Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 148962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 148962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 745(@200wpm)___ 596(@250wpm)___ 497(@300wpm)
“I don’t think they’re going to come here,” I tell him. “Besides, they couldn’t get in even if they did.”
“It’s not for them,” he says. “It’s for anyone who could be a threat, including me.”
I don’t really understand, but I can only assume he thinks I’m still freaked out by what happened.
“It’s small, but sharp, so don’t take it out unless you need it,” he instructs me. “And if you do use it, go for the throat. It’s the fastest way to incapacitate someone.”
“I don’t know if this is supposed to be romantic or deranged.” I laugh awkwardly.
“I just want you to have it,” he insists. “In case you need it.”
“Alright. Well, thanks?”
I’m not sure how I feel about sleeping with a knife next to my bed, but I guess it can’t hurt.
Once he sees that I’ve accepted his strange gift, he climbs over me and tugs me against him. His arm wraps around my waist, the warmth of his body soaking into mine.
“Tell me if it gets to be too much,” he says.
I nod, but somehow, I don’t think it will. I feel safe, and what I think is contentment. But beneath that, a bitter pang of guilt lingers—because I shouldn’t be happy. Not when I’ve ruined Romeo’s life.
I should tell Eros to go. But before I can verbalize it, a dozen other arguments materialize until exhaustion pulls me under.
At some point, I hear him slip out of bed and open the door to my room. I want to ask where he’s going, but I never quite get the words out. I drift in and out of sleep, and when he returns, it disorients me, because it felt like he was gone for hours.
When daylight spills through the windows and I open my eyes again, the space beside me is empty.
I sit up with a groan as a hollow feeling settles in my chest. It’s not as if I expected him to be here, but I don’t like the idea of him leaving without a goodbye.
Except, when I glance at the nightstand, I realize he didn't. He left a note for me, along with some painkillers and a fresh bottle of water.
Breakfast is in the fridge.
I walked your dog.
Get some rest today, little shark.
I read the words a few times, shooting Beppe a questioning glance. It seems he feels safe enough to venture off with Eros too.
Curious, I wrap myself in a bathrobe and pad down to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator door. When I see what’s waiting for me inside, it reminds me of the things I never addressed last night.
Eros showed up at that house without any explanation of how he found me, and he knew where I lived. He also knew how to access the building, and exactly where my room was.
And now, apparently, he knows my favorite breakfast is a yogurt parfait from a local bakery.
For the first time since I’ve known him, a sliver of uncertainty moves through me.
This is confirmation. He’s not just a stranger I met online.
I think he’s also…my stalker.
6
ROMEO
[ENTRY 001] — INITIALIZATION
> Observation: subject = fun-sized distraction.
> Threat level: annoyingly high.
> Disruption potential: vulnerability with no patch.
> Outcome prediction: irreversible corruption.
> Note: little miss sunshine’s obsession with Ghostface runs deep.
>Exploitation sequence initiated.
“Jesus.” Rafe glances around the gore-filled woodshed.
Blood, guts, and vomit cover the floor and some of the walls while my chosen instruments of torture lay strewn wherever I last tossed them. I’ll have a mess to clean up later.
“What did these assholes do?” My brother glances at the remaining two carcasses propped against one of my workbenches.
“They touched something they shouldn’t have.” I stare at them, only marginally satisfied as I recall the way I tortured them until they begged for death.
After I slipped out of Gabi’s bed in the middle of the night, I loaded them into a van and set their boat on autopilot in Lake Union. I transferred them onto one of our vessels at the private marina, then made a questionable decision in a long list of them.
I went back to the penthouse, crawled into Gabi’s bed, and held her as she slept.
I didn’t trust myself to sleep beside her, and even if I did, I’m usually too wired at night to rest. Unlike most people, I thrive under the cover of darkness, when the world is silent and my brain comes alive.
So, I lay there and stared at Gabi like a psychopath, swinging on a pendulum between self-loathing and need. Every boundary I gave myself was for her protection, but meeting her as Eros destroyed any restraint I had left.
When I saw what those four assholes intended to do to her, it felt like a declaration of war—because who the fuck would touch her when she clearly belonged to me?
It wasn’t rational. Neither was the demon inside me when he came to life and neutralized them until I could satisfy his bloodlust.