Page 47

He slithers around Litza’s arm, where he spends the rest of the night. After we gorge ourselves on paella and flan, we put a movie on—our little ritual.

Zarya’s voice breaks through the post-food haze.

“So, Patience, you gonna tell us how things are going with the new man in your life…or are we just going to pretend that he doesn’t exist?” Her eyebrow lifts, and a smirk crosses her face.

Placing my face in my hands, I groan and take another swig of wine.

“Well, he’s nice, I think. Okay, well, he’s nice enough…but I have no idea what his endgame is.”

Litza and Zarya lean in for more information. I tell them about the past two run-ins with him. I do my best to avoid any details concerning the intimate slumber party we had at my place, but Zarya manages to pry it out of me with a barrage of questions. Once they’ve been given a full update on the matter, the room falls into silence.

“Seriously, no one is going to say anything? The two of you needle me until I tell you everything, and you got nothing for me? Not an oh fuck him or what an asshole?”

They share a look, which only irritates me further.

“What? For fuck’s sake…”

Litza turns to me with one of her razor-sharp looks.

“I think you should play nice.”

My eyes fly open so wide, it hurts.

“I agree,” Zarya chimes in as she curls into a blanket with Gerald.

“What do you mean, play nice? What the fuck is happening…” Shaking my head, I look at my sisters in complete disbelief. Though, a small part of me warms at the suggestion.

“What I mean is, maybe he actually likes you. He drove you home, took care of you, and even stayed when you asked him to,” Litza says using her fingers to count the evidence supporting her claims.

“I didn’t ask him to do anything. Also, need I remind you, that he has been stalking me for months, he’s a serial killer, a menace, and a vandal,” I say parroting Litza’s gesture, counting his crimes on the tips of my fingers.

“P, we aren’t asking you to shack up with the man. Just play nice. Litza’s right; whatever his reasons are, he did do all those things. It seems like he might actually just be a nice guy. Besides, you haven’t shown this much interest in a man in years. Also, you are a serial killer as well.”

“The only reason I’ve shown this man any interest at all is because I want to annoy him as much as he annoys me…and frankly, I can’t get rid of him.” I pop a piece of chocolate into my mouth to ease my nerves, then I crawl under the blanket with my sisters, calling an end to the discussion. “Besides, I can never get the upper hand on him. It’s obnoxious.”

“I have an idea of how we can change that.” Litza looks at me out of the corner of her eye. “I may have a connection who has been very helpful with a few things.” She takes an excruciatingly long sip of her tea and nuzzles Silas, deliberately dragging out my angst.

“Well? Come on!”

“It turns out the connection that provided me the location last time, has a direct line to your boytoy and he already told me where he’s planning to go next. I guess I could tell you where it is…”

My mind sparks with imagination at the chaos I could unleash.

The girls stay late into the night, and even though I want to sleep, I can’t. Sitting in bed, I pore over the photos of his crime scenes.

I can see his vision in his marionettes—bringing motion into the motionless. Looking closer at the photos, I can see the ropes pose a problem for him, requiring more than is necessary, a distraction from his theme.

The following day, I ignore emails and calls as I sit hunched over my desk lost in sketching. It takes several hours to get the shapes right, but knowing Javi, he’ll have no problem grasping what I’m trying to achieve. Looking at my phone, I see several missed text messages from Ethan. Finding it too difficult to respond without seeming disingenuous, I don’t text back. I just hope Javi is able to make what I need in time.

Pulling up to his shop, I grab the sketches I made this afternoon. Stepping into the garage, I nod to the guys in the back and head into his office. He’s sitting at his desk, scrolling through his phone when I step in.

“Hey, Javi!”

He turns with wide eyes, no doubt surprised by my appearance.

“Hey P, what’s going on? You can’t be that upset about that last car. You know I can’t always guarantee all the amenities will work.”

I smirk as I lower into one of the empty seats across from his desk.