Damn her.

“I’m not yours.”

The smile gets darker.

“This isn’t just play acting, it has to be real, Ivy. With me.”

He slides in farther. The lion ready to pounce.

Only I don’t think he pounces. He’s too lithe and sleek, and he has all the time in the world to demolish his prey.

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