by B. B. Reid
“Fine.” I gave him a look that said this wasn’t over and attempted to move around him without touching, but his hand shot out and grabbed my arm just as I passed him.
“Don’t go far,” he ordered.
I looked down at his large hand on my arm and suppressed the shiver of anticipation I could feel building when I remembered all the things he’d done to me with his hand and all the places he had touched.
“I’m sure touching is a violation of your release. Be careful, Masters. One might think you were attempting to intimidate a witness.”
He leaned close enough to whisper in my ear. “Any time you need me to intimidate you, baby, just say the word.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Keiran
I gently pushed her out of the office, shutting and locking the door behind me. Coach Lyons still sat slumped in his chair with a wary expression.
“Can you believe her, kid? She wanted me to take you off the team.”
“I heard.”
“You heard… Well, uh… how much did you hear?”
“Enough.”
He shifted in his chair nervously. “Listen, my temper got the best of me, but you should know I wouldn’t remove you from the team. I didn’t want you off in the first place, but it was out of my hands.”
He offered me a shaky smile as if his pitiful promises meant something to me and all would be forgiven. As if I hadn’t just heard him raise his voice at Monroe. As if he hadn’t just called her a bitch and nearly spit in her face.
“Let me make this quick because I have a frustrating female who needs my attention. What I just heard makes me want to cut your tongue out and make you choke on it.”
“Son, liste—”
“As I said… I heard enough. If you ever speak to her that way again, I’ll make your wife a widow early.”
I left him sputtering and red-faced in his office and went after my stubborn headache. I tracked her down just outside the cafeteria doors and quickened my steps to catch her. She knew I would come after her and as much as she pretended not to be afraid of me, she sought the safety of the cafeteria.
“Oh, no you don’t,” I said when I grabbed her arm and dragged her in the direction we’d just come from.
“Let go of me, asshole.” I ignored her struggles and managed to pull her into an empty classroom without being caught. I was breaking every rule and taking too many chances even being near her, but fuck if she didn’t make it hard to break old habits.
Once safely hidden away, I slammed her back against a nearby wall, pushed up against her, and hid my face in her neck. If I looked into her eyes right now, I could ruin us both right here and now. “You want to tell me what the fuck that was about?”
Her scent was making it hard to remember how we ended up here in the first place. All I could concentrate on was the fact I had her in my hands again. Two weeks cold turkey and I’d relapsed. It was about as much as I had expected.
She was fire and ice.
And she had me by the balls.
“I don’t owe you an explanation. I’m only trying to right a wrong.”
“Damn it, Monroe.” I reluctantly lifted my head from her neck and abandoned her scent. “You aren’t making this easy.” How could I stay away from her if she were constantly doing things to pull me back in?
“Stop calling me Monroe. My name is Lake, and I wasn’t aware I was supposed to make anything easy for you. Should I show you the same mercy you showed me?”
I grabbed her face with my hands and held her eyes. “I want you to realize what’s at stake here if you keep pushing me.”
“You never played fair before,” she whispered.
Fuck.
I let her face go. Those twinkling blue-green eyes were pure torture to my dick. “I don’t know what I want more—to kiss you or kill you.”
“Why did Coach Lyons let you back on the team?” she asked, blatantly changing the subject.
“He didn’t let me back on the team. He asked me to come back.”
“He actually sought you out?” Her body rocked against mine in outrage.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think?” I took a step back, needing to put space between us but not too much. She visibly relaxed as she watched me warily. I noticed her palms brace the wall at her side and every other second they would clench.
“You can’t mean the championship is that important?”
“It is for a lot of people.”
“Enough to overlook the fact that you’re a murderer?”
“I didn’t kill Trevor and Anya.”
“Maybe you didn’t light the match, but it doesn’t make you any less responsible.”
“And you?”
“What about me?”
“You continuously point fingers but conveniently forget that you are as much an accomplice.”
“I didn’t—”
I cut her off before she could make any more false claims of innocence. “Maybe you didn’t light the match but you knew and you didn’t say anything. Why?”
She stared up at me incredulously. “And give you another reason to threaten my aunt?”
“Is that your final answer?”
“It’s the only answer.”
“You were never a good liar. By the way… how does it feel to have your aunt back home safe and sound? How many lies have you had to tell so far? When she holds you and tells you she loves you, do you feel guilty? Or do you feel like a hero for all the sacrifices you made?”
“What I sacrificed, you can’t even begin to understand or measure. You’d have to have a heart for that.”
“I may not have a heart, but if I were you, I’d be afraid of what beats in its place.”
I couldn’t help myself. I had to get my hands on her again, so I did. I gripped her hips and pulled her into me.
“Try something like this again,” I growled low and tightened my hold on her, “and one night I will crawl through your window and make you disappear. I won’t need to kill your aunt. I won’t need to hurt your best friend, and I won’t need to use your buddy, Jesse. Do you think they would survive not seeing you again?”
