Page 89 of Good Girls Beg

"They also say when you find true love you should hold onto it with everything you have.” He sighed happily. "That's exactly what I'm doing."

I slid out from under his arms and stepped away from him.

"I know you think you like me⁠—"

"I do like you," he said firmly. "The more time we spent together, the more perfect I see we are for each other."

"You killed someone." I moved over to the window, my gaze on him. "What am I supposed to do with that?"

He rubbed his brow as it creased. "Are you disappointed you weren't there? I took photos, I can show you." He started to pull his phone out of his back pocket.

I raised my hands in front of me. "Fuck no. Wait, you really took photos of a dead body?"

"Dead, almost dead, out on the street doing his thing while I was trying to figure out the right time and place to deal with him…” Victor dropped his hand to his side.

"Wait a minute, you were stalking him?" I asked.

"I prefer to call it careful planning," he said. "You're right, though, I should have been watching you like those guys were."

I leaned my head back against the window. I remembered what he said about the guy watching me at the restaurant. Were they stalking me, or was that a one-time thing?

The more I thought about it, the more I thought I should go home to my dads and tell them exactly what was going on. Not the stalking and murder, or the kidnapping. Or the tattoo I didn't ask for.

No, just the bit about the money the guys were going to give me. Money that seemed important at the time, but now? I might have been the crazy one, to accept their proposal.

"I've been too much," Victor said sadly. "I'll try to be not too much from now on. If I'm too much you have to say, 'Hey Victor, stop being too much.' I promise I’ll try to listen." He pressed a hand to his heart.

"I should go," I said. Was he going to let me leave?

"I don't think that's a good idea," he said. "Hel, Fade and Oak are probably looking for us right now. I'd really prefer not to go back into that basement."

"Have you tried explaining to them what happened?" I asked.

Instead of answering, he stopped and tipped his face back, frowning as though trying to hear something.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Someone's here," he said.

I froze and listened but couldn't hear anything. No sign of anyone out the window.

"What makes you think?—"

He pressed the side of his finger against my lips. "It's okay, I won't let them do anything to you." He lowered his hand and looked expectant. "This is where you say you won't let anything happen to me."

"Um…"

He grinned. "It's okay. You don't have to say it, I know how you feel. Of course you won't let anything bad happen to me. Because you're a good girlfriend." He grabbed my wrist and tugged me back towards the couch, pulling us both down to a crouch.

I wanted to remind him I wasn't his girlfriend, but he seemed genuinely certain someone was outside the house, and that someone intended to hurt both of us. We might be the next ones having our photos taken as we lay dead.

"Do you have any friends you'd like to pay you visits in the middle of the night?" I asked. It must be almost dawn by now.

"Surprisingly…no," he said. "In my experience, people who visit at this time of night aren't doing it because they like me."

"Don't tell me, you have a bunch of enemies and they've all come after you at once, right when I'm here." I was beginning to regret a whole pile of life choices. So many, I wasn't sure where to start.

"I might have one or two," Victor said. "Possibly three. Fade is harder to read than the other two."