Perversion (Perversion Trilogy #1)(56)

I pull at my restraints to no avail, but I keep trying anyway. I have to get free. I must get to Grim. I stop my movements all together when I hear voices coming from the other side of the door.

I close my eyes and pretend to be passed out in case whoever is out there decides to enter the room. The voices grow closer. Louder. It’s a man and a woman talking, and I’m sure as the shiver that runs down my spine that the man is Marco.

“She was passed the fuck out last time I checked. Won’t be up for a while. Taught that bitch a lesson.”

The door opens, and I can see light behind my closed eyelids.

“She’s not dead,” the woman says with an annoyed bite in her voice, offended I’m still breathing.

“Calm your shit. The bitch is no use to us dead. She needs to be alive, so we have leverage.”

The woman groans in frustration. She raises her voice. “What we want is power, Marco. And this stupid bitch holds so much power over Grim that her death would crush him. Don’t you see? If he's down, his organization is down. While he's crushed, we crush Bedlam. All of them. Then, the town is ours. TRULY ours.”

Holy shit. I recognize the woman's voice. I steady my breathing and fight every instinct to open my eyes. My insides turn cold. The pain in my body turns into a pain in my chest. My soul. My heart, which skips several beats. The need to cough is strong, but I manage to swallow it down.

“She’s no use to us dead. Bedlam will seek revenge. With her alive, we can negotiate and take it all. New territories. Grim will give everything up for his gringa pussy,” Marco argues. “Then, when we have everything…” Marco’s voice turns sickeningly sweet. “We’ll kill them all.”

The woman sighs heavily. “I hope you’re right. Because, if you’re not, you just bought a fucking death sentence.”

Marco scoffs and sucks on his teeth. “The bitch is practically dead already.”

The door creaks open, and I risk opening my eyes just enough to where I’m looking through tiny slits.

Long thick dark hair trails behind the woman who follows Marco out. She tugs on his arm, and he turns around. I close my eyes just in time.

“I wasn’t talking about her. If this all goes to shit, it will be YOU in the ground," she threatens. "If not at the hands of Grim or his boys, then by MINE.”

“Don’t get your panties in a twist. I got this.”

The door slams shut. The voices become distant murmurs. I exhale, and suddenly, I can’t breathe. My chest is tight, and my lungs are on fire. I cough and suck in a strangled breath. I begin to ask myself a series of panicked questions.

Why? What did I do? What could I have said?

A tear rolls down my cheek, stinging my skin.

What could I have possibly done to make Gabby hate me so much?

Not The End!





Emma Jean and Grim’s story continues in Possession,

available for preorder now. Continue reading for a preview!





A PREVIEW OF POSSESSION





Emma Jean





I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve slept. Or how long since I’ve been tied to the ceiling above the bed. My arms over my head. My toes barely skimming the dirty, cum and blood-stained mattress below.

The door opens, and what’s left of my pulse springs to life, preparing for whatever Marco has in store for me this time.

I smell her perfume before I see her. Not like I can. It’s pitch black. “Gabby, is that you?” I rasp. I regret the words the second they’ve left my mouth because, in my delirium, I’ve forgotten she’s a traitor.

“EJ, oh my god,” she says. I feel her arms wrap around me and hiss at the sting of the pain. “What have they done to you?”

She pulls back her body but keeps her cheek pressed up against mine. I feel the wetness from her tears on my skin.

“They did everything to me,” I say bitterly. “At least they left you alone,” I say. It pains me worse than my injuries to have to put my mask on in front of Gabby of all fucking people.

She gasps and takes my cheeks in her hands. Her forehead presses against mine. “I’m so sorry it took me so long to come for you, but they have eyes on me all the time. I’m a prisoner here. Just like you.”

Just like me?

That’s a good one.

Gabby’s hair feels soft and freshly combed. Her nails are sharp and I can feel the smoothness of the painted enamel as she rakes the back of her hand across my face. I can smell her signature perfume wafting from her clean skin. She smells showered. Fresh.

Alive.

I hate her for it.

I smell like urine, vomit, and death.

“What have they done to you?” she sobs, falling at my feet. She runs her hands up my body to feel for my wounds. “You don’t deserve this. Even after all his threats I just can’t believe he could do this to you. This is all my fault.”

I almost laugh as I listen for the subtle traces of the lies I was once so good at picking up on. What bothers me the most is that I don’t hear anything in her voice but sincerity. Gabby has finally become a good liar. No, she’s been a good liar. Good enough to fool me all this time. Better than me.

Each and every lie out of her mouth feels like a bullet exploding into my skin.