AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Gladly. Just tell me why my parents’ murderer wrote your name on the box. And I’ll be on my way.” Mentally, I applaud myself for keeping my voice steady despite the verbal slap he has given me. “Why does he—”
“I’ll handle it. That’s all you need to know. Focus on your life. Or better yet…pack up your things and go back to New York. You don’t belong in Chicago.”
Gathering all my stubbornness and resolve I’ve mastered over the years, I seep strength from it and do what I always do when someone rejects or hurts me.
Retaliate.
“Last time I checked, you have no authority when it comes to my life.” He grits his teeth, and the muscle on his cheek twitches. “I’ll find out how you are connected to him one way or the other. I won’t rest until I catch him,” I warn Octavius because so help me God, if he tries to protect this monster or somehow knows him…I won’t spare him either.
Whoever plays on the monster’s side is rotten from the inside out and deserves no mercy, for there is no explanation when it comes to his crimes.
“You intend to play a game you have no idea how to play.” He goes to his desk, his fingers hovering over the intercom. “Get out, Isla.”
“Just tell me, and I’ll never bother you again. You’re my only lead, Octavius.”
“I have no idea why someone wrote my name on that box, but the murderer you’re trying to find was declared dead long ago. Murderers like him do not change. They seek to kill people for as long as they can. Whoever sent that box to you just wants to fuck with your head. I’ll get to the bottom of this because I don’t appreciate anyone smearing my name in dirt.”
What a bunch of crap! If he thinks I believe a word he says right now, he has another think coming! “I’m not a fool, Octavius. I was a police officer. Serial killers can go quiet for decades and then resurrect again.”
“You’re too emotional to see the truth. Maybe if you’d learned to channel your grief into something else, your life wouldn’t be as miserable and pathetic as it is now.”
We keep staring at one another, the battle of wills between us, and I hiss, “I won’t go anywhere until I find the truth, with or without your help. But mark my words…if you have anything to do with it, I’ll put you behind bars.”
I inwardly prepare for another blow when a smirk shapes his mouth, and coldness replaces the blazing fire in his dark eyes. “I have absolute power in this city, and you have none. Are you sure you want to throw threats my way, Isla? I can and will make your life unbearable here. Even the hardest structure can be broken with the right force.”
Taking a deep breath, I rub my forehead because I'm lost at this moment. I just almost kissed the guy when he uttered all these words. Now, he seems miles away and so intimidating I have no doubt he will make me pay for disobeying his orders.
Then again, I’ve lived in hell these past thirteen years, so how bad can it really be at this point?
“I don’t scare easily.” I snatch my necklace from the table and without sparing him a final glance, get the hell out while Octavius’s threat plays in my head over and over again.
I should have known better.
When will I learn?
Octavius
The minute the doors close behind her, I press on the intercom and order Todd, “See Miss Evans out.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And, Todd? She’s no longer welcome in the building. If she steps foot inside, it’s your head and job on the line.” I end the call before he can say anything else. I lean back in my chair, closing my eyes and inhaling her flowery scent into my lungs, my fists clenching as every hunting instinct urges me to follow her and trap her in my hell away from all the prying eyes.
Where no one would judge us.
Where no one tries to save her.
Where I’ll have the freedom to make her mine.
So every man on this planet knowns that she belongs to me. Jealousy flares through me just thinking about them looking or admiring her, or worse…believing they have a shot with her.
Isla might never wear my ring, for I’ve given an oath I intend to keep till my last breath, but she’s mine nevertheless.
If I can’t have her, no one else gets to, and I don’t give a fuck how insane or psychotic it sounds. I’ve never claimed to be a saint.
Wanting her to the point of insanity is one of my countless vices, yet it’s the only one with the power to shake me and destroy my carefully built control over the years that allowed me to contain the monsters within me.
Because when we have no boundaries, emotions rule, and I’ve never had such privileges as emotions mean vulnerabilities.
