Page 42 of Depraved Devotion

Geneva is starting to embrace who she really is.

I can’t help the satisfaction that rises in my chest. She’s no longer hiding behind that wall of ice and control. The strength inside her, the fire I saw when we first met… She let him see it, let him feel the heat of her defiance. And she burned him.

“So, what happened next?” I ask.

Mason hesitates, his eyes flickering with turmoil. Pride, uncertainty, but also a bit of fear. He wants to admit it, to tell me what happened, but he’s afraid of how it’ll sound. I can see it in the way his fingers tremble, in the way his gaze darts to the floor before coming back to mine.

“She laughed,” he says finally, his voice barely above a whisper. “After I hit her, she fuckinglaughed.”

The words hit me like a spark in a pool of gasoline, igniting something primal inside me. She laughed? I keep my expression neutral even as the thought of Geneva standing there, defiant, makes my blood hum with approval. Mason couldn’t handle it. He couldn’t handle her raw power.

“She laughed?” I repeat. “That’s weird.”

Mason shifts, clearly on edge. “She also grabbed a baseball bat. And threatened me with it.”

I lean forward, intrigued as fuck. Geneva with a bat? The image forms in my mind—her standing there, fearless, wielding the weapon with confidence.

Shit, now my dick is hard.

“Did she hit you?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

If Mason tells me she struck him, I’m going to come in my slacks, right here, right now.

He shakes his head quickly, his eyes wide with the memory. “No, but she looked crazy, man. I didn’t know what the fuck she was going to do.”

I take a step closer. “You’re scared of her, aren’t you?”

“Fuck no,” he says on a near shout.

“You should be.”

He looks at me with disgust coating his features. “Scared of a woman? Hell no.”

“How about being scared of a man?” I pause, my lips twitching. “Or maybe a ghost?”

And then… recognition flickers across his face. His eyes widen, his mouth going slack as he stares at me, his gaze tracing the jagged line of my scar. His bravado crumbles, and the fear I’ve been waiting for creeps in, clawing its way over his expression.

Yahtzee!

“Wait!” His voice trembles. “You’re… you’re that guy. The serial killer from the news. Ghost.”

I smile and remove my hat, exposing my white hair. “There it is.”

Mason immediately takes a step back. Then he glances towardthe door and his phone on the table. “If you don’t get out, I’ll call the police. They’ll—”

I laugh softly, cutting him off. “You think I care about the police? I’m already in prison for life. What are they going to do? Throw me in for longer? Enroll me in a loyalty rewards program?” I take another step forward, my presence looming over him. “Actually, I plan on calling them before I leave, so they can find what’s left when I’m done with you.”

His entire body stiffens as the threat hits home. I drop my voice to a near whisper as I wag my finger in his direction. “You see, Mason, you were wrong, wrong, wrong. Wrong for touching what’s mine. For underestimating Geneva. For thinking she was yours to begin with.”

Mason stumbles back, his hands shaking as he raises them defensively. “Look, man, I didn’t know—”

“No one touches what’s mine. You don’t lay a hand on her. You don’t evenlookat her. Now, you’re going to pay for all of that.”

I take another step forward, closing the distance between us until my face is inches from his. Until I can see the sweat beading on his forehead and the sheer terror in his eyes. I glance toward the phone on the table, the corner of my mouth lifting in a dark smile.

“Go ahead and call the police, Mason. Tell them Ghost is here and that you have a murder to report. Yours.”

CHAPTER 20