“I’m changing her. What the fuck does it look like I’m doing?” I snap as I try to decide how to get it over her head.
I get an idea and reach over to my nightstand. I pull it open and grab my scissors. I then cut it right down the middle. Jet turns around when he realizes she’s not wearing a bra, and I keep my eyes on her face. I couldn’t get turned on right now if she woke up and started sucking my cock. Anger is a very powerful tool. And that trumps any sexual desire I have at the moment.
She gets my attention as she lets out a growl. “You’ve been lying to me?” she demands, taking a step back from me.
“I never once lied to you.”
She shakes her head. “I came to you for help with Tiffany, and you never once told me that you were a cop,” she says through frustration.
“It wasn’t important,” I say simply.
“Not important?” Her mouth falls open. “You’ve been pretending to help me.”
“I have been helping you,” I shout. “That’s all I’ve fucking done is help you. Why do you think I’m trying to protect you? You thought I was just another druggie wanting to waste time on a woman who has no one?”
“Fuck you, you son of a bitch,” she says with a look of hatred on her face.
“I know you’re mad …”
“Mad?” she asks wide-eyed. “You have no idea what I am.” She takes another step back from me.
I tilt my head to the side as I watch her look me up and down as if she’s looking for something. “What are you looking for?” I come out and ask.
“Nothing,” she lies. Then she turns around and starts to run to the front door.
I chase after her. As she opens the door, I slam my hand on it, and it shuts. I reach up and grab her upper arm with my free hand. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Away from you,” she growls as she tries to break free.
I press my body into hers, pinning her against the door. Her hands come up, and she pushes on my chest. I grab them and pin them above her head against the door as well. “What the hell is wrong?”
“You’re not taking me to jail,” she screams. “I won’t let you.”
I let out a breath, surprised by her words. That’s the last thing I expected her to say. “I’m not going to,” I tell her.
“Liar,” she screams as her body continues to fight me. “You’re a liar.”
“Stop fighting me,” I demand, breathing heavy. She is wearing one of my thin t-shirts, and I can see the hardness of her pink nipples. The way her body moves against mine is making my cock hard.
Her body softens, and her head falls down to rest on my chest. She doesn’t have much energy after last night, but I refuse to let her go just yet. “Why do you think I would arrest you?” I ask, trying to regain control of this situation.
She slowly lifts her head. Her dark green eyes look tired as she breathes heavy. “Because that’s what guys like you do.”
“I’m not going to—”
“Why wouldn’t you?” she shouts, interrupting me. “You said it yourself. I have no one. It’s your word against mine.” She closes her eyes and fists her hands as I hold them above her head. She’s probably starting to lose feeling in them as the blood rushes down.
I release her, and her body sags into mine. I lead her over to the kitchen table. I pull out a chair for her and motion for her to sit down. She places her face in her hands, but I pull them away. “Skye,” I say softly, and she shakes her head as she squeezes her eyes shut, trying to block me out. “Look at me, Skye,” I say more forcefully.
“Don’t touch me.” She tries to pull her hands free, but I yank them forward, almost pulling her off the chair.
Her eyes pop open, and she gasps. “I promise you,” I say when her eyes meet mine. “I promise you that I am only here to help you. I’m not going to take you to jail. And I’m gonna keep my other promise that I’m going to find Tiffany’s killer. But I can’t do it when I’m trying to keep an eye on you too.”
She goes to speak, but a knock on the door makes her pause. “I’ll be right back,” I say and then go to get the door. “Hey, Doc,” I say allowing him into the house. I walk him into the kitchen and see that Skye is still sitting there. Wiping the tears off her face.
“This is the emergency?” Doc asks turning to face me. Doc is another man in this town who knows what Case and I are. He sees us off the books when we need help. He works at the hospital but knows that we can’t always go there. He’s a good guy to know when you’re in a bind.
I nod to Skye. “Yes. She needs some fluids.” After what her body went through last night, I had called Doc. He was out of town. But I had him come straight back to give Skye what she needs. She had taken a bar, drank some alcohol, and then was given some sort of liquid drug that, although I’m a hundred percent positive was Gen, I don’t know anything about.
“What’s going on?” she asks her voice filled with concern. I hate that I told her I was a cop. I wanted to use it to make her fear me even more but not this way. What has she done in the past that she thinks I’ll arrest her for? That I would lock her away? I need to know everything there is about this woman. And quick.
“This is my friend. He’s a doctor,” I say. “After the night you had, I called him to come give you some fluids.” She starts shaking her head quickly. “He’s just gonna give you a banana bag. I swear.” I walk over to her and kneel in front of her. I smooth back some dark hair strands. “I want you to trust me.” Truer words have never been spoken. I need this woman to trust me, to depend on me. “I am trying to help you.” Her eyes are heavy, and I know she’s tired. Her emotions are all over the place. I just told her that I’m a cop and that I forced her to vomit last night. She needs sleep and lots of it. “Please. Let him help you.”
SKYE
Brecken’s friend Doc pulls the needle out of my arm, and I let out a deep sigh. I already feel better, but I refuse to tell Brecken that. It is just one more thing for him to gloat over. He’s been right about everything so far. Why give him one more reason to prove that I know nothing?
