Phantom (Cat and Mouse, #0)

by H.D. Carlton

I’m not only riveted by her. I’m possessed by a need to have her. And she must be mine.

Zade of the past!!

She plagues my mind, infecting it like a parasite and overriding any autonomy over myself. My free will is indebted to her, and without her, I am nothing.

“You’re destroying this family, Johnathan,” I choke out, the words as unstable as my heart rate. “And I have no choice but to let you.”

I’m a bad man, but I won’t be her monster.

I want to be her savior.

I puff on a cigar, a luxury I rarely allow myself.

Zade in a past life. So many similarities.

She nibbles on her red-painted lips, continuously tucking her perfectly curled black strands behind her ear. A nervous habit,

Check to see if Adeline did as well. I belive she did.

If Genevieve is my end, then I open the door to death with no hesitation.

“I want you so badly, it hurts to breathe without you near,” he whispers softly, finally—finally—gracing me with his voice.

“Because you possess my lungs, as you do my heart, Genevieve. And I intend to take yours for myself,” he answers, his voice deepening impossibly further.

“My mother told me a story about the time my father asked her out on their first date. He was in love with her and chased after her wherever she went. She said he’d asked her on dates a thousand times before, and every time she would ask him why. He would give these shallow reasons, like her beauty or her smile and so on. So, she said no. Then, one day, he came to her with a single rose in his hands, the thorns plucked from the stem. He handed it to her and asked her on a date. When she asked why, he admitted that he was dirt poor and stole that rose from his neighbor’s garden. The owner caught him and shot at him for trespassing. Clearly, he got away unscathed except for his bleeding hand. The thorns had pricked him, and he couldn’t fathom giving my mother a rose when it could hurt her. So, he sheared them from the stem and ran straight to her. He told her that despite his nearly dying, he’d do it again. That he’d put himself through hell just to see her smile. That he would take all her pain so she would suffer none.”