Page 6 of Possess Me

I’d been the one to cry hysterically when questioned by the police.

Not him.

The graphic pictures detailing the horrific crime left no room for doubt as to the person responsible.

Carved flesh was his signature.

Even if I had proof, there was no one in law enforcement or the judicial system I could trust. Not even the detective who’d called me. They were owned, bought, and paid for by the Bruni Crime Syndicate.

His reaction should have been anticipated. He snapped his fingers around my neck, tossing me against the wall, peering down at me with a combination of fury and raging desire.

I’d never been so disgusted in my life.

“You meanourparents. Don’t you?”

“Fuck you,” I shot back. “One day you will suffer for your sins.”

His laugh was dark and dangerous. “I suggest you learn how to please me, or your return home will end up being unpleasant for you.” A strange look crossed his face, something so dark and evil I was momentarily at a loss for words. Then he smashed his fist against the wall using such force, he dented the wallboard.

Gasping, I pressed my hand across my mouth. What the hell was wrong with him? I could sense frustration. Who cared? I hated him. I fucking hated him.

“Intimidation and threats don’t work on me, Antonio. Now, leave before it’s too late.”

He laughed and lowered his head while loosening his hold. Just before he tried to capture my mouth, I managed to turn my head. My stomach churned from the stench of him.

“They told me you belonged to me.” He glanced away almost as if in confusion. “You were mine. All fucking mine.”

I’d never seen him so unraveled.

I had no idea what the hell he was talking about, but I wasn’t going to entertain the thought of asking. I needed to get him the hell out of here.

When I jammed my fist against his chest, he chuckled and took a step away, turning his head and staring into the foyer and beyond. This had once been my home, but now that seemed like a lifetime ago. Once upon a time he’d been the quiet introvert. But his eyes had always reflected the evil deep within.

I couldn’t stay here. The memories were too vivid, the ache of missing my mother too great. She’d taught me so many things in my life, especially after my father had died. She’d been my rock, infallible in her love and care of her tiny family, determined to keep stories of my daddy alive in the little girl who’d spent less than five years of her life in a happy, healthy home.

After my daddy’s death, she’d been forced to work two or three jobs just to make ends meet. But on her days off, shecreated worlds of magic, stories written in her mind, acted out with props found in thrift and dollar stores.

She’d made the world sound so beautiful, so inviting that when the plays had stopped, my love of reading had taken hold. She’d been my everything.

Now she was gone.

Anger boiled deep within. I would avenge her death. Somehow. Some way.

“Threatening me isn’t in your best interest,” he said so quietly I strained to hear.

The way he was hovering over me, acting as if he owned me kept my stomach in knots, bile in my throat. “I will make certain you’re arrested for murder, Antonio. You can’t get away with this.” I had no doubt why he’d taken the lives of my mother and his father.

He’d taken his father’s place within the syndicate, a position he’d talked about from close to the day I’d met him years before.

“You’re so beautiful, Fallon. You’ve grown into quite the stunning piece. You’re just so perfect. So… fucking… perfect. They won’t take you away from me. I won’t let that happen.”

“Get away from me, you pig.” My skin was prickled from the thought of him touching me.

To my surprise, he backed away and headed toward the door, stopping just inside. I noticed the huge ring on the middle finger of his left hand.

Another status symbol.

Another moment of proof that he’d sold what had been left of his soul.