Fuck.He was sofucking hot!
I felt giddy, like a goddamn teenager or something, a raging bag of hormones that piqued whenever he touched me. I’m not sure what I expected from him, but it certainly wasn’t the animalistic fucking he gave when he finally let go. Cade had been so gentle, well, mostly with his kisses and caresses, but once that barrier was down, there was a darkness behind his eyes. He’d watch me as though I were a possession, as though he owned me.
And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love it.
But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t fight him for power between the sheets.
Despite everything going on, my suspension wasn’t far from the front of my mind, and as always, thoughts of my father’s case pretty much consumed every part of my brain not dedicated to eating and breathing. But I was feeling pretty good. There was a spring in my step and an unmistakable sweet ache between my thighs, all thanks to Cade.
A shiver ran down my spine, and simply thinking of him touching me was enough to get me in the mood again. I wondered if he had planned to come back and see me after hiserrandsand if it would be too much to call him and ask.
Picking up my cell, I released a low whistle. It was almost ten, I’d slept in after Cade had left, and apparently, I needed the sleep. A bubble of resentment sprung up in my gut, and I recognized it for what it was a second before I was overcome with guilt for allowing it to exist in the first place. Resentment for my father’s case, for both my inability to solve it and the fact it had taken over my life. I hadn’t seen my girlfriends in a year, and up until Cade, hadn’t had a date or sex in equally as long. The more time the case took, the more I threw myself into it, convincing myself I must have missed something, and I was repeatedly going over the same information, desperate for a new clue.
But there was nothing, and after three years, I was being forced to face the fact that perhaps I was wasting my life. How could I let Dad down, though? It was sowrong,and it stung a sharp pain in my heart even to think of having to really let the case go and, therefore, letting Dad go.
What would I do without the case to focus on?
Live. Work. Be a cop. See friends.
Be with Cade.
It felt selfish.
My cell vibrated in my hand, making me jump and rousing me from my musings. Private number. I frowned as I stared at the screen. I didn’t usually answer private numbers, but something about the continued ringing, long after a telemarketer would have given up, felt insistent.
Swiping to answer the call, I paused a beat before lifting the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
It wasn’t quite silence on the other end. There was an unsettling static interference and breathing, steady and deep.
I wanted to hang up, but something made me ask again. “Hello?”
“Hello, Nikola.”
The voice sent chills down my spine, and my hand began to sweat around my cell. “Who is this?”
“A little birdy told me you’ve been investigating where you shouldn’t.”
My stomach lurched. Was I speaking to my father’s murderer? My mouth was too dry to speak.
“This little birdy also told me…” he continued, adding ominous pauses that I couldn’t be sure if they were for dramatic effect or not. Either way, it increased my nerves every time I had to listen to that static. “Apparently, you’re quite relentless.”
I found my voice again. “Who. Is. This?”
“I’m the sort of man you don’t want the attention of, sweet Nikola.”
“You killed him, didn’t you?”
The responding chuckle was low and quiet, and I had to press the phone to my ear to hear his next words. “There comes a time in life when you must let things go, sweet girl. All your searching and questioning, all the work you do out of hours, you need to let it all go. I know it can’t be easy. I’m a sentimental man myself, and right now, I’m doing some cleaning up and letting go of myown, and Nikola…” He paused, and I held my breath. “Don’t let yourself become part of my cleanup, like my unfortunate little birdy, who talked an awful lot.”
“Who is this?”I shouted into the phone, but he’d already hung up.
Dropping the phone onto the mattress, I sunk my face into my hands and groaned, allowing a moment for the trembling of my shoulders to subside. Whoever this man was, if he thought a phone call was going to dissuade me, he didn’t know me at all. I didn’t think I was close with my investigation, but apparently, I was upsetting someone by simply looking, so maybe I was closer than I thought.
Dad, what were you involved in?
Don’t let yourself become part of my cleanup.
Is that what happened to Officer Kim? Was whoever this was jumping ship and tying up any loose ends before they did? And who was thelittle birdy?
