Page 39 of Make You Mine

Not when weallhave secrets. Even if it’s not done with malicious intent.

“How about we focus on what’s important here.” Perez’s tone holds an edge of anger. It simmers beneath the surface, and once again, fear strikes me. I’ve seen the news coverage. The two missing girls. “What did Meyers say, Ava?”

“He wanted to know if I was alone. If Elijah left a file behind for him to pick?—”

“Word for word, Ava.” This comes from Detective Ford. His tone is brusque and full of ire. My eyes meet his, and gone is the soft look or cocky grin. At this moment, he’s a no-nonsense officer of the law.

He’s not the man who welcomed me into his home with a smile and calmed my fears.

He’s not the Elijah who made a huge mess inside the kitchen, and I wanted to kiss stupid.

“Go on, Ava. Tell us what he said,” Perez looks between us, sensing the tension rising.

“The phone rang twice, and I picked it up, thinking it was Detective Ford. All I said washello,when the man cut me off. It happened so fast, and I felt off—he made me feel uncomfortable.” Tucking my feet beneath me, I place my hands in my lap, nervously playing with an old silver ring that belonged to my mother. “He asked for you...” my eyes shift to Eli “...and when?—”

Ford’s eyes soften. “Exact words, sweetheart. Please.”

Taking in a deep breath, I let it out slowly and give them a nod. “He said, and I quote:‘Where’s Ford? Why are you answering his phone?’I tried to respond, but he talked over me. He came across as agitated.‘Did he leave a file for me before leaving you alone, Ava?”

“Did he mention anything about the contents of the file? Anything specific?” Perez asks. In his hand is a pen, and he’s jotting something down atop a thick manila folder.

I shake my head. “No. Nothing about its contents.”

“Did he say anything else?” This time, it’s Elijah who speaks. He’s sitting forward, clenched hands hanging between his parted, muscular thighs. His posture radiates a simmering ire. “Was there anyone else, male or female, speaking in the background?”

“No. Nothing. The man caught me off guard, and I asked him who he was and how he knew my name, but instead of answering, he just…laughed. His chuckle held an edge of frustration that gave me the creeps.” Closing my eyes for a few seconds, I try to shake the memory away. I take myself out of that moment of panic and concentrate on my breathing. It takes a minute or two, and I’m thankful that neither man rushes me. When I’m ready—when my heart calms and I can speak without a knot lodging itself in my throat—I look at Elijah again. Focus only on him. “I’mDetective Meyers, Miss Ava, and we’ll be seeing you again very soon.That’s what he said.”

Elijah stands abruptly, nearly tipping over the small coffee table in front of him. A candle and a small crystal vase fall, though, shattering upon impact. The small picture frame beside them didn’t make out any better, either.

“I’m going to kill every one of those motherfuckers. Those sons of bitches are going to regret the day they were born?—”

“Miss Perry, please give us a minute. He might need a moment or two to calm down,” they both exclaim in unison, one in pure fury and the other with a decorum that’s drowning within his own anger.

Exhaling slowly, I listen without hesitation and head to my room, but not before pausing at the hallway’s entrance. Ilook at the detective from over my shoulder. “You owe me an explanation, Eli.”

Not a request or plea. The man understands, and I won’t elaborate.

Today. Tomorrow. In a few days.

It doesn’t matter because I deserve to know just how much danger I’m in. Just how bad and out of hand things have become. Elijah doesn’t look back at me from his place near the balcony doors; his head is hanging down, and his breathing is hard, but he does something that’s enough for me.

He nods and whispers out a roughI’m sorry.

“Feeling better, Detective?”I ask the second he steps outside onto the balcony. It’s been a few hours since his blowout reaction, the one drowned within his truth to avenge me and the lives lost at Jason’s hands.

His anger was palpable. Still is. It took over and infiltrated every single inch of his home; a suffocating presence that made my heart clench, and not because he was any kind of threat. Not because I worry.

I want to eliminate anything that doesn’t make him smile. Make him happy.

God help me.

When his boss asked me to leave, I felt a hint of relief, and I hated it. Hated that the small distance gave me a chance to think. To be strong enough not to give in to my desires of being hismore. At first, I took comfort in my room, putting on noise-canceling headphones to drown out the explosive cursing—the slamming of something large against a wall—but nothing playing through the device came close to quelling my yearning.

This need simmers beneath the surface and is starting to control me.

Stop it, Ava. Elijah’s under a lot of stress and doesn’t need your hovering.

And I understand that. I also know that as human beings, we need to release pent-up emotions consuming us before we one day…snap.

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