Now just to get them together too, but first, I have someone to punish.
Some asshole thought he could put his hands on my Rosebud, pull my Rosebud into danger. I'm gonna make him wish he never laid eyes on her. I had a name and a face, that was all I needed. Seth Newgent was a dead man.
I was a detective usually. That's why Malcolm asked me to be security for him that night. While I had kept my distance he somehow was still in the know about my daily life minus my Rosebud. He hadn’t known about my obsession with her. My job made it easy to keep her safe and make her ex disappear. I knew where no one would look. I also knew where the dumping grounds for local killers were and how to make it look like my victims were theirs.It wasn’t like I went around killing willy nilly. I killed very selectively and only when I had to. I wasn’t insane like the other people in town. I had a cause and rules. Seth brokethose rules when he thought he could hurt my Rosebud. So he had to die.I texted my partner letting him know I would be going into the precinct soon. It was my day off so it wasn’t like I had an actual time to be there. Before I went in though I had to make sure Blake wasn’t at fucking Zumba on her ankle. I used the tracker in her phone to find her at the gym she liked to frequent. I was in no way dressed for the gym but it didn’t matter.I walked in and scanned my membership card, yes I got one just because she goes here.Sue me.
I walked towards the Zumba room but stopped dead in my tracks. She wasn’t at Zumba; It was fuckingSpin Class.
I had forgotten she’d recently started Spin class once a month. Why today of all days, on herhurt fucking ankle? “Jesus Christ.” I muttered under my breath and clenched my fists. What was she thinking?
Ducking behind some equipment I took out my phone and called her, chewing on my lip until she picked up. Luckily, she looked to be either early or doing a solo work out so she could talk if she saw my call.
“Ethan?” Blake panted softly.
“Hey Rosebud, I was calling to check on you. You’re not working out on that ankle, are you?” My tone teasing.
“Mm, did I miss you becoming my keeper?” Her tone teased back.
“I just don’t want you to overdo it and hurt more.”
She went quiet and I thought for sure I’d pissed her off before she finally spoke again. “I just want to keep on my regimen.” She sighed. “I need to work out more, not less.”
“Why? You look amazing.” I peeked around the corner to see a blush creeping her cheeks. She leaned against the bike, biting her thumb nail.
“I was at the gym…” It wasn’t an answer to my question, but I let it go.
“I’m just asking that you let it heal first.” I said softly. “Just a few days, Blake.”
“I think I like you calling me Rosebud more than my name.” She laughed.
“Rosebud.” I hummed.
“Fiiinnnneee.” She sighed, leaning off the bike and winced. “I’ll go home.”
Seth was double dead. I was going to kill him, bring him back then kill him again. “Thank you. Can I bring you dinner tonight?”
“I’d… like that actually.” She said, getting her bag and I hid again as she left the Spin Classroom.
“Text me your favorite and I’ll bring it over after work. Bye Rosebud.” I made sure she left the building before I hung up the phone and sent a quick text to Mal.
Ethan Bugsy:I’m having dinner with Blake, help yourself to the kitchen
Dickhead:No fair, I protest!
Ethan Bugsy:Protest all you want, it’s happening.
I pocketed my phone and left, making sure the coast was clear before heading for the precinct.
The moment I entered, I regretted it. “Bunny! Don’t you take a day off?” My partner, Peter Hudson shouted once he spotted me.
It wasn’t that I didn’t take days off. It was that they were rare. I had to keep up appearances after all. I only came in today to look into this Seth guy and get what I needed so I could get rid of him.“What can I say, I love my job.” I gave a fake but believable laugh. “Busting my balls, Hudson?”
“Always.” The man laughed. Hudson was a few years older with salt and pepper hair from stress. He was fit and good-looking with a chiseled jaw and deep blue eyes but didn’t compare to my Songbird. No man ever could.
I hadn’t exactly tried to be with other men while we’d been broken up. No man had been attractive to me so I hadn’t bothered. When it came to men, I could recognize their appeal, but that was as far as it went. Unless it came to Malcolm.
“So why are you here today anyway?” Hudson asked, sitting at his desk across from mine, cup of coffee between his hands.
“Don’t you know?” I drawled sarcastically. “I’m in-capable of taking a day off.”
