Page 7 of Hothead

She needed a minute. Why was this so hard? It had been two months for God’s sake. And she’d traveled all the way to Woodvalley Pines for the sole purpose of talking about it. Fulfilling Marco’s wishes. Doing the bare minimum compared to what he’d done for her.

“S-Sorry,” she stuttered, well aware she’d frozen.

A hand came down and covered hers. But it wasn’t the comfort it was intended for that she felt. It was a spark. Something high voltage. Like some sort of live wire coursing through her veins.

Iknowthat’s not normal.

It didn’t make sense. None of her body’s reactions did. Luke Cappelli was so not her type. He was cold. So blunt it was bordering on rude. And everything he said was drenched in sarcasm. Sure, he was easy on the eye, but other than that, there was nothing remotely charming about him.

Except when he calls you angel.

No. She needed to stop this madness now. She did not come all the way to Woodvalley to hook up with Marco’s brother. That would be beyond fucked up. Even for her.

“It’s okay, angel, take your time.”

Urgh. Fuck my life.

If only for the distraction of their joined hands, which now seemed to be throbbing, she allowed herself to go back to that night. The night that changed everything.

“Uh, yeah, so the interview. Like a dumbass, I let him go on his own. I realized only after he left that I didn’t have an address for him either. Which wasn’t like Marco at all. We’ve been to some scary ass places together, so safety was always top of our list. We would hardly ever go anywhere alone. And on the very few occasions we did, our phone trackers would be on, addresses would be shared, and times would be agreed beforehand.” She paused to take a deep breath. The guilt threatening to choke her.

Now is not the time.

Her inner voice was right. Now was not the time to berate herself again. It was too late. There was no going back to fix this. She needed to accept that.

The hand on her squeezed, reminding her that she had an audience, one who was probably wondering why she’d stopped talking.

“I don’t know what happened this time.” Her voice was much quieter when she spoke again. “Why it was different. Maybe it was ’cause the guy was skittish or maybe it was just a fuck-up from our end ... but either way, it happened. And he was off the radar for a long time.”

Letting her eyes flutter shut, everything from that night began to overwhelm her senses. She could still smell that musty old motel room she was holed up in. Still see the flashing blue and red neon from the police cars bouncing off the walls. And then there was the robotic, monotone sound of Detective Hardy’s voice that rang in her ears as he shattered Bella’s heart with just one word.

“He killed Marco,” she whispered. Her vision still cloaked in blackness. “The guy he went to interview. He wasn’t skittish. Or scared for his life. He was a fucking hunter. And Marco was his prey.”

CHAPTER THREE

Bella looked like shewas about to hurl, and Luke couldn’t blame her. He felt like hurling too. This was some seriously messed up shit. A goddamn real-life horror show. One he was struggling to get his head around.

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