“The way Samuel laughed was so… terrifying. There was a hollowness to the sound, as if he wasn’t really the person controlling his laugh at all.”
“I noticed,” I gritted out. “He had the look of someone under complete control.”
“That’s no way of living life. I almost feel sorry for him. What if he didn’t do anything wrong?”
“Let’s just say he likely knew what he was taking the blame for, Alexia.”
“I guess.” She groaned and closed her eyes briefly. “My mother convinced me to see a psychiatrist when I couldn’t sleep after afew months. I did, at least for a little while. Our insurance didn’t cover it and the expense became too significant for my family to afford. But before the sessions ended, the shrink offered me two pieces of decent advice to carry into the future.”
“What were they?”
“One was to keep a diary of my thoughts, ideas that came into my head. She said doing so would help me work through the trauma on my own. I did that for a few years until life just began to take over. The second was to live life. Not to overthink it. Just live. Just enjoy the moment because you never knew when it could be your last. Maybe a little cliché, but after all this time, I think she was right. All I’ve done is to bury myself in my work. I think maybe because my guilt for surviving was too much to bear, much like you use your books to work through the guilt of not catching the killer sooner.”
When a few seconds of my silence had passed, she finally turned her head toward me. In her eyes there was hope. Maybe that she could learn to enjoy life or that I could. Hell, maybe both.
“Sounds like decent advice. Did you keep the diary?”
“I did. I pulled it out the other night hoping to find a clue. But you know what? What I wrote on the pages was a reflection of who I was at the time. But I’m not that scared little girl any longer. And neither Samuel nor his brother can hurt me any longer. Who knows. Maybe I’ll now learn to enjoy doing something a little reckless.”
Grinning, I lifted my drink in admiration. Yeah. She was much stronger than I was. Wiser too. And certainly more beautiful. “Maybe I can tame you.”
Her scowl was perfectly adorable.
She threw back the remainder of her wine. After placing the glass on the coffee table, she stood and with a single shudder headed toward the back door. Without asking, she pulled it open.
I shifted on the seat, allowing my gaze to drift down the long line of her neck and back to her legs as she leaned against the doorjamb. I couldn’t help but think how much you could learn about someone by taking a long drive with them.
Even remaining quiet you could discover various talents or hidden gems about another person. With the stunning women standing in front of me, I was given a private concert during the periods of conversational silence. She continually altered her music selection, highlighting her eclectic tastes, which I’d found amusing at first.
Then I’d been amused hearing her frustration in making a selection. But after she started humming, I was enthralled, the time taken on the drive going by far too quickly. Maybe she hadn’t realized she’d started singing the words. The volume was low and half the time she had her eyes closed, resting her head, but I’d heard every word, enjoying the melodies.
Perfectly in tune.
Perfectly perfect, just like the woman who’d suffered so much but was perhaps the strongest person I’d ever met.
“You have an incredible pool. Do you ever use it?”
I took a deep breath, trying to remember. “Never.”
She laughed softly as if I’d just released a tremendous secret. When she looked over her shoulder, allowing me to see her silhouette in the limited light of the room, my cock pressedagainst my zipper. I was completely uncomfortable, forced to shift in my seat.
“Well, then I guess you need to break it in.”
“I’m not much of a swimmer.” I’d originally wanted the pool, which had been expertly positioned on the property, with three sides a literal cliff leading to the beach, the area of the house leading to it surrounded by an iron fence. The view was spectacular and the water appeared as if flowing off the edge into the abyss.
At night with the shimmering light, the backdrop of the ocean and the sky, the setting was serene in its privacy.
“That makes you a party pooper.” Every time I thought I had her figured out, she surprised me once again. This time by dragging off her shirt and with a little dramatic flair, tossing it aside. “Maybe you need to learn to live a little recklessly.”
She didn’t wait for me, nor did she invite me to follow her. Seconds later, she disappeared. As soon as she did, I polished off my drink, placing the glass on the table with a hard thud. If she thought she was going to get away from me that easily, she had another think coming.
I glanced at the weapon, toying with the idea of the fucker trying anything while we were in the house. That wasn’t the Python Killer’s game. He preferred to lure his victims with this poetic bullshit he doled out. Meanwhile, my guess was he was some conservative rich guy in real life.
Nah. He wasn’t ready to let his guard down. The game was just commencing.
As I walked outside, I rubbed the fingers of my right hand. Not only were they aching from when I’d enjoyed strangling Samuel, they were also itching to be used for another spanking.
I didn’t see her at first, which unnerved the hell out of me.
