Page 32 of Phobia

“Hi, honey,” Vince taunted, the smile clear in his tone. “Looking for me?”

I scraped a palm over my face, blowing out a terse exhale. “You can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”

I heard the working of a lighter on his end, and it ignited the craving for my own. Or six at this rate. “No more than you can, brother,” he assured around the cigarette.

“Do you really want to be making deals with Rhys?”

Vince chuckled as though the whole thing was of no consequence. “The way I see it,” he began, exhaling, and I could envision the hazy, cloud of smoke momentarily masking his sharp features as he blew the thick plumes out of his mouth with control. “Is that he has something I need.”

I rested my arm against the lip of the door, my knuckles rapping against the cold window while I tracked a raindrop racing with another. “What do you want with the tunnels?”

“Wouldn’t you rather find out?”

No, not really. “He’s got people—bodies—trapped in those wax figures.”

“And?” Vince stated like it was a nonissue.

“And Katrina’s suspicious.”

He let out a throaty, unsurprised laugh. “Christ, nothing gets by that one.” He paused. “I suppose that’s our fault.”

The warmth of pride spread through my chest, the faintest hint of a smirk lifting my lips. “We taught her well.”

My phone beeped with the warning of an incoming call. I peeled the phone from my cheek, grimacing at her name. “I gotta go. It’s her.”

“Adam,” Vince said. “Not a word about the figures. She’ll bust my balls.”

I huffed, straightening in my seat. “So it’s better she busts mine?”

“You know it won’t just be the figures she’ll want information on. She’ll want to see the tunnels.”

“Iwant to see the tunnels,” I argued. What the fuck was down there? What did he want with the tunnels?

He hung up on me. “Fucking asshole.” I accepted Katrina’s call, reaching for the pack of cigarettes in the other cupholder. “Hey.”

“Hey?” she questioned sarcastically. “I’m about thirty seconds from logging into your iCloud and using Find My iPhone.”

“Baby—”

She ignored me, charging on, her volume rising. “This is shady as fuck, even for you. Who are you with?”

“No one.” Rhys didn’t count because I hadn’t wanted to be with him anymore than someone wanted to discover they had an STD.

“Don’t lie to me, Adam Ryan!” she shrieked. I winced, letting my head fall back against the headrest. We were in full name territory. Hell hath no fury like a little rabbit scorned. “If you come home smelling like somebit—”

“Are you fucking serious, Katrina?” I cut her off with a growl, pressing my fingers into my closed eyes to calm myself down. Like I had time or eyes for anyone else. But no matter how hard I fought to collect myself, hot lava spilled in my gut, igniting my entire body like gasoline. It scorched a violent path and forced my blood pressure to surge while my pulse raged in my ears. Aftereverythingwe’d gone through, every fucking thing I’d done just to get her back, I’d never gamble losing her. No one compared to her. No one. “I have enough to eat at home. Why would I want anyone else but you?”

The stilted silence floated between us. She shuffled in bed, no doubt cradling her knees to her chest. “Then why won’t you just tell me where you are?” she whispered.

Thinking better of wasting time lighting a cigarette, I sighed through my nose and glanced in my rearview mirror, finding the glow of the museum.

Sorry, Vince.He wanted to keep secrets. I wanted to keep my wife.

He could deal with her wrath.

Feeding the car key into the ignition, I turned the key over, and the engine hummed to life. “You were right.” I sandwiched my phone between my shoulder and my ear, and tugged the shift into drive, listening to the audible, anxious shift of her breathing.

The sound had my cock stirring.

“I was right?” she inquired, faltering. She couldn’t conceal her intrigue, though. Her insecurity over my absence faded. “About what?”

While the museum shrunk in my side mirror, the ominous chokehold of the edifice, its countless victims, and the horrors it harbored, never left me.

“The wax figures.” I licked my lips, catching the way she tried to control the excited gasp wrenching free from her lungs. “You were right.”

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THE END