“If you feel queasy or lightheaded, take one of these.” Doc sets a bottle full of capsules on the kitchen table.
“Thank you,” I say, holding the cotton ball to my arm. He walks over to Brecken, and I watch him get out his wallet. He counts out five one-hundred dollar bills and hands them to the doctor. I look away from them. Guilt and shame fill me. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have thought that I could make a difference? I want revenge, and I was literally willing to put myself in harm’s way for it. If I had the opportunity, would I do it again? Absolutely! And that probably makes me crazy, but I really don’t care.
“Thanks, Doc.” Brecken walks him to the door and lets him out. He enters the kitchen and sits down across from me. I can’t even look at him. “How do you feel?” he asks, his voice much softer than it was earlier.
“Fine.” My voice is clipped. “Same as I was earlier,” I add.
“You don’t have to lie to me.”
I look over at him. He sits at the end of the table. Both his hands on it clasped together. And the memory of the way they held my arms above my head come back full force. He’s so strong. No matter how hard I fought, I was powerless. I hate that a part of me liked it.
I look over his black t-shirt that shows off his sleeve tattoos, and his chest tattoo peeks out the top of it. I wonder what’s underneath it … “Like how you lied to me about being a cop.” All I could think about was running. Run as far away from him as possible. He’s more dangerous than I could have ever imagined. He’s not just a drug dealer. He’s an undercover cop who sells drugs to people who have an addiction. He pretends to be one thing while really being another. He’s a chameleon, doing whatever he needs to do in order to blend into whatever situation he is in. And now, I’m on his radar. I’m fucked!
Daddy,” I cry as I reach my hands through the bars. “Where’s Mommy?” I ask as I try to reach for him. Th
ree men came running into our house last night while we were sleeping and took us away from home. I yelled for Mommy and Daddy, but they separated us. They brought us to a place I’ve never been before, and a guy by the name of Luca locked my father away.
He crawls over to me and grabs my hands. His are so cold, and I gasp. “Listen, baby girl.” He swallows as his eyes dart around the darkened hallway that I sit in. “Don’t let them lock you up.”
“Daddy, I don’t understand.” Tears run down my cheeks. “You didn’t do anything.”
He pulls on my hands, and it presses my faces against the bars that separate us. “When you get the chance, you run, Skye. You run, and you don’t stop.”
“Where would I go?” I ask wide-eyed. I have nowhere to go.
“Anywhere but here,” he says in a rush.
“With Mommy?” I ask as I sniff.
He shakes his head quickly. “I’m sorry baby girl, but you’re gonna have to run on your own.”
“Leave you and Mommy?” I ask in horror. “Daddy, I can’t …”
I hear a noise coming from down the hallway. “Go now.” He pushes me away. “Go,” he says urgently. “Go before they catch you here. You have to run.”
I swallow trying to forget that memory, but it always sneaks up on me. I was seven and had no idea at the time what was going on. Or why they were keeping him in a cage. But I ended up doing what he said. I ran. It was five years later, but I was finally able to get away. I haven’t stopped running since.
“I never lied about that.” He clears his throat. “No one in this town knows. That would blow my cover. A cover I have worked many years to keep.”
“No one knows?” I ask slowly. Why would he tell me if no one else knows?
“Well, of course, Miller, Case, Doc, and now, Jet. And Jones.” Where have I heard that name before? “He’s my boss. He was at the morgue.” Ah, yeah. Now, I remember. “He is the one who put Jet and me together on Tiffany’s case.” I nod. “But besides you, no one else.”
“That must be hard,” I say, feeling sorry for him. Why do I feel sorry for this man?
His dark eyebrows draw together. “How so?”
I look down at my hands as they rest on the table. “Having to live this secret life. Not being able to tell anyone.” Secrets. I have a lot of those. And I’m thankful I haven’t told him any of them. “What about women?” Does he have no one? No one he can confide in?
He stares at me for so long that I think he’s not going to answer that question. And really, I’m not sure why I care. “A woman did know who I was.”
“And?” I ask, and I hate the feeling I get in my gut as he mentions a woman. As if he’s not available. But I haven’t seen or heard of a woman.
“And I killed her,” he says simply.
I stare at him, stunned and a little more terrified of him. “Killed her?” The words are whispered. I can’t help but ask. “How did you …?”
“I shot her. Twice.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
BRECKEN
I’m telling her too much. I’ve already told her too much. But if she fears me, she will obey me. There is something about a woman who fears a man. His scars. His tattoos. His body in general. Men need to be in charge. And this woman definitely needs someone in charge of her.
“Did you love her?” she asks, looking away from me. As if she was afraid to ask me that question but she needed to know. I like how she asks questions; even the ones she’s afraid to know the answers to. She can’t help but know. That’s exactly what will get her killed in this world.
“No.” Rachel was not the kind of woman you loved. She was the kind you fucked. The kind you ran to all your friends and bragged about how well she sucked your dick. The kind you kept pictures of on your phone. She was also the kind who couldn’t be faithful if her life depended on it. I know that Case thinks I loved her, but there was not that kind of love there.
