Page 21 of Sick Little Devotion

His chest feels hard against me like a solid wall of muscle, and the dark hoodie is soft against my skin. My pajamas are thin cotton, and his heat sends unwanted shivers rolling through my body. It feels so wrong, but I can’t move.

“Fuck, I can’t wait to get you home,” he breathes out in a raspy tone. “I’ve been waiting for you. I’ve always fucking waited for you.”

You left me. You disappeared.

No words pass my lips. Not as the house leaves my sight. Not as he tosses me into the passenger seat and buckles me in. He slams the car door, and I don’t realize until I’m leaning against the black leather that I’m sitting in a fucking luxury car.

What the hell is this? Since when can Aiden afford a car like this?

It crosses my mind to bolt right then and there, but the sight of my old love walking around the front of the car has my head spinning. The headlights shine on the blood that I now see for certain is streaked across his face.

He murdered Ron.

I should be appalled. Or something. But instead, the numbness shifts to sick relief. My greatest fear is gone—but Aiden is back. The rumors were true. Almost a fucking decade later.

“I expected you to be more excited to see me, but I guess it could’ve been worse,” he says, pulling the car away from the curb.

“They’re going to think I killed him.”

“No, they won’t. They’re going to think he killed himself.”

“Not my stepfather,” I shoot back at him, scooting myself so that my back is against the door panel of the car. The seatbelt cuts into my body in a painful way at this angle, but I need as much distance as I can from this man.

“Your stepfather is a twat,” he grunts, rolling his eyes. “He’ll get over it.”

“My mother and the girls—” I swallow hard.

“Will be fine once the dust settles.”

“They’re going to think I abandoned them.” Those words finally manage to scuff against the numbness, bringing forth despair and panic. “I can’t let them think that.” I jump to the side and grab for the handle of the door.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Aiden erupts, his arm shooting across me as the door jars. “You’re going to kill yourself.” There’s no true concern in his voice, and within moments, he’s veered off to the side of the road.

I try to pull myself from his strong hold, but I can’t. Aiden uses his free hand to unbuckle his own seatbelt, and then he digs into his hoodie pocket. I watch in horror as he retrieves zip ties.

“No—”

“Just for the ride.” He grips my wrists so painfully I let out a cry, and something flashes across his face, but I can’t decipher it. I can’t decide if I hate this new Aiden, but I do know one thing…

He fucking terrifies me into submission.

Clearly, I’ve learned that I just bow down like a beat dog in an emergency situation, and so my escape will have to be made after careful contemplation. Maybe letting Aiden think that I’m weak will work in my favor. I’ll catch him when his guard is down, and then I’ll make a run for it.

“I hate doing this,” he mutters, pulling them so tight that I wince. “I never wanted it to go like this. I thought you might be a little troublesome, but not like this.”

“Troublesome,” I echo his words, staring down at the binding around my wrists. What the fuck is this? Is he taking me somewhere to kill me? Is this how it’s all supposed to end for me? Some psycho childhood lover finally mentally breaks and whisks me away to my death?

I blink a few times in the darkness. This is how my life is going to end. My gaze flicks over to Aiden, sitting in the driver’s seat. I hate how fucking handsome he is—even with the blood on his face. His hands have tattoos covering them, but I can’t make them out in the dark. He’s got a shadow of facial hair that makes him look almost… sophisticated. This can’t be the Aiden I knew before.

“I look different, I know,” he grumbles, like he thinks I hate what I see. And to some degree, I do. But it’s only because of how fucking hot he is, muscular, tatted, and all fucking grown up.

But murderous. And dangerous.

He left me. Nothing will ever change the fact that he left me.

Fuck you, Aiden. When the shock passes, you’ll see.

Chapter Ten