"Chase, you've got a visitor," Tali called from the door. I looked up at the clock over the oven. Shit. I hadn't planned on losing that much time to baking. I grabbed the hotpads and pulled the cupcakes from the fiery depths of the oven. "Let him in, Tali. Thanks," I called. I eased the cupcakes from the pan and settled them on a cooling rack. I still needed to get the frosting put together. Hopefully this affidavit nonsense didn't take too long. I turned around and eyed my official visitor. He was one of those guys who was utterly forgettable. Poor thing. "Come on in. Can I get you anything to drink? Dom should be here soon."The DA's assistant tugged at his tie. "No, ma'am, but thank you. It sure smells good in here."I smiled. "Thank you, and please call me Willow. I'm not old enough to be a ma'am yet."He smiled politely as he set his briefcase down on the high top counter section of the kitchen island. "What are you making?" He gave a dramatic sniff of the room.
You're one hell of a kisser, Ryker. You should come with a warning label. Her words banged around my mind like they were the steel sphere in a vintage pinball machine. Her lips had been everything I thought they would be. Decadent, plush, velvety. What hadn't been in the top ten descriptors I'd come up with for her mouth: Uninterested. But that's exactly what I'd felt from her. As if she'd been locked away behind a frozen sheet of glass, I hadn't been able to reach her. Get her to respond. Get her involved. Nothing like the moaning woman from last night who'd all but writhed in my arms. Or called me last night to check on me. The doors slid closed, cutting her off from my view. What the fuck had just happened? I replayed the whole scene again. She'd been right there with me. Edgy as fuck, her breathing uneven, her body sending all the right signals. I hadn't been imagining them or misreading them. I banged my forehead softly against the stainless-steel elevator doors. I'd f
It was a good thing I had an industrial sized mixer. I would have beaten the cake batter into unusable lumps if I'd had to do it all by hand. Instead, I sat back and glared at the mechanical arm that sliced through the batter like it was a hot knife through butter. Shame and embarrassment slid through me again. My stomach soured as I thought of the idiot I'd made of myself. Now, I was going to have to act like we could still be friends. That I hadn't insulted him with my disappearing act.I shuddered as the humiliation surged through me again. The black hole that lived inside me grew and pulsed as my inner asshole rose to vibrant life. No one will love you. How can they? You're a murderer. You helped a serial killer destroy countless lives. You killed daughters, sisters, mothers, aunts, cousins. You're worthless. He should've just killed you. Then all those other women and girls would still be alive. They're better than you. Even as society's trash, they were better than you.
My phone rang just as I was getting ready to pick it up and make a call. I smiled when I saw Willow's name scroll across the screen. She'd reached out to me again. I intended for it to be at least a daily occurrence. I hit the connect button. "Hey, cupcake. I was just getting ready to call you."A low, mechanical whine rose over the line. I could hear her breathing, slow. Measured. The hairs rose on my arms as I waited for her to speak. "Willow?" I called. What the fuck was going on? A feeling of dread sank into my neck.Nothing but that droning whine filled my ear. I pulled the phone from my ear, checked to see if we were still connected. We were. I put the phone back up to my head. "Willow Chase," I barked, putting steel in my voice. Nothing. Nothing but a motor spinning in the background. Something was very wrong. I plugged my free ear, prayed I would hear something from her. "Why did you kiss me like that?" she asked finally. Her voice was monotone. Dolls had
Cursing myself for not locking the front door, I set the hand mixer down on the worktop and moved to the doors that separated the kitchen from the booking and show space. I stuffed my phone in my bra. I needed to get rid of whoever was out here. Then I needed to find out how to disappear. I had no idea why I'd called Ryker. He couldn't help me. Other than pissing me off. A sardonic smile pulled at the corner of my mouth as I got to the double swing doors. He'd helped me. Pulled me back with his ego and arrogance. I was going to have to bake the stupid man some more fucking cupcakes. They could be my going-away present to him.I skidded to a halt as the one and only stupid man stood just inside my shop's door. He looked big and menacing. Heat and emotion vibrated off him in waves and surges that reminded me of the ocean during a tsunami. "Wh-wh-what are you doing here?" I asked, my hand moved to the collar of my shirt. Covered the base of my neck. Shit. Had he guessed what I
I fought to clear my head. To clear her perfume from my nose. To forget the feel of her body in my hands. I was on the edge and I wasn't willing to screw it up again. "Ryker?"I bit the inside of my cheek as her soft voice trailed fingers of velvet over my skin. "Not yet, Willow." I struggled to keep my voice even. Quiet. After a moment, I felt the tension ease from my body. Felt like I had full control over my emotions. I relaxed my hands, flexed my fingers. Pushing the button to start the engine, I checked my surroundings and pulled into the street. This late in Oldtown, there was no traffic. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice still soft. I exhaled. "Yeah. All good now."As if I could see it, she came out of her shell. Blossomed right next to me. I could feel the questions sitting on her tongue. Bet myself how long it would take for her to ask it. I would have lost. She lasted about a minute. I'd given her no more than thirty seconds. "Want to talk about what
I watched his car's lights disappear around the corner. I still couldn't believe that had just happened. One of the best days of my recent life-minus that whole suicide part-had crashed and burned like an A-bomb had gone off. I limped to my car, fished around in my purse for the keys. Asshole. He could have at least taken me home. A soft scratch on the pavement to my left brought my head up. A rush of sound. A quick pinch at my neck and the world floated away.
Seething as I drove the rest of the way home, I talked myself out of going back for her a dozen times. She obviously didn't need me. Or my help. She would be fine on her own. I zipped into the underground garage, slid into my parking spot. I sat there for long moments after I cut the engine. What the fuck had gone wrong? I still couldn't wrap my brain around it. Our conversation tripped through my head on repeat. She'd been coming over. Letting me take care of her instead of her chosen family. Me. She'd come to me and continued to turn to me. But I guess what I offered wasn't good enough. Not in the long run. Tough shit. That's on her. You would have treated her like the little pain princess she was. Her loss. Get your fucking sorry ass out of this car, my inner voice goaded. Yeah. I needed something. Some kind of way to numb everything back to the way it had been before. Before she tripped into my arms.Alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol.Nodding, I got out of the ca