*I love you, Rowan
I pan to Weeks, who looks flustered. “You good?”
His forehead scrunches. “Yeah. It’s still searching.”
The database we use is the same as the police department’s use; I’d be fucked if I ever get caught. But it pays to play, or so they say.
We sit in silence as we both play on our phones, waiting for the print to ping.
I hear Weeks drop his phone on the desk. “Holy hell.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Rowan
Of course, they sent Niko to come and get me. I feel like this was Luca’s doing, that asshole, if so.
The car smells of menthol and leather with a hint of the smell from the funeral home. It’s not gross, just a smell I’ve never smelled before. Unique and unnerving, just like Niko.
The ride is quiet, and it gives me time to think, thinking that I don’t want to do.
I look at Niko, whose sole focus is on the road ahead of us.
“Can you turn on the music?” I ask him.
“No,” is his only response, not even giving me a stare.
Screwing up my face, I reach for the power button, but before my finger can touch it, my wrist is jerked away.
“Hey, what the fuck?”
“I said no, and that means no.” Niko still doesn’t look at me.
“I’m not fucking Catherine, so watch your tone and never put your nasty ass hands on me again.” It comes out seething, and good. Who is he? He has no right to touch me. A simple‘hey’would have sufficed.
A laugh unlike any I’ve ever heard comes out of his mouth. When he turns his head to me, his eyes are as dark as night, even in the sun blaring in on us. “I’m not your little fuck boy; what I say goes. I already said no, and you didn’t listen. In my car, you will listen. If not, I’ll fucking stop now and you can find your own way to Two Brother’s.” His voice is haunting.
I swallow deeply and turn to look out of my window. The urge to climb into the backseat and away from him is heavy.
My mind screams to pick, but instead I slowly lift my bottom and sit on my hands, keeping them safe.
The road blurs as my eyes never leave it. I couldn’t even think about falling asleep with him next to me.
We stop at a deserted four-way stop.Why the hell would they put one out here in the middle of nowhere?I feel eyes searing into me.
I don’t move my head, only my eyes to look out from the side of them, and Niko just watches. But he isn’t watching me; he’s looking at my hands I’m still sitting on top of.
Unease wafts over me.
“Why are you doing that?” he asks before staring at the road once more, pushing the gas, speeding through the four-way. I look down the other road, and it’s clear for as far as I can see.
I pull my hands out from under me; they’re numb. Looking down at them, they're scarred and torn up, but I don’t answer him. He’s a dick, so why should I tell him anything? Hell, I don’t even know him.
“I see you. You don’t think anyone does, but the night in the crematorium, I saw right through you. You’re an injured animal trying to be brave and walk on all fours, but at some point, pretending is going to get you dead. Everything has a cause and effect.”
My breath doesn’t come; I cough trying to force it to.
I watch as his chipped, black painted nails tap the steering wheel.
