Page 200 of Only Be Mine

He stood over me, breathing hard through his nose, hands flexing at his sides like he was trying to keep them steady.

“You took her,” he said.

The words didn’t make sense at first.

“What?”

“She said she loved me first.” His voice rose slightly. Not shouting. Worse - offended. “Before you.”

“That was a mistake,” I said quickly. “You know that. She told you that.”

His eyes darkened.

“She was confused.”

“No,” I said. “She wasn’t.”

Another flash of lightning lit the room. For a split second, I saw something in his expression I’d never noticed before.

Not anger.

Possession.

A phone started ringing.

The sound was sharp in the quiet house, echoing off the walls.

My pulse spiked.

Cate.

The ringing cut off with a click as he lifted the phone from his pocket and answered casually, like it was nothing more than an interruption.

“Yeah.”

Silence.

“What do you mean, missing?”

My stomach dropped.

They were talking about me.

“She didn’t call me,” he continued smoothly. “No, I haven’t seen him.”

I sucked in a breath and shouted.

“Help! I’m down here…”

His hand clamped over my mouth before I finished. Something rough was shoved between my teeth. Tape tore loudly and sealed it in place.

I thrashed. The chair rocked.

He stepped back just as I tipped backward and crashed to the floor.

Pain shot up my spine.

I kept rocking. If I could break the chair…