Page 69 of Possess Me

Thunder rolled behind me. I took a quick glance at the darkening sky. I’d made the determination that we would get off the damn island at some point tonight. Now a weather system was rolling in quickly. We’d need to leave immediately or we’d be forced to wait.

And damn it, I needed answers to the questions almost paralyzing my mind.

Why hadn’t I paid more attention to the weather forecast and the possibility of a tropical storm?

Because in my mind, I was fucking invincible. Maybe that wasn’t entirely accurate. I’d simply adopted the concept that if I died, so the fuck what?

Right now, I wanted nothing more to do with Saba Island or the Hoffman Group. One way or another we would leave.

The silence inside the cottage was unnerving. It was also telling.

Fallon Zimmerman wasn’t who she’d pretended to be.

The realization hit me harder than I could have imagined. For a few seconds, I felt winded.

I don’t know what reasoning I had for thinking that she’d still be waiting for me inside. Maybe I’d believed she’d felt something too.

But as usual, I was wrong.

The dog was gone, the interior appearing as if no one had been inside except for me. There was also no note. When I noticed the shirt I’d been wearing the night before now folded and placed on the suitcase, I paused, detecting a hint of her perfume.

She’d played me damn well, so much so I’d been like putty in her hands. I had to give her credit. She was a damn good actress.

However, she was captive,mycaptive and she would tell me everything she knew.

Glancing at the items in my hand, I half laughed. I’d fucking spent a few hundred dollars. On Bella. It dawned on me how ridiculous doing so would seem even to her. However, I knew the reason deep inside.

Bella reminded me of the puppy Megan had found, insisting we adopt and care for it. Fuck me. Were my emotions simply being played? It was funny about the timing of the dog suddenlyneeding rescue. Or was I just falling prey to some crazy conspiracy theory? This was getting ridiculous. First things first.

Answers from the beautiful yet potentially dangerous woman.

Exhaling, I dropped the items. Fallon would talk to me whether she wanted to or not. After slamming the door, I immediately headed to her cottage.

What the fuck?

A dog barking.

Not just barking. Growling.

Bella.

My hackles rose. Something was wrong.

A rumble of thunder mixed with the sounds the dog was making, pushing me further onto an edge. My thoughts had gone from fury about Fallon playing me to concern she was being attacked.

The moment I was yards away, I heard two people bickering.

Immediately, every muscle tensed.

With several long strides, I was in front of Fallon’s cottage and without thinking or a moment of hesitation, I grabbed Ludolf’s arm, jerking him away from where he had Fallon pinned against her door, his hand wrapped around her arm.

I snapped my hand around his throat, slamming him against the exterior more than once. I fucking lost count and didn’t care. While he was obviously dazed, the fucker made the mistake of smiling at me.

“Vissarian. Don’t!” Fallon exclaimed, but I wasn’t interested in paying any attention.

So I jerked him off the concrete, squeezing his throat until I knew for certain the man could no longer breathe.

Bella continued to bark although her intensity lessened.