Page 159 of Creep

“I have cameras all over the place. Do you really think I wouldn’t have been notified once you left? I would have called sooner had I checked the notification on my phone. What are you doing back at your dad’s house?”

“How did you know I went to my dad’s house?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm. But how thehellcould he have known?

“I tracked your phone.”

“You tracked my phone?” I repeated slowly, as if I said it slow enough, it might not be true, because what in the actual fuck?

“Yes,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Why?” I gritted out. I doubted talking to him about personal boundaries would go anywhere. Was I supposed to just accept that this was the way he was?

“For your own safety.”

“Careful. Your obsessive personality is showing through.”

“Wasn’t trying to hide it, kitten.”

“You are so fucking infuriating.”

“Yeah. We can talk about that as soon as I pick you up. I’m about five minutes away. And, baby? I’m punishing you for this tonight.”

I closed my eyes, and even if I knew what he just said wasn’t sane or normal or even something I should accept, there was a part of me, a part deep down that I would never admit out loud, that stood at attention from his words. My clit pounded, and my stomach muscles tightened.

“You’re making me crazy,” I said finally.

He laughed darkly. “Right back at you.”

I let out a small sigh, about to say anything else that didn’t make it seem like I was just going to lie down and let him do whatever he wanted with me, when the rumbling of an engine coming from behind me caught my attention.

For a quick second, I thought it might be Mael, but the car wasn’t his. I watched it, waiting for it to pass me. It didn’t. The wheels turned slightly in my direction, and I froze. I was momentarily stunned in disbelief, as if trying to convince myself that the car wasn’t really headed toward me.

But it showed no sign of slowing down.

I screamed and jumped out of the way just moments before the car drove over the spot I had been standing in.

A sound rang out, and it took me a moment to realize Mael was shouting through the phone. I brought it up to my ear. “Lia? Answer me. What the fuck happened?”

“Someone just tried to run me over,” I said, my voice shaky.

“What the fuck? I’m coming, baby. Just stay where you are.”

Tires screeched, and I watched the black SUV turn around as if heading back for me.

“Mael?”

“Yeah, baby.”

“You need to hurry. Because the car is coming back for me.”

42

MAEL

I pressedmy foot on the gas, accelerating through the quiet streets.

If anything happened to her, I was going to burn Luckas Whitlock’s house down to the fucking ground.

I kept the line connected to Lia, not that it told me much. I could hear some rustling sounds, and that was it. She was running away from the fucker who was trying to run her down.

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