Empire of Lies - Whitney G. Page 0,47

the best part—the moment when the hero pounds into the heroine’s pussy relentlessly, a loud and tortured cry breaks out from right outside my window.

Concerned, I set down the kindle and walk over to my bay window. I expect to see a deer caught in a trap below, but there’s nothing. The grass is as still as the trees, the estate’s lake waters are calm and motionless in the moonlight.

I start to return to bed, but the tortured sound cuts through the air once more. It’s far more pained this time, so much so, that I can feel the hurt in my chest. It sounds like it’s coming from the left side of the house, where the only other bay windows are. Michael’s room.

I know that I should ignore the sound, let him suffer from whatever is happening, but I can’t. The broken pieces of my heart still beat for him, and they’re still longing for him to stitch them back together with a thread that will sew everything into perfect sense.

I leave my bedroom and walk down to his door, easily entering the new code on his keypad. The moment I step inside, I freeze at the sight of him writhing violently on the bed.

Wearing only his briefs and a gold necklace that bears his initials, he’s sweating under the cold air and all the spinning ceiling fans. He’s struggling to breathe properly, twisting and turning like he’s having a grand mal seizure.

Finally forcing my feet to move toward him, I move on top of him and shake his shoulders.

“Michael, wake up.” I shake him a bit harder. “Michael, stop. Wake up.”

It’s no use. He’s writhing even harder now, damn near bucking me off him.

“Help me …” he whispers. “Help me move him…. Help me get them all back…”

“Michael, wake up.” I slap his cheek as hard as I can. “Michael, you’re fucking scaring me... Wake up.”

“You’re going to burn.” He seethes. “Forever…”

“Michael.” I grab his head and shake it as hard as I can—keeping my fingers in his hair.

He finally stops.

I let out a sigh of relief and start to move off him, but his hands suddenly grip my neck.

Still in a trance, he grips my neck like a boa constrictor—slowly tightening the pressure and stealing every chance I have to breathe.

I claw at his hands and try to dig my nails deep into his knuckles to get him to let go, but I’m no match for his strength. His hold on my neck tightens even more, and I feel my eyes bulging from the pressure.

Oh my god, please. Please don’t kill me.

Hot tears fall down my face, splashing onto his inked knuckles.

I try to fight for my life as hard as I can, but it’s no use. He’s choking the hell out of me.

My vision blurs, and I start to see my life slipping through the grip of his fingertips.

He’s really going to kill me…

My heart begins to slow, and I lose sensation in my fingers. I feel my leg muscles going weak, then my arms.

Right as I’m succumbing to the end—seeing a light haze everywhere, Michael’s eyes flutter open. They meet mine, and his recognition of the hands grabbing my neck is instant. He looks at me in utter horror, immediately letting me go.

I suck in several hard-fought breaths and stumble off him.

“Meredith…” he says, looking remorseful and embarrassed. “Meredith, I’m—”

I don’t give him a chance to finish.

I get up and rush the hell away from him, toward my bedroom. Right when I’m grabbing the doorknob, I feel him gently grabbing my waist from behind, picking me up and sweeping me off my feet.

He carries me through his bedroom and into the master bathroom suite. Carefully setting me onto the edge of the tub, he looks into my eyes—his gaze extremely apologetic.

As if he’s unsure of what to say first, he grabs both my hands and looks into my eyes. He stares at me for what feels like forever, looking just as hurt as I feel.

“I would never hurt you, Meredith,” he says, his voice low. “I had no idea what I was doing…No idea it was you.”

Who the hell else would it be? I don’t respond to him. I have no words to say.

“This is why I always left you in the middle of the night,” he says, cupping my face in his hands—using his thumbs to catch my tears as they continue to fall. “I never wanted you to see me like that.”

I still