The man is a psychopath.
“What do you want?” I croak.
The smile playing on EJ’s lips makes me want to smack him. “Oh, I’ve been thinking long and hard about that one, Dr. Hale.”
I swallow. “I’ll give you another prescription for oxycodone. One more.”
He snorts. “Sorry, Doc. That’s not going to do it anymore. Not after the shit you pulled.”
“Just tell me what you want.”
“What do I want?” He takes a step toward me, and I back away, still hugging my chest. “I want you, Adrienne.”
I feel dizzy. “You mean more sessions?”
“Call it whatever you want.” He takes another step towards me, that smile still stretching his lips grotesquely. “I want you to strip down naked and let me do anything I want to do to you. Anything.”
My knees wobble. “No. Out of the question.”
“Don’t rule it out so quickly.” He reaches out to touch me and I jerk away. “You might enjoy it—I sure will. I bet you’re getting tired of that nerdy boyfriend of yours. I bet he’s terrible in bed.”
“Get out of my house,” I snarl at him. “Get out or I’m calling the police.”
He arches an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Yes.” I stick out my chin. “If you feel you have to destroy me with that video, go ahead. I’m not going along with this anymore. I won’t play your games.”
“Oh, Adrienne,” he sighs. “Unfortunately, it’s not just about you anymore.”
He fishes his phone out of his pocket. I stare at him while he jabs at the screen. After a second, he holds out his phone to me. I shake my head.
“Take it.” He thrusts the phone into my chest. “You’re going to want to see this. I promise.”
Oh God. What is going on?
My hands are trembling so much that I almost drop the phone. I stare down at the screen, where a video is playing. But this isn’t a video of me in the parking lot. It’s a different video.
It’s an image of the outside of EJ’s house. After a second, a familiar figure comes into view. It’s Luke. He digs into his pocket, pulls out the keys, and unlocks the front door. The video then cuts to the inside of the house. Luke—searching through the rooms, looking for the laptop computer. Using a letter opener to jimmy open the lock on a desk drawer, then pulling out the laptop. Sitting down at the laptop to start the process of breaking into EJ’s computer.
It’s all there on video.
“This wouldn’t be too good for your boyfriend’s career, would it?”
I’m going to be sick. I lean forward and retch, but there’s not enough in my stomach. EJ watches in amusement, then bursts out laughing. “Boy, you’re really not too excited about hooking up with me, are you?”
“Please don’t do this to him,” I gasp.
“It’s your own fault. You’re the one who dragged him into it.” He shakes his head. “This is what I really wanted all along. From the moment I first walked into your office and saw you in that sexy little dress suit, looking so uptight with your hair pinned back. Acting like you knew it all, more than anyone else—more than me, anyway. And I always had a thing for redheads.” He looks pointedly at the phone still in my hand. “But that first video wasn’t enough. I knew you wouldn’t go for it. Not unless I had something bigger. So… thanks for that.”
“Please,” I whisper. “I’ll give you anything else. Pills, money…”
“I’ve got a guy to get me pills now.” He plucks his phone out of my hand. “All I want is you.”
I just shake my head.
“Tell you what.” He shoves his phone back into his pocket. “Why don’t you think about it for a few days? Think about whether avoiding one night of pleasure with me is worth destroying both of your lives.”
“I won’t change my mind,” I whisper.
He tilts his head. “I’m not so sure about that.”
With those words, he turns on his heel and walks out of my home. The door slams shut behind him, and it’s only then that I sink onto the sofa, my entire body trembling.
What am I going to do?
Chapter 40
TRICIA
Present Day
“Don’t move,” Ethan says.
He dashes into the kitchen, and I crane my neck just in time to see him pulling a knife from the knife block. He’s searching for the biggest knife he can find, which turns out to be some sort of carving knife that looks about eight inches long. It glints in the overhead light of the kitchen, and it looks pretty frightening from here. Then again, we don’t know what the intruder is packing. If the intruder has a gun, the knife won’t do us much good.