“You don’t like surprises?” he laughs angrily. “What about that bloody sheet you left me as a good morning gift at the cabin?”
I can’t do this. Then I remember the box of pictures. Fuck. My gaze darts to the coffee table where several are laid out. Please God. Please help me. “Leave.” I push him away, but he doesn’t budge.
“Explain this.” He grabs a fistful of the shirt and gives me a shake. “Tell me who you really are.”
All I can think about are the photos. They’re much more damning than the T-shirt.
“What the fuck are you looking at?” He lets me go and turns around.
I run for the table, managing to grab the photos and stuff them in the box before he gets to me.
“Give me the box,” he demands.
I hide it behind my back. “Get out!”
“Don’t make me take it from you.”
“Get out,” I scream again, hoping my neighbor will hear me through the partially open door.
Eagle notices it, too, and stalks down the short hallway, slams it shut, and then throws the deadbolt and sets the chain. Before he turns back, I slip the box under the sofa.
“Why is it so fucking dark in here?” He flips on the overhead light in the dining room. “Come here,Serafina,” he says dubiously, like it’s not my real name.
“Get out of my apartment and my life, Eagle. Find another girl to stalk.” It kills me inside to be so mean, to send the man I love away without the truth. I never expected him to show up here. Never.
“I’m not leaving, Serafina. So either you can fish that box out from underneath the sofa or I will.”
I start to shake all over. This is my fault. I let my heart rule my brain. I begged Ben not to send me to Holly Beach. I knew Caleb and Lazaro were best friends. Though I’d never met Lazaro before, I knew the chances were high that Eagle would be at that party. I wanted to see him. I wanted to dance for him. I wanted to seduce him. And then Eagle saved me again, and my sick and twisted dream turned into a nightmare. We’re forever doomed to repeat our history together. I stare at him from across the room, trying to breathe and stay on my feet. I feel lightheaded and sick to my stomach.
“You’re pale,” he comments as he closes the distance between us. For a brief moment his anger turns into genuine concern and he reaches for my face.
I look away. “Don’t touch me.”
“Goddamnit, Serafina.” He kneels in front of the sofa. “If you won’t give me the answers I need, perhaps the contents of that box will.”
When he pulls it out I gasp in fear of what’s to come.
“Please, go away. Pretend we never met.”
He gazes up at me. “That’s never going to happen.”
Eagle
Whatever is going on here needs to be settled. She’s wearing the shirt I gave Angel. Only a couple explanations exist. She knows Bear or she found the T-shirt at a secondhand store like she said and purposely sought me out, wanting to become my old lady.
I study the outside of the metal lock box. There’s nothing remarkable about it. But I’m sure what’s hidden inside will provide some of the answers I need. As I open the lid, she screams again. All I see are pictures. I turn a few over. My heart stops. Heat courses through me. Serafina has pictures of me, Angel’s family, my MC. What the fuck? Who is she? Why does she have these photos? I throw the box across the room, blinded by rage and disappointment. I wanted this girl. I drove for hours to get here, to show her how much I cared—that I was willing to give her whatever she needed to be with me. To tell her everything about my past and then finally leave it behind. As I approach her, she retreats.
“Did you help the Dead Dogs kill Angel Orani?” I’m in her face now, shoving her against the wall. “Or is this evidence? Did they pay you to hide it? Are you some kind of sick fuck who gets off on other people’s pain?” She’s starting to hyperventilate, but I don’t give a shit. “Answer me, woman.” I stare at the shirt again—the wordsProperty of Eagledriving me into a rage. Without thinking, I fist the material in my hands and rip it off her body. “I should kill you . . .”
“Eagle, please.” She falls to her knees, tears streaming down her face. “Forgive me.”
I kneel in front of her. “There’s no going back, Serafina. No forgiveness. Only pain and suffering. I thought you were real—pure. I came here tonight to offer you a chance at something I never thought I’d have again.”
“What?” she begs for an answer. “Tell me.” She reaches for my face so tenderly I’m stunned.
“Get your fucking hands off me.” That’s when I notice her eyes. Big brown eyes, not green. Eyes like Angel’s. I wrap my hand around her throat, ready to squeeze the life out of her. I hate this woman as much as I hate the Oranis. “Who are you?” I apply some pressure, just enough to frighten her.
She clutches my wrists, trying to free herself from my chokehold. “Stop it.”
