Page 20 of Cruel Possession

And then footsteps pound behind me, and I know I’m out of time to get away.

Arms wrap around my stomach, and I’m tackled to the ground.

Aiden’s cologne surrounds me, flooding my senses as he slams me into the ground before rolling me over and getting on top of me.

I slam my head into his nose.

He falters for a moment, groaning, one hand raising to his head.

He makes another strangled noise in the back of his throat, rubbing the spot I hit.

I hope it hurts like a bitch for days.

Aiden glowers down at me. “This would be a lot less painful for both of us if you’d just cooperate.”

The metallic tang of blood fills my mouth. “There’s no point to whatever the hell it is you’re doing. Just kill me already and be done with it.”

“I could. Since we are married now, I’d inherit everything you own.”

Fuck, he’s right. I bet the boss would shit a brick at that.

“But why would I do that when we can enjoy some time together and there’s information you could give me?”

Enjoy some time together? Is he nuts?

I scoff.

His hand wraps around my throat, putting pressure on the sides.

It’s not the same kind of grip he has when we’re hooking up. This one is stronger. It’s the kind that lets me know that it would take nothing for him to crush my throat.

He leans closer to me, turning to the side slightly to spit the blood pooling in his mouth. “I was going to play nice before.”

“You’ve never been a liar.” I look up at him, breathing getting a little harder as he increases the pressure. “I don’t know why you’re going to start now.”

Aiden smirks, something dark and dangerous lurking in his eyes. “I want information from you. After all, you’re the one in charge of the Rinaldos right now. Which means that you know everything that’s coming down the line.”

You don’t know the half of it.

I press my lips into a thin line.

He scowls, his thumb dragging my bottom lip down. “You should learn to start talking quickly. I’m not a patient man.”

I thrash beneath him as soon as the pressure on my throat tightens.

With a sigh, he moves his hands to either side of my face, hitting my head against the ground.

My vision goes fuzzy at the edges, a dark tunnel appearing, shrinking, making it harder to see straight.

There are two Aidens hovering over me and neither of them looks willing to let me go.

Not when another man steps out of the woods, his smile sinister.

And just as Aiden pulls me to my feet, the other man showing off a length of rope, my world goes black.

“You didn’t haveto faint to get my attention.” Aiden’s voice is coming to me from the other end of an impossibly long tunnel sunk deep under the ocean.

Though my entire body feels heavy, there’s also something digging into my ankle.