Page 23 of Deadly Desires

“Well… I was attacked last year in Silicon Valley. They never caught the guy. It’s honestly the only person that I could imagine that would want to harm me.”

“Interesting… when did this attack happen?” he asks, taking notes in his notepad that he removed from his uniform pocket.

I give a look at Jaxon and he must get the hint because he moves back over to his car and leans against it. I’m not sure I’m ready for Jaxon to look at me any differently once he finds out what happened. I’m falling for this man, and I’m scared.

“It was June sixteenth of last year. My friends and I were out bar hopping. When I left the bar to catch my Uber, I was attacked and… raped.”

“Alright, ma’am, I understand this might be difficult for you to recount. Let’s save you the trouble and I’ll just have one of my officers pull up the report from the incident, okay?”

“I would be very grateful for that, thank you.”

The sheriff goes off to talk to one of his officers, and I make my way back over to Jaxon. His jaw clenches and he looks ready to kill someone. Fuck, he probably overheard what I told the officer.

I look up at him sheepishly, not sure what to say. I find that words aren’t necessary though as Jaxon pulls me into him and wraps his arms around me. It’s the first time in forever since I’ve been held like this, and I can’t help but to melt into his arms. Tears spring to my eyes, but I blink them back. I can’t lose my composure just yet.

“Thank you,” I mumble into Jaxon’s chest. His only response is to squeeze me a little tighter. I am in deep trouble with this man. If he keeps it up, he’ll own my whole heart.

We wait outside for what feels like an hour before the sheriff comes back over.

“Well, Miss Harper, we have documented all there is to in the house and took statements from your neighbors that heard the commotion. You’re free to go into the house, though I warn you, it’s a disaster. You probably need to spend a lot of time replacing things. And make sure to get your security system replaced.”

I swallow the lump in my throat and simply nod at the officer and offer him my thanks. Jaxon puts an arm around my shoulder and leads the way into the house. The police lights slowly disappear as everyone leaves the crime scene.

As we make our way in through the garage, the mud room and kitchen seem fine. Maybe the officer exaggerated it a bit?

I’m soon met with an obscene amount of damage in the living room. My couch cushions are completely slashed open, the curtains are hanging in tatters, and lamps and decor lay shattered on the floor. My hand flies to my mouth as I stare in disbelief. Why would someone do this?

With trepidation, I turn and make my way up the stairs. There is a slash along the wall leading up the stairs, as though whoever did it had a knife dug into the wall and dragged it all the way up. Chills run down my spine. What if I had been home? Would my body be mutilated to pieces right now?

Jaxon follows me up the stairs. Once I get to my room, I gasp. My bed is completely untouched, but there are what looks like blood splatters all over the walls and my dresser mirror. I walk farther into the room and see that my bed isn’t completely untouched like I thought. In the center of my bed lies a single white rose with splatters of red. The contrast is significant against the red background of my comforter.

I look over at Jaxon to see him clenching his fists. He looks like he wants to murder someone.

“We’ll catch whoever did this, Melody. Mark my words,” he all but growls to me.

I’m exhausted and probably coming down from the adrenaline running through my veins. Jaxon must see my exhaustion because he puts an arm around me and says, “Why don’t we go to my place for the night. I’ll send Brooke a text to head back home, and we’ll worry about her car in the morning.”

As I start to refuse his offer, he levels me with a glare. “There is no way you’re staying here tonight. Not with this psycho on the loose, no working security system, and nothing to protect yourself.”

I’m about to tell him about the gun in my nightstand, but before I can utter a single word, he’s leading me back down through the house to his car. Running on autopilot, I get in the car willingly. He’s right… as much as I don’t want to admit it, I can’t stay here tonight. What if he comes back to finish what he started?

The ride passes in a blur. Jaxon keeps one hand on my thigh the entire way, lightly rubbing my skin with his thumb. It’s so relaxing, I soon find myself lulling off to sleep.

“Melody, baby, wake up.” Someone is jostling me awake. I look up through half lidded eyes and finally become aware of my surroundings. It’s just Jax. We must have finally got to his house, except now that I’m looking around, we seem to be in some sort of parking garage.

“Where are we, Jax?”

“This is my parking garage. We will have to take the elevator to get to my suite.”

“You live in a penthouse suite?!”

“Yes, little sparrow, I do.”

Jaxon removes his seatbelt and then rushes out of the car to get my door. As I stand, I’m completely unsteady. The events of the night come rushing back to me, and soon I’m hyperventilating. I can’t believe this is really happening… The parking garage starts to spin, and the last thing I hear before everything goes black is Jaxon. “Melody, are you ok?”

I come to and realize I’m laid out on a sleek black leather couch. There is a fan above my head slowly spinning, casting a cool breeze on my skin. There’s something cold on my forehead; I reach up and discover a wet rag.

Footsteps sound from somewhere in the house, and eventually Jaxon comes in to view. He changed down into gray sweats and a fitted white T-shirt. He looks delectable. Whoever said gray sweats do something for a man, wasn’t lying. Jaxon sees me stir awake and comes right over, sinking down to his knees at my side.

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