“I know,” Russo said, and he dipped down and kissed me again. His mouth commanded mine, his tongue lashing against my own, as if my mouth were territory he planned to colonize. Russo was relentless and demanding, and I felt like a boat adrift on a stormy sea. It took every ounce of will not to tip over. Everything was happening so fast, and I felt foggy and buzzed. I couldn’t steady myself. Russo’s hand snaked inside Jude’s flannel and up my cropped tank top, cupping my breast possessively. I gasped, more from shock than delight. My nipple rose against his palm.
Russo broke the kiss. “You want me, don’t you?” he growled in my ear as he squeezed my nipple hard. His pinch burned, and I flinched.
Did I want him? I wanted to sit down, that’s what I wanted. My head felt like it was floating away from my body, like a helium balloon caught by the wind. I felt unsteady. Maybe it was because the starry night sky was spinning above me.
“You like to meet men on Spark?” Russo challenged me. “You like to take them home?”
Now we were suddenly in sexual role-play in the middle of an open parking lot, where Russo might or might not be sex-shamingme. And, look, I was all for sex games and dirty talk, okay? But something about the timing, about Russo’s tone…
I was missing something.
My mind whirled. Shouldn’t I be flattered? Russo—the man who turned heads wherever he went—wanted me. If I didn’t say yes, Marjorie the waitress would. She’d be happy to leave her panties on the floor of his rental.
And I was flattered. But I also felt overwhelmed. And against all logic, I was getting drunker by the minute. I needed to get my bearings.
“Hold on,” I said, trying to move away from Russo’s hands. They seemed to be everywhere. And they were strong.
Maybe I should just lean into him. Let him take me where he wanted. Maybe if I leaned into him, the world would stop tilting? Maybe I just needed to let Russo hold me up.
“I want you,” Russo told me, flat out, his eyes bright with need.
“You do?” I knew this, didn’t I? Why was my brain not working?
“You didn’t know that you drive me crazy?”
I shook my head.
“You think I’d travel to this inane little lake town to see just anyone?”
“I thought you were after… the Canceled Killer. Didn’t you come here to solve the case?”
Russo shook his head, sharp blue eyes never leaving mine. “I came here for you, Ella. It was always you.” He studied me, all seriousness. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me, but I think I’m falling in love with you.”
I felt a warm rush of jumbled emotions, but mostly I just felt dazed.
“You’re the perfect woman. Feisty. Tenacious. We’d make the perfect couple.”
Would we? Maybe we would. But right now my legs didn’t want to work. I tried to take a step and stumbled again.
“Let’s get you somewhere you can sit.” Russo was now leading me somewhere. We were walking down the sidewalk.
“Where are we going?”
“To my car. You need to sit down.”
My phone rang.
“Don’t answer it,” Russo growled.
But it was Oscar. By some miracle, I managed to put the phone to my ear.
“Ella? Where are you?” Oscar sounded upset. Scared.
“I’m…” My vision seemed to be getting darker. It was harder to put one foot in front of the other.
“Ella. Listen to me. Russo’s not who you think. He’s been suspended from his precinct. He’s under investigation.”
“Wha…?” I couldn’t even form a full word. What was happening to my tongue? It felt so thick. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. My brain struggled to keep up.
