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Pulling a drive-by through Lex’s neighborhood, I find some motherfucker parked at the bottom of her driveway. The man in the Dodge Durango is too busy rubbing at his eyes when I pass to get a good look at me, but I see all I need to. He’s definitely an undercover.
A fucking cop outside her house? Is he here about the Mustang?
Parking at the back of the hill Lex’s house is perched on, I get out and start jogging up through the frost-encrusted woods. While the snow isn’t actively falling at the moment, its bite is still thick in the air, gnawing on every exposed surface it can.
My mask already on, I break from the icy fog clinging to the tree line to approach the Colonial from the rear and do my usual sweep. Using the same door I did the first time, I pick the lock and let myself in. I don’t go as slow as before, but I take my time making my way through the kitchen, keeping an ear out for any activity.
A shiver runs through me when I reach the spot I first locked eyes with the whimpering hollow. She had me fucking fooled. She’s good at fooling people. Had to be. Has to be.
Not with me though. Now that she’s shared her past with me, she doesn’t have to pretend to be anything with me. She can pull me to her darkest depths and I’ll go freely. Eagerly. I’ve had a lot of practice holding my breath.
At the fish tank, a light streams through from the other side—a light different from the tank’s blue glow.
Someone’s up.
Kordin’s still at the hospital, so it can’t be him. The only cars in the garage were his and Lex’s, and the part of the driveway I could make out was clear. It’s gotta be Lex but she left me almost an hour ago. I thought she’d be asleep by now. I kinda hoped she would be.
Through the spotless tank full of colorful anemones, coral, and fish, I spy Lex coming out of the primary bathroom, scrunching her white hair with a towel. She’s wearing another black sleep set that looks just as expensive as the first one I saw her in. Just as tempting, too.
I don’t know how the fuck I was able to stop myself from touching her then.
I’m not even gonna try now.
I position myself in front of the tank, shamelessly watching her flit around the room, brushing her hair out with one hand while skimming a book in the other. During her pacing, I catch sight of the cover and almost fucking snort. It’s the book I gave her this morning, the one she threw away right in front of my ass.
Lex doesn’t make eye contact with me, hell, her eyes don’t come anywhere near where I am, but I can tell the moment she becomes aware of my presence because her body language changes from relaxed to hyperaware in a blink.
I drift past the tank, to the room’s threshold, lazily propping a shoulder against the jamb.
Still not letting on that she’s noticed me, Lex lets out a curse as her book falls from her hands by the foot of the bed. She drops to her knees immediately after, but doesn’t retrieve the book, just waits…on me? She’s waiting on me.
Eyes on her bowed head, I take a tentative step into the room, my limbs prickly from the electricity zipping through my veins.
Lex’s jaw swivels in my direction ever so slightly before I hear the faintest inhale.
“I almost shot you, rook.”
Damn. I forgot about the cologne I put on this morning.
She looks up at me and meets my gaze. I don’t see a gun in her hand but that doesn’t mean one isn’t in reach. She wouldn’t have put herself in such a compromising position if there wasn’t.
“Then we’re even.”
“You would’ve pulled a gun on me?”
I nod.
“What else would you’ve done?”
“To you?”
Now she nods.
“Stand up.”
“Lose the mask.”
A few strides, then I’m gripping both shoulders, lifting her up off the floor, and setting her on her feet—all with my mask still on.
