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“Let me go,” I begged, even though it was the last thing I wanted. “You’re the one who came here!”
“I told you I’d be keeping an eye on you,” he growled in response. “Now I know who your parents are, where they live. One wrong move from you, and I’ll punish you by hurting them.”
“You wouldn’t,” I gasped, knowing full well that he would. “Please. Let me go. I can’t breathe!”
His hand moved off my throat, and I gasped for air. Right away, the loss of his hand around my throat made me feel broken, needing his touch yet again, but I wasn’t about to admit it. Instead, I stared into his eyes with a fire burning in my own.
“Why did you come here?” I asked him.
“I told you,” he said simply, cracking his knuckles in a way that sent goosebumps all over my skin. “I need to keep an eye on you. Why are you following me?”
I thought about my secret phone calls with Pia. I thought about everything I had learned. Now was the time to finally come clean. Now was the time to show him I could be so much better than her… better than Harlow.
“I know what you did,” I told him softly. “I know you took her.”
A faint hint of surprise crossed his face then he laughed openly at me.
“You know jack shit, girl,” he finally said, his eyes dangerous as they connected with mine.
“I don’t care,” I was quick to go on. “I don’t care that you took Harlow, or Amber.”
“So why bring it up?” he asked with a curious look in his eyes.
“I want you…” I stopped, pausing for effect and because I was too nervous to go on. My voice was shaky and scared, but I was desperate to tell him. “I want you to take me, too.”
“Take you?” he asked, coming closer to stare at me. His eyes evaluated me, from my hair to my face then down my body. “Why would I take you?” he asked, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.
“I…” My words drifted off into nothing. “I want you to take me like you did them…”
“And what happens to them in this imaginary world of yours?” he asked, mocking me openly. I wasn’t about to back down. He didn’t know about my conversations with Pia. He didn’t know how much I actually found out already. And how badly I wanted for him to choose me over the other two girls.
“They’re…” I whispered, my eyes drifting away and coming back to his to stare openly. “They’re yours.”
“You want to be mine?” he asked. Now, he wasn’t mocking me. His tone was soft, almost like he felt a little sorry for me. “You don’t, Carina. You have no idea what kind of man I am.”
I grabbed his hand, and he snatched it away from me, leaving me feeling useless and more scared than ever as I stared at him with desperate eyes.
“Take me with you,” I told him again. “Let me be yours. Whatever you want. Take me away from this life. I don’t want it. I want you. I want to take Harlow’s place.”
He stared at me, a spark coming to life inside him, as if he’d just realized I knew more than I was letting on.
“I’m keeping an eye on you,” he finally told me. “But you need to stay away from me, girl. For your own fucking good.”
“Please,” I choked out. “I’ll do anything you want.”
He shook his head and rubbed his eyes warily.
“You have no idea what you want, Carina,” he finally managed. “Go back to your parents. Go back to your life. Be grateful for what you have. Be grateful you’re free.”
With those words, he pulled himself out of the situation and walked away from me, leaving me more alone than ever.
“Wait!” I cried out after him, but he didn’t turn to look back at me, only kept on walking. And not for the first time, he took a piece of my heart with him, tearing a chunk right out of my chest and leaving me alone, just like he had so many times before.
But now, it only served to make me more determined. I knew what I wanted, and I knew I was going to get it. I was going to follow him to the end of the world if I had to. I was going to make him take me if it was the last thing I fucking did.
Chapter 10
Rose
Thorn had been away for days.
He hadn’t told me where he was going, just that he would be away for a while. After the bomb he’d dropped on me before he left, I felt upset and alone to lose him again, but there was no arguing with Thorn; nothing I could have done to change things. So I needed to keep my mouth shut and work on getting out of the Mansion.
