Page 50 of Depraved Devotion

Her expression hardens, but there’s a flicker in her eyes, something deeper, something she won’t let herself admit yet. “I need answers.”

“But you didn’t need the baseball bat, did you?” I ask, softening my tone. “You could’ve stopped him using only your mind andyour education. But you wanted him to feel it. The fear. The power shift. You wanted him to know that you weren’t the weak one.”

“Stop,” she snaps, her voice barely above a whisper, but I still detect the tremor beneath it. “You don’t know anything.”

I chuckle softly, leaning forward to close the space between us. “Oh, but I do. I know you, Dr. Andrews. I know that bat wasn’t just a weapon. It was wrath. All Mason had to do was challenge you and…” I make a swinging motion with an invisible baseball bat, rattling the chain links on my handcuffs. “It would’ve been a home run, darling.”

She shakes her head, refusing to look at me, her hands gripping the table harder now, her knuckles white. “Shut up.”

“You enjoyed every second of that power. Watching him flinch, watching him lose control. It was euphoric.”

Her gaze snaps back to mine, the fire in her eyes blazing even brighter now. “I didn’t enjoy it.”

“Liar.”

The word hangs in the air between us, sharp and cutting. She wants to deny it, to push back against everything I’m saying. I can see the fury battling with something else—something deeper. Fear? No. Not fear.Recognition.

“You can’t keep pretending that fire inside you doesn’t exist,” I say quietly, my voice losing none of its intensity. “Mason saw it. I’ve seen it. Now it’s your turn.”

CHAPTER 23

GENEVA

My chest heaves with breath as if hearing the words, however true, is a burden.

I wish I could beat the shit out of Ghost. Just once. Instead, I glare at him.

“I’m not the one who sliced into Mason and then put a candle in his mouth, you twisted fuck.”

Ghost shrugs. “I carved him like a pumpkin. At least I didn’t slit the sides of his mouth to put a jack-o’-lantern smile on him. I doubt you would’ve enjoyed that as much as me.”

The grotesque image twists my stomach, but I refuse to let him see even a flicker of the disgust boiling inside me. He already knows I find this entire affair abominable.

“You think this is a joke?” I ask. “You framed me for murder, asshole. If I hadn’t gone to the gym, I wouldn’t have an alibi for last night. Then I’d end up right beside you in a neighboring cell.”

“Don’t tease me with that idea, Dr. Andrews. It’s awful tempting.”

“You—”

Ghost flicks his wrist in a dismissal. “I didn’t frame you.”

“Explain to me how you killing my ex-boyfriend, shortly after I had an altercation with him, didn’t lead the police to my front door this morning?”

“Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?” He cranes his neck from side to side, stretching it. When he meets my stare, his gaze is hard, focused. “I told you to stay home last night. I also told you that if you didn’t do as I asked, there would be irreversible consequences. Death is pretty permanent, no?”

I jump to my feet. “Are you saying Mason’s death ismyfault?”

“Are you saying you didn’t disobey me?”

“You—”

“Listen, Dr. Andrews, and listen well. When I give an order, it’s not a suggestion. I expect to be obeyed. Remember that.”

“Fuck you.”

After spinning on my heel, I make my way to the door, my entire body shaking. Ghost’s voice gives me pause, but I don’t turn around.

“Did you really think I would let anything happen to you?” He says it gently, softly. If I didn’t know better, I’d venture to say lovingly. But I do know better. “Do you actually believe I didn’t know you would do the opposite of what I said?” he continues, his tone hardening. “This entire event is a result of your choices. Make better ones next time.”