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Before I could get a word in, his mask of indifference slipped back into place, and he delivered his next conundrum in his usual tone. “Do you understand now? I’m maddeningly fucking obsessed with you.”
I swallowed and sank further into my seat. The car wasn’t big enough for him to make that kind of declaration. I couldn’t turn away or retreat to think.
This wasn’t fair of him but when had he ever reasonably done anything? Judas was reckless in a way that always seemed calculating and intentional while I was simply reckless. He followed logic and I fought not to be ruled by emotion.
“Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“I don’t…no…”
He laughed lowly. “You know what it feels like because you’re obsessed with me too, principessa.”
I could’ve rebuffed that but what would be the point?
It would lead to a moot and senseless argument at best. He wasn’t wrong. Judas lured me in and captivated me like no one else ever had or could. He knew my dirtiest, darkest secrets and never made me feel ashamed of my desires. He knew my greatest weaknesses too. Using both against me did nothing to his conscious and that was one of our many issues.
By the time he pulled across the street from my house I was more than ready to put some much-needed space distance between us, the kind he couldn’t shorten in a matter of seconds.
Mom’s car was parked at the top of our long driveway while Dad’s was nowhere to be seen. My Kia remained where it’d been unjustly decommissioned.
Being back here didn’t alleviate my nerves, if anything they grew worse. It almost felt like somewhere I didn’t belong.
I hadn’t seen my parents since being told they had a penchant for rounding up girls and doing the unthinkable with them. How did one bring this up? Did I walk in and blurt out, Hey, I heard you guys were into some fucked up shit. Wanna talk about it?
Somehow that didn’t seem like the best course of action. Mom had been acting weird enough as it was. I reached for my bag unsure how to say goodbye to him. He put a hand on my arm and silently called for my attention. I looked over, the rhythm of my heart falling into an erratic tempo when our eyes met.
“I won’t hurt her. As long as you do whatever I ask or tell you to, she’s safe.”
“You didn’t have to involve her at all. I wasn’t ever going to go to the police.”
“This isn’t about that.”
“Then tell me why you did it,” I demanded.
“There’s no point. I’m not going to apologize or change my mind.”
“I never asked or expected you to do such an absurd thing,” I deadpanned sarcastically.
He lifted his hand from my arm and cupped the side of my face with a gentleness that was hard not to lean into. “We’ve only got a few months, bella.”
My brow furrowed. “A few months? What are you talking about?”
“As soon as some paperwork is finalized, we’re going home.”
All my anger vanished, rushing away like the air that whizzed out of a popped balloon. I placed my hand over his and leaned away. “You’re leaving?”
That couldn’t be true. I had to of misheard him.
Judas and I were a chaotic mess on a road of savagery and ruin. It’d been that way since the beginning.
Maybe I was a fool for keeping the all-consuming blaze between us fueled. For him, I chose to willingly walk a line that could lead to who knows where.
The very idea of stepping off that path and never seeing him again… caused something within me to twist and ache. The torment began in my chest and traveled to the tips of my fingers as nausea curdled in my gut.
Judas swiftly stopped the runaway train carrying my despairing thoughts as soon as he realized how I’d taken his news. He all but growled when he flipped his hand around and grasped mine, causing me to wince.
“I would love to see exactly what goes through your fucking head, Rhiannon. These illusions of yours are as fascinating as they are fucking irritating. Do you honestly think I would go without you?”
“Yes! You can’t take me with you.”
“If I wasn’t planning on doing that, I would have never brought it up. I’d simply be here one day and gone the next.”
I ripped my hand away from his, smothering a grimace. A tumultuous discord of emotions continued to ricochet inside my head and chest.
“And where exactly are we going to go?”
“Home.”
“My house is right there.” I jabbed my pointer finger at the farmhouse.
“That shitty shack shouldn’t even be standing.”
I laughed incredulously. “Not everyone is rolling in cash and luxury. My parents did the best they could.”
“I don’t give a fuck about any of that. Your life should be more than it is. Either you come with me, or Audrey gets the same treatment Dax did.”