“I’m over you threatening to kill me.”
I couldn’t resist stealing a kiss from her lips, and without pulling away, I whispered, “It wasn’t a threat, and I have no intentions of ever killing you.” I stole another kiss. “I’m much too selfish for that.” I lifted my head to look her in the eye. “Stay out of my way, Monroe. I’m trying to protect you.”
“From you?”
“And from them. But yeah… mostly me.”
“And what if I just want to make you pay?”
“Then I’d say you were playing a very dangerous game.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Lake
School couldn’t end soon enough. It didn’t help that I had a test in all of my classes today, including gym class. The stress of the confrontation with Keiran earlier was weighing down on me as I walked into the precinct. I stormed up to both Detective Daniel and Wilson’s desks with purpose.
“I have information.”
The detectives looked up from their coffee seemingly startled as their faces furrowed with confusion. “Lake, what are you doing here? What information?”
“Information that will help you bring Keiran in. He cannot continue to walk free.” Instead of looking grateful or relieved, the detectives shared a nervous glance. “What?”
“We aren’t pursuing Keiran Masters any longer.”
My stomach lurched before plummeting down to rest at my feet. “What do you mean? How could you not pursue him?”
“Masters also came to us this morning with valuable information.”
“Well, apparently, he didn’t turn himself in because I just saw him at school, so what could he have possibly told you that would make you drop the case against him?”
“It hasn’t been entirely dropped. It’s been temporarily suspended.”
<
br /> “Then wha—”
“I’m sorry, Lake, but we can’t discuss it. It’s high profile and if we blow this, it would mean not only our jobs but many lives, as well.”
“After you convinced me to turn him in and testify, putting my own life at risk, you just decide to back out?”
“You don’t understand what’s at stake.”
“Then make me understand! It’s the least you could do, don’t you think?”
The detectives did their silent communication thing I was starting to hate. “We have the chance to catch a much bigger fish. We have the chance to bring down the most notorious child slavery ring in history.”
“And so now I’m just inconsequential?”
“Lake, we will continue to protect you. If Masters hadn’t provided us with suitable proof Trevor and Anya’s deaths were connected, then we wouldn’t consider it. However, as of now, we don’t believe he is a great threat to you or anyone else.”
“You don’t know him, Detective Daniels. He is calculating and manipulative. He’s using you to get what he wants, and I am a part of that equation.”
“We are on it, Lake. Trust us. If Masters tries anything, we will lock him up and throw away the key.”
“And I am supposed to believe you? You don’t know what he’s done or what he’s capable of.”
“Lake… Keiran’s freedom is based solely on the information he can provide us. If he does not deliver to us both Mario Fulton and Arthur Phalan, we will pursue the death penalty when he is tried.
The death penalty?
They would kill Keiran?
I didn’t realize I was falling until Detective Wilson caught me.
* * *
After Detective Daniel’s had dropped the massive bomb in my lap, I went numb. The thought of Keiran dying hurt worse than finding out my parents were dead. As much hell as he’d brought to my life, it made sense. I didn’t know them, but I knew him, and despite the hate I held for him, and the need to make him pay, I still loved him.
But this wasn’t what love was supposed to be.
It wasn’t how the rest of the world would see it.
They would see a young girl who had been so fearful of her childhood tormentor she, instead of reciprocating the hate, chose to love him instead.
I went to Willow’s after I left the station. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies and doing homework. I wanted to avoid questions and most of all, Jackson. He’d been hanging around a lot and though my aunt warned me previously, it still made me uncomfortable. He was essentially a good guy, but I didn’t like the way he was always watching me, reading and assessing me. He saw too much, and if he ever figured it out, he would tell my aunt.
When I finally pulled myself together enough to chance going home, I said goodbye to Willow, who couldn’t manage more than a noncommittal glance.
With college right around the corner, Willow was working furiously to keep her grades up. Or at least that’s what she said. Avoiding Dash may have had a little more to do with her constant need to stay distracted, though he seemed to avoid her just as much.
When I asked her what had happened between them after laser tag, she said me almost being killed was a reminder of what Dash had done, and she couldn’t be with someone like that. She also made it a point to tell him someone like him wasn’t worth breaking her mother’s heart, which explained the stick up his ass.
Despite Dash’s involvement, I couldn’t help but feel responsible for keeping Willow from being with the only guy she’d ever shown such keen interest in.
I didn’t hang around much longer after our homework was complete, but later, wished I had. All hell seemed to break loose soon after I came home, which was unfortunate because I wasn’t prepared to handle anything else that required stimulation of the brain. I managed to hide it well, but I was still reeling from the effects of Keiran today. I was more upset that I could still feel anything for him.
So what did that tell me?
That I still hadn’t learned anything from the past couple of months?
That Keiran was still very much in control?
