Page 20 of Bloody Seven

"Don't call me that. And did you forget you don't get to tell me what to do? You can talk to me right here." Her arms cross over her chest, and she stays firmly planted in place.

I hate that she's making me look weak in front of Kyle, but I must admit seeing her again has evoked the same submissivefeeling it did the first time. My body craves her direction, and right about now, I would do just about anything she asked if it meant I got to have an actual conversation with her. I hate to admit it, but the last thing I want is for her to turn around and run again.

"Why are you here, Poppy?"

"I want a bagel. You still make them, right?"

"I could have made you a bagel, miss," Kyle says, but we ignore him.

"A bagel?" I question.

"Let's see if my memory will fail me or not. I'd like a jalapeno cheddar bagel with pastrami, egg, cheddar cheese, scallion cream cheese, and brown mustard. I believe you referred to it as “an orgasm in your mouth." Her eyes meet mine, and I step behind the counter to make her the sandwich just like I did a year ago when this all started.

Chapter 9

Poppy

"You lied to me," I say as he gets to work making the bagel.

His employee, Kyle, sneers before turning and walking into the back room, leaving Corbin and me to ourselves. For a brief moment, I considered making Kyle this year's kill for being an uptight asshole. That may not be good for Corbin’s business, though.

I haven’t been able to get him off my mind for the last 364 days, so here I am. I’ve had a lot of thoughts consuming me since spending time with Corbin, like whether or not Drew was actually connected to this so-called Collection. It took some time to muster up the courage, but eventually, I scoured our home for any sort of connection.

I was pretty close to calling it quits and chalking everything up to Corbin being a liar when I found a loose floorboard with a phone hidden inside. The phone was dead, with no way to turn it on, and when I looked further into the hidden spot, I found a letter. The letter went into detail, confirming everything. He explained that if I was finding it, then there was a good chancehe was already dead. It touched on how The Collection operated and that I should keep this a secret because it could get me killed.

The note went on to say, he wanted me to move on because my happiness was his priority over everything, even if that meant I ended up with someone else. He ended the note with a starred message showing a phone number and told me if I was ever in trouble, I could call for help. Curiosity got the best of me, so I looked it up, only to find it belonged to Trent.

The Trent that was at the club the night Drew and I met and was also at the bar last year with Corbin. He changed a lot over the years, so I didn't recognize him at first, but he is the same person. Everything was all connected in some fucked up twist of fate. No fucking way would I ever call him.

For months, I read the letter over and over, taking in every detail and trying to figure out what it meant for me moving forward. Did I still feel obligated to uphold my promise of seven kills? Why didn't he tell me about The Collection sooner?

There must have been hints that I missed along the way. If I thought hard enough about our time together, I could probably pick some out, but I don’t want to dissect our relationship. There would have been no way for me to ever guess he was hiding something that major from me.

A hand with a bagel reaches out, interrupting my thoughts.

"Are you going to ignore me?" I glare.

"The sandwich is on me. Now, if that's all, I have a lot of work to do."

"What, no catch like last year? You're just going to give this to me and walk away?"

"I don't know what you expect from me, Poppy. If you want to talk, we can, but I'm not doing it here. This is my business, and you knew that when you came in."

"Can we go back to your place?" I suggest, dropping the act. The truth is, I want to talk. The conversation has played on repeat in my mind for a year now, and I've pictured a million different ways that it would go. "We do need to talk."

"Do you think you can stay for the entire conversation this time?" he throws back. It's a low blow, but it's fair.

"I won't leave unless you want me to," I reassure him and watch as the expression on his face relaxes slightly. His jaw tics, like he wants to say something else, but he only nods before walking to the back.

He and Kyle return a few minutes later, and Kyle tosses me another dirty look. His scowl would scare me if I were a normal woman, but I’m a serial killer. I smirk to myself, thinking about how he doesn’t even realize he should be afraid of me.

"Ready?" Corbin asks, and I nod as he leads us out of the shop.

He hails a cab, and the two of us sit in silence. There is so much more tension now that we’re in a smaller space and it has me wondering if this was a mistake.

I glance down at the spot where my knee touches his leg, and the heat from the contact is all I can focus on. My mind is telling me to move, but I can't because I missed his touch.

Why does he affect me like this? If I were still friends with Lilly, she would ask me if he had a magic dick. That must be what it is. I was lulled into some sort of twilight zone where I can't stop thinking about a man all because he has a magic dick.

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