This is gonna cost you, lady. And I’ve got all night to figure out ways for you to pay.
Cuddles gazes up at me, not even blinking as she settles in my lap. I scratch behind her ears just long enough to be able to say I did. Maybe she’ll go to sleep or find someone else to torment, but, no, she stands and flicks her tail back and forth. I’m starting to think cats do that when they’re thinking particularly hard. She walks her front paws up my chest slowly until we’re eye to eye. She flexes her front paws, kneading my chest, and I discover that Cuddles has not been declawed. A lesser man would complain, but I’m in a face off with this cat and I won’t blink – even as Windy and her mom laugh so hard that they’re practically hanging on each other in their battle to remain upright.
Windy’s dad, of all people, comes to my rescue. He gently picks the cat up and cradles her against his chest, stroking her fur. “You’re an old girl now, aren’t you, Cuddles? But you still know what you like.” He turns his warm gaze toward me and smiles with approval at Windy, who is tucked close to my side now – close enough for me to feel the sob that shudders through her as she returns her father’s smile. “I’d say that’s a seal of approval if I’ve ever seen one. Welcome to the family, son.”
Dr. Brinkley
I look through the small glass pane before I turn and palm a hundred dollar bill into the prison guard’s hand. He opens the metal door and goes to get a cup of coffee, leaving me with the object of my obsession and no cameras. I’m finding it hard to get over how that fucking judge has come between Georgia and me. It’s getting harder to keep the darkness at bay knowing she’s no longer just down the hall. But there are occasions, like tonight, when a bribe or two to the right people makes all the difference.
“It’s 2:30 in the morning, love,” she says as I approach the bed where she’s safely handcuffed until morning.
“What, were you busy?” I taunt her…simply because I can.
“Fuck. You.”
“Now, that will take a little more planning on my part but I’m certain I can work something out.”
“I’m still mad at you, darling.” Ah, my coquettish flirt is back.
I lean in and whisper against the soft skin of her neck, “I know. But I can’t help you if I take the fall for killing that kid.”
“You killed him for her. I’m going to serve time for something you did for her,” she says flatly.
“Yes, I did, and yes, you will. I’m just sorry we’ll never have the chance to thank him,” I say as I remember the night of my first kill, the night that marked the start of this new chapter in my life.
“I’m going to destroy you when I get out of here,” she hisses. “You know that, right?”
“Now, now, you know my heart belongs to only you. I’ve got the scar to prove it.”
“Show it to me,” she whispers, her eyes hungry as she arches her back. I unbutton my shirt and pull the fabric aside. Her eyes become glassy and her breath quickens at the sight of her brand on my chest. The wound has scarred over perfectly after I spent the last two months tending to it meticulously.
Her eyes narrow as she lifts her gaze to my face and drawls, “I don’t want your heart, darling, not until it’s, quite literally, on a silver platter. Now,” she says as her demeanor abruptly turns cold, “why are you here? Surely, I’m of no interest to you now that my ‘bloody murder spree’ is over and I’m in this hellhole. I’m finished.”
I close my eyes as I contemplate the bright, delicious future I have planned. That judge thinks prison walls will save the world from Georgia’s darkness…the darkness we share. But I know better. The brand above my heart starts to tingle, as if in agreement. Gazing into her lovely, empty eyes makes me smile as I croon softly, “That’s what I’ve come here to tell you, love. You see…I’m just getting started.”
The End…
Undercover Elite (Undercover Elite Book 2) Page 21
