Page 178 of Intense

I kill those who deserve it. And those kills… they feed something in me.

“And sometimes,” I continue, “you have to be brave and make a choice into the unknown.”

Her voice is soft. “Okay.”

“Are you brave, Stephanie?”

“Not always.”

I nod slowly. “Do you want to be brave now? Make a choice into the unknown? Put your trust in your husband?”

She exhales. “I guess so.”

“Good.” I lean forward, voice dropping lower. “One pill will make you violently sick. A venom with an antidote I hold. Your life will be in my hands. The other will make you… unbearably horny, in this dose. Relief will also be mine to grant—if you earn it. Either way, it’ll make the rest of the trial harder.”

She blinks at me, flicking her gaze between my face and the pills.

“Which one is which?”

A slow grin spreads across my mouth. “Fate decides. Pick one, and you’ll get your reward.”

I glance at my Rolex, watch the second hand tick.

When I look back, she already has the red pill in her fingers.

The trust in that choice twists in my chest.

If she had even the slightest inkling I knew the truth, she’d be resisting, pressing, panicking.

But she’s not.

Her body language says something else entirely—that she trusts me.

“Do I get to ask you a question once I take it?” she asks.

I clench my fists.

“Yes.”

She smiles, looking down at the pill between her fingers.

“Happy with your choice?”

She shrugs, pops the pill and swallows.

“Open,” I order.

She parts her lips and moves her tongue to show me.

I push back from the table and head for the door.

“Finn!” Her voice cuts sharper now.

I smile with my hand on the handle. “Yes, love?”

Another slip. Calling her love.

“W-what if it’s the poison? You need to monitor me.”