Page 60 of Cruel Possession

Aiden shoots me a curious look, but he doesn’t say anything, and it makes me feel worse for hiding the message from him.

He says he doesn’t trust me, but he does, to some degree. At least he’s allowing me to wander around the property freely, and he let me be at the birth of my nephew. If he was actually going to kill me, I don’t think he would do that.

But I think he might still kill me. It’s something about the look in his eyes. Like he’s not quite there. Not quite holding onto humanity.

And for just a moment, I think I might save him.

“Aiden, I have something to tell you.” I set the controller to the side and turn to face him fully.

He shakes his head and puts the controller to the side, standing up and stretching. “I would rather end tonight on a good note.”

“I know, but I really do need to tell you something.” I glance at him, but my gaze drops to the dark bags under his eyes, his screams echoing in my head. “Actually, you’re right. You should go to bed.”

“You coming?”

He stops at the door and looks back at me, making my heart skip a beat.

The way he looks at me makes me feel like there’s some part of me I lost a long time ago that’s just starting to come back.

I follow him out of the room and up the stairs, settling into bed.

Without a word, he locks the door and comes to the bed, lifting up the other side of the sheets and slipping in beside me.

Aiden’s soft snores fill the room within a few minutes.

Even though I try to fall asleep, I can’t. The ceiling is far too entertaining. It’s the perfect accompaniment to the thoughts swirling around in my head.

I should tell him the truth about everything.

I can’t tell him the truth about anything.

Where the hell did he implant that tracker?

He doesn’t deserve what’s going to happen to him.

He deserves it all. He’s murdered just as much of my family as I’ve murdered of his.

None of the thoughts sit well with me, but now that the moment has passed, I know I can never tell Aiden the truth.

Not if I want to appease the part of myself that wants to keep him in my life.

Chapter Nineteen

AIDEN

There’s nothing I “like”quite as much as coming home to a bloated body on my doorstep. The damn thing looks like it’s seconds away from bursting.

My stomach turns more the longer I look at it.

There are some things in this life that I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to seeing. And a bloated body is one of those things.

Bile rises in the back of my mouth as I step over the body and shove the front door open. It slams into the wall as I storm through the hall and into the kitchen.

Zoe sits at the counter like she does most mornings, stabbing her fork into her waffle.

I don’t hesitate, snagging her plate and throwing it in the sink, the ceramic shattering.

She looks at me, blinking slowly. “Well, good fucking morning to you too, sunshine. Is there something I can help you with, or would you like to tell me why the fuck my food is now in the sink?”