I thought I’d be ecstatic about it, but I’m not. It feels like a heavy ball is sinking into my stomach. I shake my head and close my eyes and listen to the traffic and people below, trying to tune out everything.
“It’s nothing. Let’s get out of here,” I say.
The doorbell chimes, and my eyes veer to Viper’s, and I cock my eyebrows.
“Were you expecting someone?” I ask, dusting invisible lint off his shoulders.
“No. My friends know not to pop up at my place unannounced.”
The doorbell rings again, and I follow Viper to the door. He grabs his gun from the holster and looks through the peephole.
“It’s an older woman.”
“Older wo—”
“Autumn. I know you’re in there. You better open the door,” Aunt Savannah says, ringing the doorbell again.
How the hell did she find me? I move Viper out of the way, and he places his gun back into his holster.
Exhaling, I turn the doorknob, and she’s standing there, wearing a cream blouse with a pair of denim jeans. She has her salt-and-pepper-streaked hair in a bun on her head. She pushes up the oval glasses on her nose and frowns at me, and then her dull hazel eyes glare back at Viper, a look of disgust on her face.
“Why did I have to find out from Raven that you’re staying here with this man? I had to track your location on your phone.”
She barges in and glances around with a mixture of anger and awe.
“You mean my boyfriend?”
“Boyfriend?” She twirls around and glares at him, bunching up her nose. “You look a little too old for my niece. I didn’t catch your name.”
“I didn’t mention it,” he snaps back, clenching his fist. He holds out his hand, and my aunt stares at it as if it has germs on it. “Your niece is a grown woman and can make her own decisions.”
Aunt Savannah brings me into a hug and pats my back lightly. She has good intentions, but sometimes she can be very overwhelming and protective.
“She’s hardly grown. She’s just turned twenty-one years old.”
“How long are you staying here, Aunt?”
“Ready to get rid of me already?” she says, smirking. “I sent you up here to get an education, not shack up with a man who’s clearly taking advantage of you.”
She’s overstepping her boundaries, and I’m ready for her to leave.
“Exactly how is he taking advantage of me?” I say through gritted teeth.
She pokes her index finger in my chest. “You’re naïve and gullible.”
Her words sting like an open wound. She always thinks I’m incapable of making sound decisions.
“As long as you’re at my place, then you will have to respect Autumn,” Viper states. “I’ll be in the other room, taking some calls.”
He leans down and kisses me on the lips, and my aunt snickers before he leaves.
“You need to come home. This is not what I want for you.”
“You never ask me what I want, and I don’t want to go to sch—”
“Nonsense. What has this man done to you to brainwash you to th—”
“No one brainwashed me. I don’t want to live up to your standards. I can’t help that everyone knows me as the daughter of a serial killer. I understand you want me to make something of myself, but I really want to do documentaries on serial killers. I want to do podcasts.”
