Page 32 of Cruel Possession

I pull back to look at her, the very edges of my vision blurring. “I love you, Gia, and if you ever need anything, you know where to find me. You can even bring your husband, and I promise not to kill him.”

She laughs and wipes the tears running down her cheeks. “You need to get out of here. It’s been too long already.”

“How long?”

“A week and a half, give or take a day. I’m not sure when he brought you in, but I do know when I found out that you were here.”

A small well of annoyance bubbles up. “And you left me down here this long?”

“Well, I do have my reasons to be pissed off with you.” She gives me a wry smile. “That doesn’t mean I want you to die, though, so you better hurry up and get out of here. Someone is going to come looking once they realize the cameras are off.”

“How do I get out of here?”

“Up the stairs and to the right, down the hall, take a left, and then you’re going to be on the main floor. You should be able to find your way out from there.”

With a nod, I make sure my hood covers my face before heading out of the cell. I take the stairs two at a time, following the directions she gave me.

As I stride outside, I do my best to appear casual, hands stuffed in my pockets. I keep my head down and just like Gia said, nobody looks my way twice. It’s like they don’t even know that I’m here.

Aiden has a thing or two to learn about security on his property.

I look down at the ground, walking down the driveway and toward the road. Walking along at the pace of a person who isn’t worried about getting caught is hard. It’s been a long time since I had to blend in with the others around me.

And yet, as I hit the road, I know that I’ve done it.

Except, there’s a feeling sitting deep in my chest. One that rips into me, tearing me to pieces, making me spin head over heels.

When I get back home, I’m going to have to answer to the boss. Whatever I’m put through back home is going to be worse than anything Aiden could ever do to me. They’re going to torture me—actual torture, not whatever the hell that was back there—and I’m going to be lucky if I make it out alive.

I take a deep breath, slowing as the house fades into the background.

Going back home is going to be a hell I don’t know I want to face.

I’m tired of being the pawn.

I should go back for Gia and Bianca.

The three of us could leave together. We could turn our backs on this. Build our own organization in another country. We could use some of the connections I have to build from the ground up, and we would have her paintings to sell.

Life would be easier if we were doing our own thing.

I’ll get her and Bianca, and then we’ll figure the rest out together.

After taking a deep breath and trying to convince myself that finding her is a better idea than slaughtering everyone in that house, I make my way back. I keep my head down, the walk up the driveway silent. None of the guards so much as glance my way.

I can get us all out of the country before shit hits the fan.

At least, I can if I can find them in this massive house.

I walk through the front door, ducking into one of the rooms to the side and peeking through the crack in the door as Ellie and Sean walk by, both of them not saying a word to each other, theirbodies tense. Looks like there’s some sort of trouble in paradise, but I’m willing to bet that Aiden is at the center of it.

Though I may not have known much about what was going on when I was in the cell, I did hear the guards gossiping with each other more than once.

The family is at odds with each other, and Aiden is at the center of most of their problems.

Which gives me an opening once I get my sister and niece to safety.

I creep out of the room and continue down the hall, my heart hammering in my chest.