Page 115 of Ghost Hunted

I grit my teeth. “Don’t you think I wish I had done things differently, Damien? But Lia needed me. When I started looking for Jane with you, she nearly died. I need to focus on what I have, and Lia’s real. She’s tangible. And then, there’s Piper. She still won’t speak to me, and I need to figure it out. I have so much on my plate here. I just can’t keep running after what I’ve already lost.”

“Maybe you haven’t lost her,” Damien says, more gently. “There’s a chance she’s still alive.”

I groan, resting my head in my hand. “I do regret not going with you to that social worker’s hotel room. Maybe if we’d gotten there in time… but no. She’d been dead for weeks. I just hope the Puicin Gang haven’t found Jane. I just don’t know what to do anymore. The truth is, it’s not only because of Lia that I’ve stopped looking. I guess...” My voice breaks. “I guess I’m wondering just how much more pain I can stand.”

_

“Lia?”

“Oh, fuck.”

She turns around to face me, the redness on her cheeks telling me just how guilty she is.

“Is that my phone you’re holding behind your back? Were you snooping around on my phone?”

She takes a few steps back until she’s against the bedroom wall and I’m cornering her, my arms on either side of her.

“I, uhm… I was just… admiring the…”

I let go of the wall with one arm and beckon for her to put the object she’s hiding in my open palm. After hesitating a beat, she does, grumbling.

“I wasn’t really looking, Logan. I was just…”

“Looking,” I conclude, smirking, before slipping the phone in my pocket. “That’s very naughty, Lia.”

She huffs, crossing her arms. “Well, it’s not my fault! I don’t have anything to do in this shitty dump!”

“This shitty dump?” I chuckle. “You must be used to some pretty nice places, if you think Devil Tower is some shitty…”

“It’s just that you never let me go out! I’m going crazy, shut up in this apartment all the time, while you and Damien and the others fuck around all day! And besides, you’re always on your phone, and you hide the screen whenever you see me. Who do you spend all your time talking to? Why are you shutting me out? Why won’t you talk to me about Piper or… or Jane? Logan! I’m going crazy!”

My smirk fades as she continues her tirade, and she ends her outburst in a choked voice.

“Okay.” I wrap my arms around her. “Okay, Lia. It’s okay. I’m sorry.”

She shakes her head, tears spilling out of her eyes. “You always say that, Logan, but nothing ever changes. You’re not keeping me locked up in a cage, but you might as well be, with the way you’re treating me like I’m your captive! Never letting me go out, keeping me in the dark, acting like I’m some fragile doll…”

“You are a fragile doll,” I murmur, licking the tears from her cheeks. “My very fragile doll. But if it makes you feel better…”

She looks up, a hopeful light in her eyes. “Yes?”

“... I’ll keep you in the cage.” I’m a real piece of shit for grinning when her hopeful look is replaced by pure anger. “I wouldn’t want my fragile little doll to be confused.”

She actually stomps her foot. “I’m not confused, Logan! I know very well you’re an asshole! I’ve never been less confused about anything in my life!”

I chuckle, squeezing her to me. “I don’t doubt it. But I was referring to another type of confusion. You seem to think you’re not a captive. But you very much are.” I don’t even bother to lie anymore, because I can tell she sees through my bullshit. Placing a thumb under her chin, I tilt her head up, my mouth watering when I see her green eyes glittering with more tears. Then my eyes go lower, coming to a stop on her very freckled, very brace-less neck.

“Baby! They took it off?”

“Mhm hmm.” She takes a step back, regarding me angrily. “But I changed my mind. I don’t want you to make me come, after all.”

“Oh yeah?” I stroke down her sides, toying with the hemline of the long shirt she’s wearing over just a pair of panties, before going lower. “Sure about that?”

“Yes,” she snaps. “Sure.”

But she bites her lower lip when I run my fingers over her thighs, teasing her by keeping my hands just short of her pussy.

“Tell me you don’t want me,” I breathe in her ear. “Go on and tell me, brat.”