Page 188 of Sinning for Santa

“Please don’t kill me.”

“Tell me about the woman you are watching through the telescope,” I demand.

“H-her name is J-Jaxcen. She’s my fiancé.”

“Wrong,” I hiss, pressing the barrel harder against him, making him whimper. “She’s not your fiancé, Eddie. She’ll never marry you.”

“Oh my god. You’re him, aren’t you. The man from the phone… with her.”

“I am the devil, Eddie. And you are nothing but a waste of oxygen.”

“P-Please. I’ll leave her alone. I swear.”

I chuckle darkly. “No, you won’t. But that’s okay. You won’t be around to harass her anymore.”

“But. I…”

“Shut the fuck up!” I snap a little too loud. “Look in the telescope again, Eddie. Have one last look at the woman you’ll never get to have.”

“N-no, p-please.”

“Do it or I’ll pull the trigger.”

“F-fine.” He sobs, leaning closer to the telescope.

Idon’t bother with the trigger. That will draw too much attention, and quite frankly, I want him even more terrified for the final seconds of his life.

With my gloved hand, I fist the back of his shirt and shove him and the telescope over the balcony railing.

He cries out, screaming all the way down, because he knows there’s no coming back from this.

The moment his scream cuts off, I know he’s hit pavement, so I slink back inside and leave his apartment, taking the lift back down where I disappear into the night, even as police sirens fill the city streets.

Eddie won't be a problem anymore.

Chapter forty-one

Jaxcen

Everything feels different. The air. The smells. My appetite. My drive. I feel like a very different person to the naive woman I was back in December. But now I live in a world where there is no more Dr Xavier. No more Holly River Estate or depraved male nurses. And no more Eddie.

I was completely shocked that he’d been spying on me from across the street. The police had photos he’d taken of me, and apparently, when he fell to his death on the last night of the year, he’d been spying on me again through a telescope.

When all the chaos across the street erupted, police and ambulances closing off the road, I’d gone out onto Presley’s balcony to try and see what was going on, but with the dark night, and a quickly erected crime scene tent covering the pavement, I couldn’t see.

But it turns out it was Eddie. He fell to his death, too busy stalking me through the lens of a telescope.

He’d scared the hell out of me in Cloud 9, but the moment I found out it was him who was dead, all I felt was relief.

He can’t hurt me anymore either.

Even though my parents still remain, they haven’t spoken to me or Presley since. I’ll be happy if I never speak to them again, but I’m not sure how Pres will go. She had a completely different relationship with our parents, so she’ll probably cave and visit them eventually.

And that’s okay. As long as she is safe.

I spent January trying out different jobs after handing in my resignation at my old one.

I only lasted a day waitressing, and three days in retail. I didn’t like the women. They were too catty and sales-target focused and I’m no pushy salesperson.

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