Page 89 of The Ripper

“That doesn’t change the fact that it’s a death trap.”

I rolled my eyes and was about to tell him that he could shove his opinions about my car up his ass, but then I looked at my watch and decided to argue about it later since I had exactly fifteen minutes until my shift started.

Luckily, the Camaro was much faster than Gina, and I found myself in the hospital’s parking lot sooner than I thought possible.

I was in a state of shock for a while, almost as if I wanted to drive it more.

“Say it.” Grimm shook his head as we walked hand in hand towards the entrance.

“Say what?”

“You love the car,” he grinned.

Asshole.

“What makes you think that?”

“Arella,” he glared at me.

“Fine, I love the car, ok? Adore it, actually. It still doesn’t make it mine.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and bit my lip, whereupon he rolled his eyes and stepped in front of me, right in the spot where he kissed me the day before.

“It is, little angel.” He took my chin between his fingers. “It’s yours, just like every other car in the garage is yours, just like everything I have is yours, like I am yours.”

“A lot of things are mine,” I mumbled. “What do you have left?”

“You.”

I rolled my eyes.

“One hell of a deal,” I shook my head, amused.

I opened my mouth to say something more, but no words came out. He had stolen all of them with these declarations he kept making as though they were the most normal things on the planet.

He kissed me just as he had done the day before, then left, leaving me breathless and wanting more.

The day went by fast, as I was assigned to the emergency room and it was a madhouse down there. Lana was busy with some lab work, so at least I didn’t have to see her too, but there was this deep dread settled in my stomach, a bad feeling I couldn’t shake off.

I was the last one in the locker room, and I glued my forehead to the locker, breathing tiredly after the many wounds I’d stitched up, then took off my white coat and opened the door to put it on the hanger, but I froze with my hand in the air.

My heart started hammering in my chest.

My smartwatch vibrated and I checked it as the air caught in my throat. I was being called to the director’s office.

Panic took over when I searched for the gun in my purse and didn’t find it.

On the little shelf in my locker, on top of the anatomy books I kept there, was a red box.

My red box.

From my safe.

It wasn’t just a burglar, but someone much worse. Someone who could make Grimm look like a saint.

I slammed the locker shut and kicked the door, then punched it repeatedly, all of it to stop myself from ripping my hair out, struggling to regain my calm and breathe normally.

He’d found me, but something told me he’d always known where I was and had chosen this exact moment to attack.

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