Page 31 of Villainous Intent

The blood drained from my face and the room spun.

I’ve read your comment history, Annie. Specifically the thread about what you’d let Cipher do to you if he caught you.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. I was flayed open, my darkest, filthiest secrets laid out on a screen.

Stop

You want me to stop?

Please

Strange. That’s not what you said on the forums. You said you wanted me to, what was the phrase? “Ruin you so thoroughly you’d never be able to go back to a normal life.”

I sank onto the edge of the bed, shaking. He knew. He knew everything.

Your browser history is very educational, Annie.

Delete it. Delete whatever you have on my computer right now.

I stared at the screen. He knew everything. Every late-night scroll, every saved photo, every goddamn fan fiction I’d bookmarked in the darkest hours of the night.

No.

You have no right

I have every right. You gave it to me the moment you typed my name into that search bar.

DELETE. IT.

I can’t do that, Annie.

Why not?

Because it’s a map

I stared at the words, confusion warring with dread.

A map to what?

To you. To the things you want but won’t ask for.

I just stared at the screen, unsure of what to say.

If we’re going to do this, if you’re going to be mine, even for a little while, I need to know exactly where your lines are.

So I can cross them.

A wave of warmth spread across my body. My brain supplied unhelpful, high-definition images of exactly what “crossing the line” might look like with him.

We are PRETENDING. As in not real. As in for show

I don’t pretend, Annie. And judging by your reading list, neither do you.

You are sick

And you’re obsessed. We’re a perfect match.

I wanted to throw the phone out the window and run away, but I was rooted to the spot, captivated by the disaster unfolding in my hand.