“I also wrapped up a piece for you to take to that new boyfriend of yours,” Mom said. Dad immediately perked up.
“Mom!” I scolded just as Dad quirked an eyebrow in my direction.
“Boyfriend?” he asked as I buried my head in my hands.
“Mom, you have such a big mouth.”
She scoffed. “Honey, after our lunch a few weeks ago, I figured it was safe to mention it. You seemed pretty smitten.”
“Smitten?” Dad asked.
“I was going to tell him when I had the conversation with Ryan,” I groaned.
Mom walked back into the kitchen for Dad’s slice. “Youshould get a move on it, dear,” she said when she came back into the living room.
“Out with it, pumpkin,” Dad said as he forked a bit of cake into his mouth. “Tell me all about him.”
I gave Dad the basic rundown and waited for him to say something. I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be since I hadn’t mentioned many of the guys I’d dated.
“Pumpkin, you’ll always be my little girl, and I will always want to protect you, but you deserve someone if that’s something you want. I’m sure he’s great.”
Mom chimed in. “Can we meet him? I want to meet the man who’s managed to warm my daughter’s cold heart.”
“Mom!” I gasped. “You are on it tonight. Dad, good luck with her.” I stood and walked into the kitchen.
“I like it when she’s feisty.”
I made a gagging sound as their muffled laughter filtered into the kitchen behind me. As I rinsed my dishes, anticipation danced in my chest at the thought of my plans for the rest of the evening. I never let a man be in control in any fashion before Ryan. Needless to say, my fantasy of being fucked by a masked man on Halloween wasn’t one I ever thought would come true. I didn’t think I would be able to relinquish control in the moment because of my PTSD.
Ryan was different. I trusted him from the moment I knew he was the stranger playing with me. He would never harm me, and I was finally beginning to believe that my attacker wasn’t ever going to find me again. I knew it was Ryan who watched me from the shadows, and a part of me was comforted by that. He was watching me because he cared.
I finished up in the kitchen and said goodbye to Mom and Dad. Checking my phone when I got into my car, there was still no text from Ryan. I wasn’t expecting one, but I was hopeful he had some kind of taunting in store for me, or at least a spookymessage. A hint of disappointment pricked at my chest as I drove to my office, where we’d already decided he would find me.
Pulling into the garage, my hair stood on end as soon as I got out of the car. Ryan was probably already watching me. I checked my watch and noticed it was still half an hour before he was supposed to be here. Maybe he was going to surprise me early.
The garage was dimmer than usual, a few of the fluorescent lights having burned out since that morning. As I walked to the door to the building, a huge raven landed on the concrete ledge and croaked, as if in warning. I tried to shake off the eerie feeling as I pulled open the heavy door.
This was part of the game. The thrill of Ryan showing up and claiming me. This feeling was supposed to be exciting, but as I unlocked the door and stepped into the vampiric reception area, I began to wonder if this was a good idea.
I walked to my office and dropped my bag onto the floor behind the desk. I usually put it in a drawer, but I decided to leave it within reach. Powering on my computer, I went through emails while I waited on Ryan. Even at eight-thirty on a weeknight with plans, I was still working. I couldn’t turn it off.
The minutes ticked by. The time Ryan was supposed to arrive came and went. After half an hour passed, I shut everything down and reached for my phone to call him. The sound of the glass door out front opening and closing caught my attention as I hovered over the call button. My mouth pulled into a devious smile as my heart began to race.
Heavy footsteps grew closer, and as the handle to my office door turned, desire flooded between my thighs. The door swung open, and my arousal turned to terror.
“Hi, Raven—or should I say, Leah?”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Ryan
The toilet flushreverberated in my ears after I threw up for the second time that afternoon. I leaned back from my knees and sat on the bathroom floor, pressing my cheek against the cool tile wall. I had only gotten through the police files. There were still more documents Rick had sent over, but after reading Raven’s testimony of what happened, I ran for the bathroom, everything I’d eaten that day making a gruesome return.
Blood rushed in my ears as I hauled my ass off the floor and to the shower. Steam clouded the room after I turned on the water as hot as I could stand it. Maybe I could burn the images from my mind. Right before I stepped into the scalding water, I double checked the security camera feed. There had been nothing out of the ordinary in either location since I’d talked to Raven. At least she was safe.
The water sluiced down my back and loosened some of the tension in my shoulders. I focused on steadying my breaths as the horror of the words I’d read played back through my mind.
My uncle. Jeffrey Mitchell. The uncle that I thought died in a car crash when I was eleven had actually died at the hands ofthe woman I was in love with. The uncle who was the only person in my family who seemed to actually care about me as a child. The uncle I had missed ever since he died.
