Page 119 of Possessive Sinner
He doesn't deny it. "Yes."
"Why?" The word rips out of me. "Why are you doing all this, Gabe? What the hell do you want from me?"
He puts his hands into his pockets and stares into my eyes with an intensity that makes me take a step back.
"I wantyou," he says as he takes a step forward, and I take another step back. "All of you. Not just your body. Not just one night. I want you here, in my world, where I can keep you safe. Where no one can touch you. Where you finally stop running from what you feel when I look at you."
My breath catches. Heat floods my cheeks, confusion and anger war with one another, but one thing stands out clearly. "So this is what it is?" I laugh, bitter and broken. "You've been buying me? Paying off my mother's treatments so I'd feel like I owed you? So I'd fall into your bed out of gratitude?"
His jaw flexes. "That's not?—"
"I thought you were helping me because… because maybe you actually sawme. Not as some broken woman you could fix or own. But because you wantedme." My voice cracks. "Not as payment. Not as a transaction. But because you couldn't stay away."
He doesn't say anything. Which only makes it worse.
"I kissed you the other night because I wanted to. Because I couldn't stop myself. And now I find out this whole time you've been pulling every string, making sure I have nowhere else to go but you."
Gabe's eyes darken, and something dangerous and pained flashes across his face. He reaches for me, but I jerk back.
"Tell me the truth," I demand.
He stares at me for a long, heavy second. When he finally speaks, his voice is raw. "I want everything."
He takes another step, crowding me against the wall. His voice drops to a growl. "I want you in my bed. I want you wearingmy ring. I want you safe from every piece of shit who's ever hurt you. I want you to stop feeling guilty for wanting me. I want you to choose me, even knowing exactly what I am."
His hand cups my jaw, his thumb brushes my lower lip.
"And yes, Audra… I made sure you didn't have a choice but to see me. Because the second I saw you, I knew you were mine. And I don't lose what's mine."
He runs a hand through his hair again, before he rubs his neck. On an exhale, he starts. "After I saw you at the police station…"
I frown slightly. I do remember the police station. I remember it too well. The excitement. The way I felt alive for the first time in years.
"I made some inquiries," he continues.
"Inquiries?" I echo, the word tasting strange. My hand lifts automatically, a small, impatient gesture.Go on.Because that's vague. Something about the way he said it—calm, like it's nothing—stirs an uneasy feeling in my chest.
"I might have gone a bit overboard," he admits.
My stomach drops. My mind starts moving fast now, connecting dots I didn't even realize were there.Overboard. What does that even?—
The ball.
My eyes narrow.
"The ball?" I ask.
He nods. "Yeah. I sent the invitations."
For a second, I just stare at him. Because that? That doesn't make sense.
"Why would you do that?" I ask.
He rubs his chin, like he's searching for the answer himself. Shrugs slightly. Exhales. "Damned if I know."
That makes it worse.
"There was just…" He pauses, eyes locking on mine. "Something about you." My chest tightens. "From the moment I first saw you," he continues, quieter now, "you fascinated me."
