He looks angry. His dark eyes are dangerous.
This is too much right now. I move to take a step back. He doesn’t let me, pulling me into him. He leans down until I can feel his breath on my lips.
“Let’s get one thing clear here, Elliot. Casual or not, I don’t share. And I’m not seeing anyone else either. Tell me you understand.” His voice makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My traitorous heart answers his threat exactly the way he wants. I’m sure he can hear my heartbeat picking up, the bastard.
I swallow and nod.
“Good,” he says against my lips before closing the gap for a bruising kiss. It almost feels like a punishment, all teeth and bites, teetering on the edge of pain. He pulls back before I can taste him properly.
Then the heat is gone, and my body feels cold. Nicholas stands a few feet away, smiling wide like he didn’t just turn me into mush.
“Besides, I like your freaky muscles just fine,” he shrugs, then walks out, slamming the door behind me.
Fuck, he’s totally fooling the world with the whole nice boy routine, isn’t he?
***
My phone buzzes on the way back from the clinic. I quickly pick up after I see who it is. I don’t want my car speakers or engines hacked, or whatever this man will do if he thinks I’m ignoring him. I’ve been making a habit of picking up his every call over the last two weeks.
“I’ve trained you well,” Sam says.
I roll my eyes, something Sam has a special talent for making me do a lot. Maybe he trained me to do that, too. “Yup, fear of hacked electronic appliances is a great motivator to follow instructions,” I admit.
“Good to know you’ve learned that you can’t escape me, Rhodes,” he says. “You driving back early today? Are we making progress?Oh my god, did I help you get your sleep back?”
He sounds so excited, so I take all the pleasure in breaking his heart. “No, you didn’t. Nicholas wants to come over, so I thought I’d properly clean the place to make the house detective-proof.”
“Your house is always clean of evidence. So, the cleaning has other purposes. What could it possibly be?” he says exaggeratedly.
“It’s not surprising you’d think cleaning your home for a guest is unusual,” I comment.
“Hey. But fair. I can’t believe you agreed to this. Didn’t you have lunch together just yesterday? That has to be a record for you.”
He’s exaggerating. “You’re exaggerating. I met Andy so much more often,” I say confidently.
“You’re so delusional right now, I’m glad we stopped our tasks, or you’d have been the werewolf serial killer’s next victim. You literally had a ‘no more than once a week’ rule for Andy. Didn’t he say that was the reason he cheated on you?”
“Hethoughthe cheated on me because he thought we were in a relationship, even though I repeatedly told him we weren’t. But back up there a second. What do you mean, I’ll be the werewolf serial killer’s next victim?” I ask, my alarm bells ringing.
“Nothing,” he says quickly and suspiciously.
“You found him, didn’t you?” I ask, stunned. Of course, he did. The guy is a literal genius. And he’s been looking for this particular serial killer foryears. I knew it the day Sam announced this killer was his mortal enemy, his days were numbered. And now, I get to make it true.
Sam doesn’t say anything back.
No.No. “Don’t be stupid, Sam. I’ll be fine. Iamfine. We need to get him. He can’t kill any more women. Any other person he kills will be on us. Do you really want that on yourhead?” I pile on.
“You’renotfine,” he insists. “How much sleep did you get last night?” he challenges.
“Enough to do a successful surgery today and not snap at a single person. I promise I’ll not lay one foot out of line.”
“Ugh, please don’t make me regret this.”
Some of the tension leaves my body, and I breathe out. “I promise.”
“He’s in Arizona. You’ll have to leave soon. Before he moves on and we lose his track again, if you really want to do this,” he says, some excitement coming back into his voice.
I nod, then realize we’re on a call. “Yes, I can clear my schedule for a few days.”