“Did you kill her because she told your secret?”
I lean back in the kitchen chair and relax, as last night starts to wear off. She’s here in my house. Doc has seen her, and she is safe. But I just can’t help but stare at her chest with my shirt on. Or the thought of me walking over to her, falling to my knees, and throwing her legs over my shoulders as I pull her nude panties off and bury my head between her legs. My cock hardens, and I shift in my seat. “I killed her because she tried to kill me.” Her eyes widen. “Long story short. She had me shot. Then she tried to shoot my best friend and his girlfriend.” I leave out a few details like how she set Case’s house on fire and that Taylor was the other one she had shot. Some things don’t need to be told.
“So you’ve been shot?” she asks, swallowing hard. I nod my head. “Where at?”
“My chest.”
She looks down at the cotton ball she holds to her arm and pulls it away. When she sees no blood, she seems satisfied and looks back up. “I am sorry about last night. I just thought … I’m not sure what I thought. I just had to do something.”
“What was your plan? Leave with him and what?” I ask with a shrug. “I, I truly can’t understand what sent you to Throb in the first place.”
She licks her lips. “I pulled up her phone records. I found some numbers that she had called that I didn’t recognize, so I called them.” My brows rise. “One went to a place called Throb. I told them that I was Tiffany and that I had a missed call from there.” I tense. “She put me on hold, and while I was on hold, a man got on the other end. He said that James was pissed at me. That I, being Tiffany, owed them money …”
I run a hand through my hair and let out a frustrated sigh. “What?” she asks.
“You told them you were her?” I ask, making sure I heard them right.
She nods. “You said they might come for me. You had already made me move. I didn’t want them to know I was on to them.”
“Shit!” I hiss as I stand up. I start to pace in my kitchen, needing the movement, and notice that I still haven’t cleaned up the water glass that I threw.
“What?” she asks, standing as well. The fear on her face is evident.
I stop pacing and look at her. “You told them that you were her. But what if they were the ones who killed her? Tiffany had already been dead for days when you called pretending to be her.”
She tilts her head to the side as if in thought. After a few seconds, her eyes widen, and she places her hand to her mouth as she sucks in a breath. “Oh, God.”
Good, I’ve scared her. This is why she shouldn’t have done anything. “When you went into Throb and met Oscar, did you still go by Tiffany?”
She shakes her head. “I made up a name.”
“Well, that’s a plus,” I say, wanting to roll my eyes but refrain.
“But …” She pauses.
“But what?” I ask, feeling my chest tighten. What could she have possibly done?
“I gave him my number.”
“You what?” I demand.
Her shoulders shrug as if she’s confused about what to say. “He asked me for my number. I gave him a fake name, but I wrote my real number down on a napkin …”
“FUCK!” I hit my fists down on the table.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking,” she says in a rush.
“Damn right, you weren’t thinking.” She sniffs, and I take a deep breath. Calm down, Brecken. “We can change your number. We’ll do it today,” I say. That is an easy fix. I had checked all of his pockets, so I know that he didn’t have her number on him. So the question is, where is it? I open my mouth but shut it quickly. I want to tell her that the guy had recognized her. That he thought she had set him up, but I decide not to. And then the fact he said another guy was after her… another guy wants her dead. She was going to run out of this house the moment she found out I was a cop, so what would she do if I told her a guy wants her dead as well? I’d probably never see her again, and that thought steals my breath. I can’t tell her the truth only for her to run. It’ll be like Nicole
all over again. I’ll always wonder what happened to her. No, I wouldn’t have that. I’ll keep her here safe with me.
“What about Oscar?” she asks, still looking at me wide-eyed. “What if he tells them …?”
“That won’t be an issue,” I say, interrupting her. No need to worry her any more than she already is.
“Why not?”
“Because he is in a coma.”
Her mouth falls open, and she stares up at me. I can’t help but look her up and down. The way her tits hide behind my white t-shirt. She wasn’t wearing a bra last night, and she isn’t now. They look so round and soft. I want to touch them. Taste them. Watch them harden as my lips kiss them. Then there are her legs; they are as soft as they look. Fuck, why do I want a piece of this woman so bad? Is it a control issue? I wanna fuck you into submission issue? Whatever it is, I want her so bad I can taste it.
“What do you mean a coma?”
“I beat the shit out of him. He won’t be talking for a while.” If I’m lucky, the bastard will just die.
“You did what?” she demands as if she’s hard of hearing. “Why did you do that? He was supposed to lead me to James.”
I refuse to tell her that I know who James is, or the fact that I know Oscar. She’ll never drop it. Never quit asking questions. I know both of these men very well, and I can’t just go to James asking questions. And they can’t know she is with me. With me? I like the sound of that. “I don’t wanna get into a fight with you again,” I say in all honesty. “I had no idea what he had done to you at the time. What you were on. Jet had him in a room down on the club floor. Every question I asked him about you, he refused to answer.” I leave out the part where he knew who she and Tiffany were. “I couldn’t let him leave the club alive. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to kill him just yet. As far as James goes, he wouldn’t have taken you to James.”
Obsession (Seven Deadly Sins Book 2) Page 18
