But I’m already caught in his trap and I’m more than certain that he won’t let me go. If I fight, he’ll subdue me, and considering his sadistic nature, he’ll probably enjoy it, too.

If I flee, he’ll follow.

To have any chance of winning, I need to start speaking his language. To take as much as I can from him as insurance for myself.

Sucking in a breath, I resist the urge to pull my hand from his and put distance between us, because the more he touches me, the deeper I’m caught in his web and the harder those marionette strings dig into my neck.

“If you get bored of me, will you let me go?” I ask with a calm I don’t feel.

“Probably.”

Okay. I can work with that. His type usually gets bored easily.

They’re thrilled by the chase, the hunt, and the ability to track someone. Catching their prey is only a reward, and once they do, all the fun is over.

I’m not going to play hard to get. I’m not going to let him follow me around, heightening his need to chase. If I want to get rid of him, I need to pretend I’m playing into his hands.

I need to become so boring, that he’ll leave and never return.

But instead of being obvious about it, I whisper, “Tell me something.”

“Something?”

“Anything about you that the world doesn’t know.”

He seems to consider that for a second as he drops his hand from my chin. “Why?”

“Because I want to know you as you wanted to know me.” And I need as much information on him as possible to figure out how to deal with him.

“What makes you think I want you to know me?”

“Isn’t that how these things work?”

“These things?” he repeats with an edge of mockery.

“You know.”

“I don’t know.”

“Just you and me.”

“Just you and me. I like that.”

My head lifts at the satisfaction in his tone. He really does sound like he likes it, but why?

A rare gleam passes over his ashen gaze as he nibbles on my pinkie again. “If I tell you, do I get something in return?”

A shudder goes through me and I hesitate.

“I don’t tell things about myself without getting something in return, Lia.”

“Okay.”

“What did I say about that word?”

“I can’t just get rid of it.”

“You will learn to. In time. Or there will be consequences.”

I stare up at him, my mouth agape. “What type of consequences?”

“You’ll see.”

“Ok—I mean, fine. So?”

“So what?”

“You said you want something. What is it?”

“I’ll let you know later.”

I don’t like the sound of that. “Why don’t you tell me now?”

“Because I don’t want to.”

Ugh. This asshole.

Before I can allow my tongue to curse him and possibly ruin any chance of getting what I want, he says, “I was born outside of marriage. My mother was my father’s mistress before she killed my stepmother and married him.”

My lips part, not only at the load of information, but also at the apathetic way he says it. As if it’s normal, everyday life.

Is he really a sociopath?

“But how…?” I sound as bemused as I feel.

“You asked for one thing, Lia.” He pulls me to his side. “Now, it’s my turn.”

Tendrils of both anticipation and fear coil inside me as I murmur, “Your turn…for what?”

“You’ll find out once we’re in your apartment.”

12

Lia

Adrian doesn’t speak as we walk down the hall to my apartment. He doesn’t speak when I put in the code, trying to hide it from him after I changed it a few days ago.

He also didn’t speak on the ride here, and neither did his guards, who were the same solemn-faced ones from the last time.

To say I’m nervous would be an understatement.

I’m the one who came up with this plan to lure him in so he’d leave me sooner rather than later, but I never thought that the actual moment would be this nerve-wracking.

It doesn’t help that he looks as lethal and as handsome as ever. His physique is really impressive, whether it’s his straight nose or his chiseled cheekbones or the black clothes that add a dangerous edge to his muscular frame.

He’s the type of beauty one should only admire from afar. Whenever anyone gets close, he’ll snuff them out like a deadly exotic animal.

I step into my apartment and don’t turn around to make sure he followed since hushed footsteps fall behind me. I stop in front of the long, narrow table that I usually use for my keys if I haven’t left my car at the theater.

Releasing a shaky breath, I shrug off my coat and hang it above the table. It takes me a few seconds of inhaling deeply before I gather my courage. “We’re inside my apartment. You said you’d let me know when— Ohhh.”

My words end in a gasp mixed with a moan when he grabs a fistful of my hair and bends me over the table. My cheek meets the cold surface and my heart clenches in my chest as my eyes widen. I have no freaking clue why the sound I just released was a moan. It should’ve been a squeal, a scream, a call for help.

Anything but a moan.

His nose touches my hair from where his fingers are imprisoning me in place, then trails down to the soft flesh of my throat. Shudders and goosebumps break out on my skin, covering each other and allowing new ones to form.

His hot lips meet the shell of my ear and he nibbles down before he whispers in tight words, “You think I haven’t figured out what you’re doing, Lia?”

My eyes must double in size as I try to look at him, but his unyielding grip prohibits me the slightest movement. “W-what?”

“You’ve been waiting for this moment all night. Or…let’s say for part of the night. Did that busy brain of yours think you could get rid of me by being an obedient slut?”

My molars grind together as I snap, “I’m not a slut.”

“Then don’t fucking act like one.” His words are as scathing as his rare cursing.

“I’m not.”