Page 34 of Mayhem and Minnie

Maybe. I’ve yet to decide what I’m going to do with her.

She claims she’s been to prison. But there’s a softness in her features that belies that. There’s an innocence to her that’s almost intoxicating, and perhaps what makes her such a magnet for predators.

On any other day, I would have said I was immune to it.

Now? I’m not so sure.

“This is your house?” she asks in that soft voice of hers.

I grunt.

“Come,” I say, opening the door. She follows behind me as we head toward the entrance to the house.

“Wow,” she whispers as she stops in the middle of the foyer. “Is this a castle?”

“Mansion,” I correct.

“Victorian?”

“How did you know?” My brows go up in surprise.

“I have a thing for old things.” She gives me a shy smile.

My features harden—or, rather, I force them to do so.

Do not react, Marlowe. Do not even think of it.

“Really?” I drawl.

She nods, her features suddenly animated.

“How so?” I surprise myself by asking. I shouldn’t want to know things about her, yet curiosity gets the best of me.

Her lips tremble.

“Old houses are generally abandoned.” She gives me a tremulous smile.

I stare at her. “You’ve been sleeping in abandoned houses?”

“When I could find one.” She shrugs.

I do my best not to reveal the shudder that goes down my spine as I think of the dust and dirt she must have slept in, not to mention the mold and other vermin. The more I think, the more horrified I become.

“Minnie.” I clear my throat. “When was the last time you’ve had a bath?”

She raises those big eyes of hers to look at me as she mulls over the answer.

Immediately, I regret my question.

I don’t want to know.

Knowing will just make me more anxious about the fact that I’ve had this creature in my car, wearing my coat. Fuck! She touched me with her hand.

“It’s winter. I don’t sweat that much,” she answers shyly.

Right. The answer is a long fucking time ago.

I wrinkle my nose in disgust.

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