Page 2 of Kill Me Sweetly

“I just don’t want Angel to drive the car down an embankment and kill them all. We just bought the thing.”

Chuckling, I opened the pantry and grabbed the reusable bags for shopping. “I love how your concern is for the car and not the lives.”

He shrugged. He adored the brothers, as did I. No one would ever question that.

“I’m off to go get my man some flour and eggs.”

“Have a good day.” He was distracted, so I kissed the top of his head and left.

We had several cars, which was nice. Nothing ostentatious, thankfully. I often opted for one of the SUVs, and today it was the Traverse. I’d drive to the bakery and walk to the store. While the bakery was close to where I had to shop, it was a good twenty minutes to get there, and I wasn’t one of those “Exercise is fun,” kinds of people.

As I pulled the SUV up next to his motorcycle—because my boyfriend, he was that kind of guy—I noticed the bakery was buzzing. I was thrilled it was doing so well. He’d even had to hire someone to man the register, and I knew he’d need more help soon. I loved assisting him, and I’d continue to do so until then.

I bypassed going in, knowing he’d distract me, and walked along the street toward the little mom-and-pop grocery store.

The day was really perfect, and I couldn’t help but smile as the sun shone, the birds chirped, people laughed, the boy stared at the dumpster, the…Hold on a moment.

I took a few steps back and double-checked the alley. Yep, there was someone leering at the dumpster. He couldn’t have been very old, maybe sixteen. He was filthy, no shoes or socks on his feet, rags for clothes. He was covered in dirt, and I couldn’t tell much else about him.

I looked up and down the sidewalk, and while I should have texted someone something like, “Hey, guess what? I found a dirty man who might be insane and eat my face, but I decided to take a chance. Pray for me,” I didn’t. I just took a few steps closer.

“Hey.”

Nothing. Not a twitch, nothing at all.

“Are you okay?” I asked a little louder.

Still no movement. “My name is JJ, what’s yours?”

Okay, was he a lifelike mannequin or something? That would be so embarrassing. No, I was able to see his chest rise and fall.

“Are you hungry? I was just going to the grocery store; I can get you something.”

Shit. I was going to have to nudge him. I put my bags on the ground, slipped my hand into my pocket to grip the knife Shep demanded I carry at all times, and stepped a little closer to the man.

“Hello, can you hear me?” Maybe he was deaf. I poked his arm with my finger and he did a slow pan, stopping when he met my eyes.

“You don’t look so great. Can I help you?”

He cocked his head but still didn’t talk. His eyes were brown—that much I could tell. And vacant, like the lights were on but nobody was home.

I held out my hand to him, silently praying he didn’t attack. “Come on, I can get you some food.”

He stared at my hand for a beat then back at me. I watched as he lifted his arm and placed his—oh Lord—bloody hand into mine.

“There’s a bakery right over here, has cupcakes and muffins, whatever you want.”

I started to walk, glad that he came with me. Maybe once he sat, ate, and got cleaned up, we’d be able to figure out what was going on.

One thing I was sure of was that Shep wasn’t gonna be happy.

CHAPTER TWO

SHEP (SHEPARD)

I’d just been takingthe butter pecan muffins out of the oven when the back door opened. The only people who used that door were my brothers, Mason, and JJ. Even Lizzy, who worked the register, came through the front.

I placed the muffins on the counter to cool and spun around with a big grin…which promptly fell as soon as I took in the situation.

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