I pulled into my driveway a few minutes later and saw my aunt was home, but when I walked inside, she was nowhere to be found. I figured she’d locked herself in whatever room inspired her today, and chose not to disturb her. Not even five minutes later, she decided to make her presence known.
“Lake, what is this?” My aunt demanded as she stormed into the kitchen where I was creaming my bagel. I was too distracted by thoughts of Keiran and forbidden moments in abandoned classrooms to eat anything more. She slapped a newspaper down in front of me, and the caption on the front sent my knife and bagel slathered in cream cheese, crashing to the floor.
“That’s that boy, isn’t it? Keiran Masters? He’s from your school. He was here… Oh, God,” she rushed out in one breath.
“Aunt Carissa, please… calm down. It’s not what you think.” Actually, it was exactly what she might have been thinking, but what else was I supposed to say?
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
There are many reasons why I didn’t tell her about Keiran being accused of murder. Fortunately, my aunt wasn’t one to keep up with the news. She preferred fantasy to facts, and it was the main reason I was able to keep this a secret for this long. However, a gruesome murder of underage kids, one being an ex-police officer’s son, was bound to come to light. I was just surprised she went this long without hearing about it.
“I didn’t think you’d care,” I lamely answered.
“Didn’t think I—” She took a deep breath before her voice exploded in anger. “For crying out loud, he came over and had pancakes!”
“Aunt Carissa,” I began but was cut off.
“Just tell me, Lake… are you in any danger?”
“Why would you ask that?” My face and voice remained impassive despite the pandemonium erupting inside my head.
“Because I really thought you were dating him. I can’t say I’m comfortable with you seeing this boy if you are.”
“No, I’m not seeing him. We were hardly even friends.”
She searched my face for signs of dishonesty, and it was the one time I prayed my aunt didn’t know me as well as she did. She seemed to give in to whatever answer she had found when she asked, “What happened to those poor kids? How could anyone do such a thing?”
“Aunt Carissa, he was a suspect, but they let him go. I guess they found new evidence.”
She didn’t appear convinced by my explanation as she furiously scanned the paper before slamming it down to glare at me. “Why do I get the feeling you aren’t telling me everything?”
“What do you mean?” I asked as I fought to keep my gaze on her. If I looked away or let my voice change infinitesimally, my aunt would catch it. She was too observing.
“What is your involvement with this guy and don’t you dare lie to me. A hot guy doesn’t just show up and eat a person’s pancakes without having a reason.”
I struggled with an answer, but a story worth telling, much less believing, wouldn’t surface. Damn the newspapers and damn Keiran Masters.
“He, uh, asked me out once, and I said no. He showed up because he was pretty persistent about it, but that’s over now.”
She eyed me warily before peering down at the paper again, scanning it once more before shaking her head with a look of sadness etched across her features. “It’s so tragic. Lake, I want you to promise me you will be careful. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you. After your mother died—” She paused mid-sentence and her eyes widened in horror. “Oh, Lake, honey. I’m sorry. I know this isn’t what you want to hear yet but—”
“Aunt Carissa, not now,” I urged but it sounded more like a desperate plea.
“Lake, I did this for you. I know you think you don’t want to hear it, but you need to. You’re already eighteen and will be graduating in just a few months. I couldn’t send you off into the world wit
hout knowing what happened to them. I’m sorry I lied to you.”
“I know, Aunt Carissa. You don’t need to apologize again. I just need time to figure this all out.”
I couldn’t tell her there was nothing to figure out or that instead, I couldn’t bring myself to admit they were really dead. I couldn’t even promise to try.
* * *
My room held a quality that wasn’t there when I left this morning, and when my eyes landed on my brooding teenage tormentor leaning against the wall, I understood why.
“It occurred to me the little stunt you pulled today was not a one-time deal or a brief lapse in judgment.”
Remembering his earlier threat, I quickly spun around to leave, but he was across the room with his hand over my mouth before I could cross the threshold. He pulled my arms back to rest at the small of my back. After I was restrained to his satisfaction, he quickly loosened his grip as if he were afraid of hurting me. I laughed despite my current position.
“So can you guess why?”
“I hardly think I need to be in this position or have you in my room in the middle of the night to play a fucking guessing game.”
“Careful with those big words, little girl.”
“Get over yourself, Keiran. We’re the same age.”
“That’s where you have it wrong. I’m nothing like you.”
I gritted my teeth to tamp down the onslaught of desire I couldn’t shake but held on to the growing anger. “Say what you came to say and get out.”
“What makes you think what I came to do involve words?”
“Because you seem to have a lot of them.”
His deep chuckle vibrated all the way down my body. “Is that a challenge?”
“It’s whatever you want it to be. I just want you gone.”
His laughter ended, and I knew he was assessing me in the way he always did, gauging my sincerity. I felt my words and their meaning down to my soul, and still, I knew I didn’t mean it. It frustrated me more than the sexual buildup he insisted on creating every time we were near.
I wanted to put him away forever. They wanted to kill him.