Page 32 of Depraved

A shadow flutters at his jaw. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t want an apology. I want an explanation.”

I rub my shoulder where he slipped the needle in. There’s a small, hard bump beneath my fingers.

“What the fuck did you do?” My voice is shrill with rising fear.

He’s lied to me before. Have I been a fool to trust him again?

“I need to be able to find you if we’re separated.”

“What does that mean?”

His expression firms with resolve. “If anyone tries to take you from me, I’ll be able to trace your location. I won’t allow anyone to hurt you, Karolina.”

Nausea curls in my stomach. “So, what? You…put something in me to track my location?” I scrape the bump with my nails. “Take it out.”

He grasps my wrist in a loose shackle. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

My heart twists. “You’re hurting me! I trusted you!”

I scoot off the bed, and he allows the distance between us.

“I have to keep you safe,” he insists.

It’s meant to be a reassurance, but alarm bells blare at the back of my mind.

I’m trapped here with him. Isolated.

I knew he was obsessed with me, but now he’s separated me from everyone I know. Amala isn’t here. There are no tourists to help me if I scream.

The threatening stranger at the café stole my phone. I can’t call anyone to get me out of here.

No one will save me from the possessive man who’s trapped me on this remote estate.

“Take me back to York,” I insist.

Anger is so much preferable to panic.

His expression darkens. “I didn’t have a choice.”

“You chose to drug me!” I burst out. “Who even has drugs like that lying around? And some sort of tracking chip? Have you planned this all along?”

My mind spins.

“How much do you know about me? Did you know about Brandon before I told you I killed him?”

He flinches, and my stomach drops.

How deep does his obsession go? How much did he learn about me when he looked me up online? He’s admitted to finding me on the UNC website. I was an idiot to accept that half-truth. He’s known one of my darkest secrets all along.

“You’re connected to that man who threatened me somehow, aren’t you?” I accuse. “He knew about Brandon, and so did you.”

“I can explain,” he says, voice rough with desperation.

“That’s what you said before. I don’t want to hear any more lies.”

His lips press to a thin line. He doesn’t say anything.