Violated in a way that made my skin crawl and my stomach turn.
Maddox couldn’t be the only one with a weapon. What if he needed my help? I’d left my knife buried in that jackass’s shoulder, and I’d feel better if I had something to defend myself besides my skills and quick thinking.
I slipped away from Maddox long enough to yank open the drawer, the one where Mom kept the knives, and grab the first one my fingers touched.
“Hales,” Maddox hissed, his head swiveling toward me. “What are you doing?”
I gave him a look, but it didn’t have the same effect as his. “Protecting you.”
His eyes dropped to the knife and then back to my face. “I don’t know if I’m more afraid you’re going to hurt yourself or me with that thing.”
I almost laughed, the sound catching in my throat and dying before it could emerge. If only he knew what I could really do with this blade, he’d be more afraid of me than whoever had broken into my house.
We kept moving, checking each room. The basement door was still locked and required a key to enter, so unless the intruder was Houdini, he wasn’t down there.
With every step, my chest pulled tighter, my breaths thinning like there wasn’t enough air left in the house. Maddox veered toward the front door, checking the lock with his free hand; thedoor still had the deadbolt engaged. His brow furrowed, but he moved to the staircase, taking the steps slowly, his body angled. My eyes stayed glued to the dark hallway as we reached the top, remembering how I’d heard my attacker roaming around in my mom’s room right before I jumped out the window.
“My door…” I whispered. It was wide-open, soft light spilling into the hallway. “I think he came out the window after me.” It was the only explanation that made sense and solved how he’d been able to grab me so fast after my escape.
Maddox whirled around the corner, gun lifted into my bedroom as he stood, taking up the entire doorway with his body. I couldn’t see around him, but I read his body language, and he seemed disappointed. He wanted to find the attacker.
Lowering the gun, he stepped into my room, and I trailed in behind him. Everything looked the same at first glance. The window was still open, curtains dancing slightly in the breeze. And the black fucking rose still lay on my pillow.
It wasn’t that he left something behind that unnerved me; it was that heknew. A black rose. That couldn’t be a coincidence. How had he known? Who the hell was this guy?
Maddox picked up the rose, turning the stem between his fingers. He would immediately believe it was my stalker who had left the rose, but I knew better. I went to my bed, setting Jade on top. She shook out her fur, circling once, and settled into the rumpled blanket as if nothing had happened.
The burglar wasn’t inside the house, so I prayed that meant he was gone.
Relief.
Exhaustion.
Too many things hit me at once.
Maddox peered out the window, checking the ground below. His gaze eventually turned back to me, zeroing in on my hands. “Let me see that.” He gave a single nod, indicating the knife.
I handed it over without thinking, the night’s events catching up to me.
Tucking his gun back into his waistband, he twisted the blade over, examining it. “How did you get this knife?”
I could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong. I’d messed up. Big time. And all my lies were about to come crashing down on top of me. The prickles crawling over the back of my neck warned that I was about to be exposed. I’d been so damn careful. The idea that something so simple as a knife could be my downfall…
Fuck.
30
MADDOX
Hales stood frozen beside her bed with wide eyes, but it wasn’t just residual fear. Something else threaded through those multi-colored irises. “What do you mean? They’re just kitchen knives. We’d had them for years,” she said as if it were no big deal, but it was.
I turned the knife over again, examining the faint engraving where the hilt met the blade, those tiny markings Kreed had pointed out. A signature. My thumb ran along the edge, a pit forming in my gut. I had a seed of doubt that sprouted the second I saw her holding the weapon, and I wanted to be terribly wrong. “Funny thing about this blade. It’s custom-made. You see this here…” I turned the knife so she could see the engraving, tapping it with my finger. “It’s like a signature.”
Her gaze flicked to it. “Okay, so. My mom likes expensive knives. I don’t see what the problem is when we have a fucking stalker on the loose.”
“Do we, though?” I raised my brows, knowing this was a make-or-break moment, but I had to know. I had this itch in my brain, and it wouldn’t go away until I scratched it.
She toyed with the sleeve hem of her hoodie.Myfucking hoodie. “What are you talking about?”
