Page 53 of Cruel Possession

I pinch the bridge of my nose before my hands fall to my side. “It’s below freezing, and the two of you look like you’re both about to start stabbing each other, so why the fuck don’t you tell me what’s been going on here?”

Skyla shrugs and gets up. “Me and Zoe were just talking.”

Zoe’s eyebrows pull together, and her mouth pinches into a thin line, like she’s not sure what’s going on either.

Weird.

I lock eyes with Skyla. “What about?”

She smirks and shrugs. “Nothing you need to worry about, big brother. We were just having a little chat, and it’s over now.”

It’s pointless trying to push her. Out of all my siblings, she’s always been the most difficult one to deal with. I can hardly get anywhere with her on a good day, and now she’s determined to be even more difficult than normal.

I don’t have time for this. There are a million other things I could be doing with my day, and standing here arguing with her isn’t one of them.

One of these days she’s going to have to learn that everything I’ve done is for her. For the family.

Zoe purses her lips, tucking her hands in her pockets. She says nothing, apparently now on Skyla’s side.

I shift back beneath the cover of the back patio, trying to stay out of the snow. “If you weren’t talking about anything I need to worry about, then what are you doing here?”

“Royce has been trying to call you. When he couldn’t get you on the phone, he started calling me.”

I reach into my pocket and dig out my phone, seeing nearly a dozen missed calls. “What did he want?”

Skyla shrugs, a wicked gleam in her eyes. “You would know if you had answered the phone.”

The urge to strangle her crashes over me again. It would be easy to take her by the neck and slam her into the wall. Threaten her within an inch of her life. And if she wasn’t a serial killer with a love of blood and excuses to murder, I might just do it.

The look in her eyes changes, and my sister disappears, the killer standing in front of me. There’s something cold about the way she looks at me. Like she’s seeing straight through me.

Or maybe it’s that she’s looking at me and trying to figure out how to get rid of the body.

I don’t like it, but I’ve learned to live with it.

Zoe hovers a little closer, like she’s not quite sure what’s happening either, even though she knows who Skyla is.WhatSkyla is.

My gaze connects with Zoe’s, and I give a small shake of my head.

She doesn’t need to be getting in the middle of this. I’m not going to risk her life, even though she’s going to die eventually. I want it to be at my hands, though. I don’t want it to be because she pissed Skyla off.

Skyla steps closer to me, patting my chest. “You know, if I were you, I would watch myself around this one. She’s nothing but trouble, and she’s going to play you like a fiddle if you let her.”

“You don’t think I’m that stupid, do you?”

“I think you have this fun habit of thinking with Little Aiden. And you haven’t been the same person you were a couple of years ago, and not in a good way.” Skyla drops her hand, her gaze hardening again. “Get it together.”

“I don’t think you’re in any position to be telling me what to do.”

Skyla chuckles. “You’re going to regret not listening to more people when she’s put a knife in your back and you’re lying there, drowning in a puddle of your own blood.”

I could kill her.

I could kill them all and move on with my life. I wouldn’t have to deal with any of this bullshit. There wouldn’t be a single person to keep telling me what to do.

I step closer to her, hand reaching into my jacket for the gun strapped there. “What the fuck are you doing here, Skyla?”

“Gia is in the hospital. She’s having the baby. I was sent to get you since you aren’t answering your phone, but it seems like you prefer to be somewhere else.”