The dynamic of their relationship confused me. James hadn’t only been a deadbeat father; he was corrupt and black to the core as much as I was. Living among soulless sacks of shit had given me the instinct and wherewithal to recognize demons hidden beneath the surface.
Guilty men—like me, like James—with buried skeletons and blood-stained hands would forever bear the weight of their sins.
But Eva—she was something else.
Their conversation continued, and I waited, biding my time. It wasn’t long before they drifted back into the foyer as she said her goodbyes.
“Text me so I know you made it home,” he said, waving her off and closing the door.
Once it shut, I stepped out from behind the curtain.
“Well, that was touching.” James froze. “She’s really something, isn’t she?”
He turned around slowly, his graying brows pulled together in confusion.
“Who the fuck are you, and what are you doing in my house?”
I strode into the hallway, the sides of my mouth tilted into a devious grin.
“What, you don’t know who I am? You don’t recognize me, Dr. Ford?”
“Listen, I don’t know what you’re playing at, but you need to get the hell out of my house before I call the cops.”
Fear tainted his voice. Good.
“No offerings of water? Food? My, my, James, where are your manners?”
The coward took a step back, body tensed against the door as he reached blindly for the knob. His breaths were shallow and fast, sweat already beading his forehead.
James Ford might not have been aware of who I was, but the guilt festering in his conscience was seeping through every pore as if I’d already gutted him.
An innocent man would have offered everything at his disposal to spare his life. Or hell, even put up a fight. Instead, our eyes had been gridlocked, each waiting for the other to make the first move.
“What do you want? Money?”
Ah, there it was.
He turned the knob.
“I wouldn’t do that, Dr. Ford,” I threatened, voice menacingly calm. “Step away from the door and put your phone on the table. I just want to talk.”
“Fuck you.”
My grin widened. “Now, that’s no way to treat a guest. I’m offended I don’t get the same courtesy offered to—what was her name—Eva? Mm, now that is one fine piece of ass.”
James schooled his shoulders, as if suddenly feeling brave, and stepped toward me, mouth twisted into a grimace.
“Leave her out of this.”
I rounded him like a predator would its prey.
“Do you even have a clue who I am?”
He took a moment to examine me from the bottom up. James wasn’t stupid. He knew I wasn’t your run-of-the-mill burglar looking for some random shit to pawn.
“You here to blackmail me? You think you have something on me I can’t bury by morning?”
I arched a brow and scoffed. “I haven’t needed a damn thing from you my whole life. What makes you think I’d start now?”
